"Having a talkative Saddam around creates a whole lot of problems for the U.S. that will no doubt make more than one official wish the Iraqi leader had put up a fight so they could have offed him when they had the chance. Among the embarrassing tales he might tell:

• How the U.S. supported his regime through the years.

• How his conversation with U.S. ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie led him to believe his invasion of Kuwait would go unopposed.

• How there never were any WMD in Iraq, nor even the remotest possibility of constructing any.

• And, most intriguingly, the inside story on why the U.S. turned against a sometime ally."