Not something to brag about to a "Civilized" nation (but at times I wonder
if we are)


Bush keeps Saddam's pistol as trophy

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May 30, 2004 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush keeps in his White House
offices a trophy of one his high points in the Iraq war, the pistol that
Saddam Hussein held when soldiers pulled him from his underground hideaway.

Military specialists mounted the sidearm, and soldiers who helped in the
deposed Iraqi president's capture presented it to the president, the White
House said Sunday. The president keeps the gun in a small study adjoining
the Oval Office.

"The president was proud of the performance and bravery of our armed forces
and was honored to receive it on behalf of the troops involved in the
operation," said White House spokesman Jim Morrell.

Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of 4th Infantry Division, said the
Saddam had the loaded pistol on his lap but didn't move to use it against
the Americans who surprised him in what the military described as a spider
hole near his hometown, Tikrit, on Dec. 13.

Soldiers from Odierno's division conducted the raid that ended Saddam's
seven months on the run.