After Exclusive CBS Interview, Iraqi Leader Quizzed Dan Rather
When the cameras were turned off after more than an hour and a half, it was Saddam Hussein's turn to interview Dan Rather.
The Iraqi leader led the CBS anchor to the overstuffed leather chairs in his high-ceilinged Baghdad office and "had questions about American public opinion and President Bush," Rather recalled yesterday from the Jordanian desert. "I said, 'Mr. President, you asked me and I will try to answer you. A lot of these answers I don't think you're going to like.'
"There's always some discomfort in that kind of situation. I wasn't going to trim the answers to suit what I thought he wanted to hear. I told him American public opinion was behind President Bush.
"I think he said, 'Not as much as it was.' " Rather responded that "Americans like to debate and discuss things and vent" but were still backing Bush.
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