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A story needing to be told. A disturbing look into the trial and execution. No matter how bad a person, there is humanity to be found. The impact this had on the men who guarded and got to know him is gut-wrenching: the complexity of the human spirit and how our soldiers are harmed by war in expected and unexpected ways. If you can read this book without shedding a tear for Hussein and the men with him in his final days, you have a hard heart.

Sounds a lot like Trump.

Somehow I can't picture Saddam listening to Blige.

This isn't a typical book choice for me, but I heard the author interviewed on NPR and immediately added it to my TBR. It is a quick read, just over 200 pages, but it gave me a lot to think about. How could one of the world's most notorious dictators be someone with whom his American guards could build a compassionate, caring relationship? It says a lot about human relationships.

5 🌟! Summer 2006: 12 U.S. soldiers were tasked with guarding former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein as he sat on trial. Saddam is responsible for unspeakable crimes against humanity, but that's not the version of the man the U.S. guards met. They met a man stripped of his power and possessions. A glimpse into the surreal assignment of guarding an infamous dictator & the emotional complexity of leading someone you‘ve bonded with to their death.