Donald Rumsfeld has revealed that Saddam Hussein took out a $60 million hit on his daughters in revenge for the slaying of his two sons.
The ex-U.S. Secretary of Defense said that the former Iraqi dictator offered the bounty to anybody who brought him both girls’ heads.
He was given the warning in a October 2003 meeting by which time U.S. forces had killed Saddam’s sons Uday and Qusay and his 14-year-old grandson Mustapha.
A similar threat was made to George W Bush’s two daughters Jenna and Barbara, but the President had Secret Service protection which made him feel safer.
Mr Rumsfeld and his family had no such privilege, sparking a rather uncomfortable pause in the National Security Council meeting.
‘Of course the President and his family had secret service protection.
‘My family did not. And it was a somewhat awkward moment in the meeting,’ he told ABC’s Good Morning America.
‘I believe (former CIA head) George Tenet said: You have to take it seriously because we had killed Saddam Husein’s sons and one ought not to be surprised that that kind of activity was being generated in Iraq.”