Debriefing the President

The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein

By: John Nixon

Narrated by: John Nixon

Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Debriefing the President presents an astounding, candid portrait of one of our era’s most notorious strongmen. John Nixon, the first man to conduct a prolonged interrogation of Hussein after his capture, offers expert insight into the history and mind of America’s most enigmatic enemy.

In December 2003, after one of the largest, most aggressive manhunts in history, US military forces captured Iraqi president Saddam Hussein near his hometown of Tikrit. Beset by body-double rumors and false alarms during a nine-month search, the Bush administration needed positive identification of the prisoner before it could make the announcement that would rocket around the world.

At the time John Nixon was a senior CIA leadership analyst who had spent years studying the Iraqi dictator. Called upon to make the official ID, Nixon looked for telltale scars and tribal tattoos and asked Hussein a list of questions only he could answer. The man was indeed Saddam Hussein, but, as Nixon learned in the ensuing weeks, both he and America had greatly misunderstood just who Saddam Hussein really was.

After years of parsing Hussein's leadership from afar, Nixon faithfully recounts his debriefing sessions and subsequently strips away the mythology surrounding an equally brutal and complex man. His account is not an apology but a sobering examination of how preconceived ideas led Washington policymakers - and the Bush White House - astray. Unflinching and unprecedented, Debriefing the President exposes a fundamental misreading of one of the modern world's most central figures and presents a new narrative that boldly counters the received account.

©2016 John Nixon (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A damning indictment of the perversion of a major intelligence service by little minds inside and above it." (The Times of London)

“That a CIA officer should hold power to account in a memoir is unusual, and patriotic. John Nixon has done so with insight and style. Debriefing the President is a page turner of historical consequence - excellent news for the republic in treacherous times.” (Nick McDonell, author of Twelve and The End of Major Combat Operations)

"A fascinating glimpse of the "tough, shrewd, manipulative" leader and his views on the U.S. invasion, Iraqi history, and his own role in the Middle East...An intelligent and readable postscript to the Iraq War that will be valuable for future historians." (Kirkus, starred review)

Great story Very educational

Enjoyed listening to a historical event told by someone with firsthand knowledge, learned a lot about Iraq Sadam & our players in this mess

Great Story

I really enjoyed the book, but I wish it hadn't been so heavily redacted by the CIA. You still follow the basics of the story, but it would be much richer with the details that have been cut out to protect secrets.

insightful, but very biased

The writer clearly knows a lot about Saddam, and it really shows through in this book. unfortunately, he also clearly has a grudge the CIA and political leadership. I understand his frustration, and it's good to point out the political and beaurocrat problems. But it consumes large swaths of an otherwise short book, and smacks of complaining without any road to resolution.

Good insights.. please read review

This production reflected... [ The following 16 lines has been redacted by the reviewer ] .. and that's the core value attained.

Following phrase has been redacted

If you take out “the following phrase has been redacted by the CIA publication review board” then you would have a much more enjoyable book. However, it seems that the author is making a passive aggressive stab his old organization Bilo leaving this unseemly, clunky, disruption throughout the book rather than simply re-riding those passages and a way that would make sense to the reader And still satisfy the Secret obsessed bureaucratic overlords of the CIA. This disruption we’re not so great in the flow of the book, it would definitely be a five star very worthwhile enjoyable listen with Jean in size worth serious consideration by An expert on the subject.

What a starý! WHAT A READ!

The image of through-mainstream-media-pitched Saddam Hussein has been given a realistic mundane and real world, much more day-to-day side of the man by the author of this mind boggling read!
This story is bound to leave each of its readers feeling regretful of the fate of the man!

Furthermore , THE MORE one is bound to feel pity for Saddam, after having read this personal account of conversations with the man, THE MORE ONE IS BOUND TO FEEL SHAME FOR THE FEEBLE-MINDEDNESS AND OUT-OF-THEIR-INTELLECTUAL-DEPTH depiction of what jerks G.W. BUSH and the NEOCONS (most of whom with considerable ties to Jewish and Israeli institutions, activists and contacts among those who were in charge of the USA at the time! Great read, perfect story!

I HOPE THE UNCLASSIFIED BITS WILL BE CONTINUOUSLY PUBLISHED WHEN CIA CENSORSHIP WILL CEASE TO STAY CLASSIFIED!

Great Book

The author demonstrates a very incisive intelligence. He has first-hand knowledge of the events that he is writing about. This is not an opinion book.
I recommend this book to everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and learning from it.

Great Listen

Huge insight into the Bush administration and more so into Saddam Hussein. There's a lot that went on in the Iraq war that was clearly not covered by the American media, press, or intelligence regarding who Saddam was or why he did what he did. It also remains as a cautionary tale for future administrations of the presidency and why it is so important to have a president that can both deal with domestic issues as well as foreign issues as well and for the last three administrations, it's hard to see why the rest of the world disliked the United States so much, given our level of irresponsibility.

This audiobook is a must listen for anyone interested in political science, Saddam Hussein, or just want some insight into what happened in Iraq.

Fantastic new look at the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

If you remember 9/11 and the Bush administration's response in Iraq, you'll love this first person recount of the debriefing of Saddam, and later of Bush and Cheney.

Of course there's two sides to every story, but this is one of the most thoughtful accounts of what US leadership had wrong about Saddam before, during and after the invasion of Iraq.

Also hits on how the Clinton and Obama administrations didn't fare any better.

Very entertaining and goes by quickly.

One Lie Took Us To War

Excellent read, but American KIA invading Iraq prevented me giving the interview 5 Stars. Saddam was doing everything we asked of him, and listen to this folks. We knew there were no chemical or biological weapons before we sent our best to war, and now we have a CIC that is the complete opposite. This book is rock solid true, If you enjoy the truth then this is your book, and you will once again see the professionalism coming out in CIA Officers. That's the only refreshing part about this book, and no consequences for those who sent our men to war.