Table Of ContentTHE SADDAM TAPES
TheInnerWorkingsofaTyrant’sRegime,1978–2001
Duringthe2003warthatendedSaddamHussein’sregime,coalitionforcescaptured
thousands of hours of secret recordings of meetings, phone calls, and conferences.
OriginallypreparedbytheInstituteforDefenseAnalysesfortheOfficeoftheUnder-
secretary of Defense for Policy, this study presents annotated transcripts of Iraqi
audio recordings of meetings between Saddam Hussein and his inner circle. The
SaddamTapes,alongwiththemuchlargerdigitalcollectionofcapturedrecordsat
the National Defense University’s Conflict Records Research Center, will provide
researcherswithimportantinsightsintotheinnerworkingsoftheregimeand,itis
hoped,thenatureofauthoritarianregimesmoregenerally.
The collection has implications for a range of historical questions. How did
Saddamreacttothepressuresofhiswars?HowdidhemanagetheMachiavellian
worldhecreated?Howdidhereacttothesignalsandactionsoftheinternational
communityonmattersofwarandpeace?Wasthereadifferencebetweenthepublic
and the private Saddam on critical matters of state? A close examination of this
materialinthecontextofeventsandotheravailableevidencewilladdresstheseand
otherquestions.
KevinM.WoodsisamemberoftheresearchstaffoftheInstituteforDefenseAnal-
yses.HisstudiesonIraqhavebeenpublishedinForeignAffairs,JournalofStrategic
Studies,andIntelligenceandNationalSecurity,amongothers.Hehasauthoredand
coauthorednumerousstudies,includingIraqiPerspectiveReport:Saddam’sSenior
Leadership on Operation Iraqi Freedom (2006) and The Mother of All Battles:
Saddam Hussein’s Strategic Plans for the Persian Gulf War (2008). Woods is a
retired U.S. Army officer with operational experience in Iraq during the 1991 and
2003wars.Woodswastherecipientofthe1997J.WilliamMiddendorfIIAward
forResearchattheNavalWarCollegeandthe2007AndrewJ.GoodpasterAward
forExcellenceinResearchattheInstituteforDefenseAnalyses.
DavidD.PalkkiisthedeputydirectorandseniorresearcherattheNationalDefense
University’s Conflict Records Research Center. He has authored and coauthored
articlesandchaptersonIraqforInternationalSecurity,DiplomaticHistory,andthe
CenterforStrategicandInternationalStudies.PalkkiisaPh.D.candidateinpolitical
science at the University of California, Los Angeles. His dissertation, “Deterring
Saddam’sIraq:TheoryandPractice,”drawsheavilyonthecapturedIraqirecords.
He previously worked as a contractor at the Institute for Defense Analyses. He
is a recipient of the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation’s Herbert York
FellowshipandaNationalScienceFoundationfellowship.
Mark E. Stout is a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University’s Krieger School of Arts
and Sciences, where he teaches courses in intelligence and strategic studies. He is
also the historian at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. He was
previouslyaresearchstaffmemberattheInstituteforDefenseAnalyses,andhehas
workedfortheDepartmentoftheArmy,theDepartmentofState,andtheCentral
IntelligenceAgency.Heisthecoauthorofthreebooks,includingIraqiPerspective
Report:Saddam’sSeniorLeadershiponOperationIraqiFreedom(2006),Firsttothe
Rhine:The6thArmyGroupinWorldWarII(2007),andTheTerroristPerspectives
Project: Strategic and Operational Views of Al Qaida and Associated Movements
(2008). He has published articles in Intelligence and National Security, Studies in
Intelligence,JournalofStrategicStudies,andStudiesinConflictandTerrorism.
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The Saddam Tapes
THE INNER WORKINGS OF A
TYRANT’S REGIME, 1978–2001
Kevin M. Woods
InstituteforDefenseAnalyses
David D. Palkki
NationalDefenseUniversity
Mark E. Stout
JohnsHopkinsUniversity
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Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2012
cambridgeuniversitypress
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107693487
(cid:2)C CambridgeUniversityPress2011
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2011
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata
Woods,KevinM.
TheSaddamtapes:theinnerworkingsofatyrant’sregime,1978–2001/KevinM.Woods,
DavidD.Palkki,MarkE.Stout.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-01685-9(hardback)–isbn978-1-107-69348-7(paperback)
1.Iraq–Politicsandgovernment–1979–1991–Sources. 2.Iraq–Politicsand
government–1991–2003–Sources. 3.Hussein,Saddam,1937–2006–Archives.
4.Hussein,Saddam,1937–2006–Friendsandassociates. 5.Hussein,Saddam,
1937–2006–Politicalandsocialviews. 6.Authoritarianism–Iraq–History–
20thcentury–Sources. I.Palkki,DavidD.,1974– II.Stout,Mark,1964– III.Title.
ds79.7.w66 2011
956.7044092–dc23 2011026512
isbn978-1-107-01685-9Hardback
isbn978-1-107-69348-7Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurlsfor
externalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
ThisworkwasconductedundercontractDASWO1-04-C-0003,TaskAJ-8-2826,“Adversary
DocumentResearch,”fortheOfficeoftheSecretaryDefense.ThepublicationofthisIDA
documentdoesnotindicateendorsementbytheDepartmentofDefense,norshouldthe
contentsbeconstruedasreflectingtheofficialpositionofthesponsoringagency.
(cid:2)C 2010,InstituteforDefenseAnalyses,4850MarkCenterDrive,Alexandria,Virginia
22311-1882•(703)845-2000.
ThismaterialmaybereproducedbyorfortheU.S.Governmentpursuanttothecopyright
licenseundertheclauseatDFARS252.227-7013(Nov95).
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Contents
Figures pagevi
Foreword vii
Acknowledgments ix
NotetoReaders xi
DramatisPersonae xv
MapofIraq xx
Introduction 1
1 TheUnitedStates 16
2 The“ZionistEntity” 59
3 TheArabWorld 84
4 QadisiyyahSaddam(TheIran-IraqWar) 126
5 TheMotherofAllBattles 165
6 SpecialMunitions 219
7 TheEmbargoandtheSpecialCommission 254
8 HusseinKamil 296
Epilogue 323
Appendix:Timeline 333
References 341
Index 361
v
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Figures
SaddaminameetingwithBarzanIbrahimal-Tikriti page2
RevolutionaryCommandCouncilmeetingdiscussingmilitary
industrialization 17
SaddamwithmembersoftheRevolutionaryCommandCouncil 60
SaddammeetingwithYasserArafat 85
Saddammeetswithmembersofhisgeneralstaff 127
SaddamHusseinmeetingwithairforceofficials 166
SaddaminKurdishgarb 220
TariqAzizandAbdal-TawabMullahHuwaysh 255
SaddamtakesatourofaMilitaryIndustrialization
Commissionfacility 297
TahaRamadan,anunknownbrigadiergeneral,Izzatal-Duri,
andSaddam 324
SaddamandTahaRamadan 325
vi
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Cambridge Books Online
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The Saddam Tapes
The Inner Workings of a Tyrant's Regime, 1978–2001
Edited by Kevin M. Woods, David D. Palkki, Mark E. Stout
Book DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139061506
Online ISBN: 9781139061506
Hardback ISBN: 9781107016859
Paperback ISBN: 9781107693487
Chapter
Foreword pp. vii-viii
Chapter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139061506.001
Cambridge University Press
Foreword
TheInstituteforDefenseAnalysespreparedtheoriginalversionofthisbook
fortheOfficeoftheUndersecretaryofDefenseforPolicy,undertaskorder
AJ-8-2826, the Conflict Records Research Center. The study addresses the
task objective of drawing lessons from captured Iraqi records and making
informationinthecapturedmaterialsavailabletothescholarlycommunity.
The original study, and the larger body of captured recordings on which it
rests, was designed to provide researchers with important insights into the
innerworkingsoftheregimeofSaddamHusseinand,itishoped,thenature
ofauthoritarianregimesmoregenerally.
Analystswillbenefitforyearstocomefromreviewingcopiesofthecaptured
records at the Conflict Records Research Center (CRRC), which recently
openeditsdoorsattheNationalDefenseUniversity’sInstituteforNational
StrategicStudies,inWashington,DC.Saddam’sregimeisgoneforever,yet
importantinsightswillemerge,andunderstandingsevolve,asanewgener-
ation of students and scholars cuts its teeth on these fascinating records.
Lessons derived from the captured records will also be of considerable
import to policymakers, because conventional understandings about how
Saddam’s regime operated continue to influence expectations about events
in and outside of Iraq. As William Faulkner once observed, “The past is
neverdead.It’snotevenpast.”
Saddamemergesfromthesetranscriptsasahighlyintelligentyetfrequently
deluded man. As the editors point out, his worldview consisted of a “curi-
ous mix of shrewdness and nonsense.” He was a tyrant who foolishly and
ruthlessly invaded his neighbors and repressed his people, yet he was also
a pragmatist whose perspicuity at times exceeded that of his generals and
advisors. He ordered his lieutenants to restrict UN inspectors’ access to
suspected WMD sites, to bribe inspectors, and to refuse to deliver infor-
mationonIraq’sforeignsuppliersofWMD-relatedmaterials.Despitesuch
vii
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viii FOREWORD
obstructionism,therecordingsareconsistentwithotherevidenceindicating
that Iraq had divested itself of prohibited nuclear, chemical, and biologi-
calweaponstockpilesandactivitiespriortothe2003invasion.AsSaddam
emphasizedtohisinnercircle,“Wehavenothing;notevenonescrew.”
Theeditorsprovidecontexttothetranscriptsandhighlightkeyobservations,
yetemphasizethatthebookwasintendedmoretointroducetherecordings
toscholars,andtoenablethemtoasktheirownquestionsandtoreachtheir
ownconclusions,thantocompilealistofdefinitivefindings.TheNational
DefenseUniversityispleasedtoinvitescholarstovisittheCRRCtoconduct
thisimportantresearch.
Dr.HansBinnendijk
VicePresidentforResearchandApplied
Learning,NationalDefenseUniversity
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Acknowledgments
The editors wish to thank the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for
Policyforgenerouslysponsoringthisproject.TheJointAdvancedWarfight-
ing Division, which is responsible for the development and publication of
thisstudy,isadivisionattheInstituteforDefenseAnalyses.Relatedworks
were cosponsored by the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Tech-
nology, and Logistics; the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy; the vice
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the Commander of U.S. Joint
ForcesCommand.
The editors owe a debt of gratitude to a number of individuals. Sig-
nificant contributions by Jessica M. Huckabey and Elizabeth A. Nathan
on early drafts of several chapters were invaluable. Research support from
HalBrands,JonGrinspan,KristenSproat,andAnaVenegaswascriticalin
managingthescopeofthisproject.MikePeaseplayedakeyroleinlocating
and categorizing candidate recordings for translation. Laila Sabara spent
countlesshourssummarizingrecordings,translating,andcorrectingothers’
translations.CarolynLeonardprovidedexperteditingassistance.TheCon-
flict Records Research Center staff, especially Joseph Simons, assisted in
creating CRRC citations. Robert Jervis, Marcus Jones, James Kurtz, Peter
(Pooch) Picucci, Judith Yaphe, and four anonymous Cambridge University
Pressreviewersreadtheentiremanuscriptandofferedinvaluablecomments
and suggestions. Despite all of the help, any mistakes in this study are the
soleresponsibilityoftheeditors.
ix
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