Former CIA agent John Nixon reveals what it was like to interrogate Saddam Hussein
Now, in an interview with the BBC to promote his book "Debriefing the President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein," Nixon has revealed what it was like to get inside the mind of a world famous war criminal.
Hussein was renowned for having body doubles, so the former CIA agent's first job was to identify him - but it didn't take long.
"There was no doubt in my mind as soon as I saw him, that it was him," he told the "Victoria Derbyshire" show in a Skype interview from Washington DC. "When I started talking to him, he gave me the same look he had on a book that had sat on my desk for years. Surreal doesn't come close."
'Saddam was the most secretive and suspicious person I had ever met'
Hussein had just spent months hiding in a hole underground near his hometown of Tikrit, Iraq. He emerged "disoriented" and "bewildered," according to reports at the time, telling US troops: "My name is Saddam Hussein. I am the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate."
Despite his rudimentary, solitary existence underground, Nixon was surprised at how composed Hussein was when he began questioning the president. Nixon said:
"He was much more in control of himself than I thought. For a person who had just had his world rocked upside down, he sort of acted as though he came here every Saturday night and the US military, who were his captors were actually his guests. The number one question was: "Where are the weapons of mass destruction?"
"[He said] he didn't have any. That he didn't have an ongoing weapons programme and that he didn't intend to start one. Saddam was the most secretive and suspicious person I had ever met and it was hard to believe him. He was so secretive, you felt like he was holding back on you even when he was telling the truth."
Hussein was unrestrained as he sat in the small room, sitting on a foldable chair, according to the BBC. The only other people present were a polygrapher and an interpreter. In an interrogation that lasted for days, Nixon said there were times when Hussein lost his temper.
"There were two or three occasions when my questioning got on his bad side," he explained. "We had to appeal to his sense of history and the prospect of him getting his views heard on record, and by the highest of powers in the world."
'He was one of the most charismatic individuals I've ever encountered'
"He had been in hiding for months and hadn't had many conversations," the former CIA man said, adding: "He was one of the most charismatic individuals I've ever encountered. When he wanted to be he could be charming, nice, funny and polite."
Nixon asked Hussein about his personal life and experiences and said it was "fascinating" to hear his story first-hand. He explained: "So many things I had read from other scholars turned out to be false. Even going back the characterisation of his stepfather. I had always been told he mercilessly beat him and maltreated him, and that this was one of the reasons that Saddam turned out to be the vicious ruler that he was.
"I asked him: "What was your relationship like?" He said: "I loved my stepfather, he was the most wonderful man. He is the person who made me who I am.""
Nixon even said he felt sorry for Hussein. "I remember looking down at the sandals he was wearing and thinking: You've done terrible things and I certainly don't approve of your methods, but this was not for us to come here and take you out of power. It was really for the Iraqi people to do that... I felt that this was all wrong."