In December 2003, after one of the largest and most intense manhunts in history, U.S. forces captured Iraqi President Saddam Hussein near his hometown of Tikrit. Amid rumors of a body double and numerous failed raids during the nine-month search, the U.S. administration needed to confirm the prisoner's identity before announcing the news, which quickly spread around the world.
At the time, John Nixon was a senior analyst at the CIA who had spent years studying the Iraqi leader's personality. When asked to confirm the prisoner's identity, Nixon looked for old scars and tattoos and prepared a list of questions that only Saddam Hussein himself could answer. The prisoner was indeed Saddam Hussein, but as Nixon realized in the following weeks, he—and the entire US administration—had completely misunderstood Saddam Hussein's true character.
"Debriefing the President" paints a truly honest and realistic portrait of one of the most famous and powerful leaders of our time. Within its pages, Nixon, the first to conduct an extended interrogation of Saddam Hussein after his capture, offers his insights into the history and mindset of one of America's most dangerous enemies. After years of analyzing Saddam Hussein's personality and his leadership of Iraq from afar, Nixon recounts his candid experience of the interrogation sessions and debunks the myths surrounding him. His account is not an apology, but it sheds light on the extent to which the world was misled by the preconceived notions of policymakers in Washington and the Tony Blair administration. With unprecedented candor, "Debriefing the President" exposes a profound misunderstanding of one of the most important figures in the modern world and presents a new version of events that boldly challenges the prevailing American narrative.