# Did Saddam Hussein speak English? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019 "2003-04-16T03:53:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tonbo0422](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@tonbo0422](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonbo0422)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/1 "2003-04-16T03:53:16Z")
I’ve always thought that if the Great Dictator had only spoken clear, concise English like Abdullah of Jordan, the Western world would have been a tiny bit more reluctant to attack. Speaking the impenetrable (to Westerners) language of Arabic led many to over-demonize him, was what occurred to me. After all, if your enemy speaks in an incomprehensible babble, what’s not to misunderstand? Of course, over-demonizing Saddam Hussein is impossible, so at least that point is not at issue here. But what if he had stood up, looked the camera in the eye and said in clear English, “Everything you’ve heard about me is untrue!” Well, one can only fantasize. But it seems to me that at that level, someone of his (dubious) stature would have definitely learned enough English to get along in ordinary conversation, and I wonder, why didn’t he speak English to his major opponents, the Americans? It would have at leat humanized him. (Let’s not get into George Bush addressing the Arab world in Arabic.) This also goes to Hitler. He almost certainly spoke quite good English (he was a noted Britannophile,) so why didn’t he? A followup to both these questions is: in their own language, what kind of impression did their accents have on the masses? Did Saddam sound like an uncouth village boy and did Hitler sound like a heavily dialected hillbilly from the countryside? Or did they sound (in their own language) as erudite as Churchill and Roosevelt seemed to us? I guess the only people able to answer those questions would be native speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/2 "2003-04-16T04:29:11Z")
Well, when Dan Rather interviewed him in February, it was all translated “on the fly” by Iraqi interpreters, but there was this. [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/26/60II/main542166.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/26/60II/main542166.shtml) > [@](#): > > Rather: Mr. President, I hope you will take this question in the spirit in which it’s asked. First of all, I regret that I do not speak Arabic. Do you speak any-- any English at all? > > Saddam Hussein: (In Arabic…) Have some coffee > > Translator for Saddam Hussein: Americans like coffee…. > > Rather: That’s true and this American likes coffee. > > Saddam Hussein: I am sorry, I do not speak English - fluently. But I can understand to some extent. > > Rather: Well, would you speak some English for me? Anything you choose? > > Saddam Hussein: Our language is Arabic. And I have absolutely no idea whether he said “Our language is Arabic” in Arabic or English–you can’t tell from the transcript. It sure seems like he probably said it in English. [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/26/60II/main542151.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/26/60II/main542151.shtml) > [@](#): > > Note: in almost every case, the translator is translating what Saddam Hussein has just said in Arabic. In a few minor cases, the translator is speaking for himself to Dan Rather. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/3 "2003-04-16T04:40:53Z")
Well, when Dan Rather interviewed him in February, it was all translated “on the fly” by Iraqi interpreters, but there was this. [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/26/60II/main542166.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/26/60II/main542166.shtml) > [@](#): > > Rather: Mr. President, I hope you will take this question in the spirit in which it’s asked. First of all, I regret that I do not speak Arabic. Do you speak any-- any English at all? > > Saddam Hussein: (In Arabic…) Have some coffee > > Translator for Saddam Hussein: Americans like coffee…. > > Rather: That’s true and this American likes coffee. > > Saddam Hussein: I am sorry, I do not speak English - fluently. But I can understand to some extent. > > Rather: Well, would you speak some English for me? Anything you choose? > > Saddam Hussein: Our language is Arabic. And I have absolutely no idea whether he said “Our language is Arabic” in Arabic or English–you can’t tell from the transcript. It sure seems like he probably said it in English. [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/26/60II/main542151.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/26/60II/main542151.shtml) > [@](#): > > Note: in almost every case, the translator is translating what Saddam Hussein has just said in Arabic. In a few minor cases, the translator is speaking for himself to Dan Rather. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/4 "2003-04-16T05:05:58Z")
I like the fact that “Have some coffee” was translated as “Americans like coffee.” ---
**Author:** ![censored](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/35a633/32.png) [@censored](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/censored)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/5 "2003-04-16T09:32:16Z")
I watched the interview, and I remember him saying “Our language is Arabic” in Arabic. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/6 "2003-04-16T09:43:54Z")
So, I suppose the answer would be arrogance: Both Hitler and Saddam were highly arrogant men, generally unwilling to meet someone halfway. When Saddam said “Our language is Arabic,” he’d made a declarative statement regarding something that would not have been debatable. And I think we’re all clear on Hitler’s feelings regarding the relative position of German in the Universe. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/7 "2003-04-16T15:52:33Z")
Funny, I don’t recall George Bush (or his pop) ever addressing the Iraqi people in Arabic. So why should Saddam have talked to us in English? (Let’s face it, GWB has enough trouble addressing his own people in coherent English, but that’s another story.) ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/8 "2003-04-16T17:54:48Z")
> [@](#): > > So, I suppose the answer would be arrogance Well, I certainly don’t doubt that the arrogance existed, but I suspect that a better answer would be a desire not to make a statement in badly-constructed English that would be embarrasing or incorrect. Better to reply in Arabic and let a professional translator convert it into acceptable English. Does anyone else remember JFK’s “I am a Jelly Doughnut!” speech? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/9 "2003-04-16T18:15:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Does anyone else remember JFK’s “I am a Jelly Doughnut!” speech? Just the entire Internet… 😃 “jfk jelly”, 3,630 hits ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/10 "2003-04-16T18:31:35Z")
C’mon **DDG** , I expect more from you. 🙂 The whole “Jelly donought” thing is a bit of urban legendry. Cite: [http://www.watzmann.net/scg/faq-25.html](http://www.watzmann.net/scg/faq-25.html) > [@](#): > > Summary: President John F. Kennedy’s well-known exclamation has been often declared to be incorrect German, causing the President to be totally misunderstood by his audience. It is shown here that and why the statement, translated for Kennedy by a native speaker of German, is the correct and the only correct way of expressing in German what the President wanted to say. 1995-10 Cite 2: [http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/jfkberl.htm](http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/jfkberl.htm) And there ya go… ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/11 "2003-04-16T18:43:19Z")
I don’t have a cite but I’ve read that Sadaam does know English but refuses to speak it in public. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/12 "2003-04-16T19:26:18Z")
There’s no reason for a head of state to use a foreign language. Not only as the representant of his/her country, it’s logical that he wouldn’t but also, even if he happen to know it, he will necessarily be less fluent than in his native language, so he’s likely to express himself poorly and he’s likely to make a mistake or to say something stupid, something that a politician would want to avoid. It’s best to let professionnal translators do their job. Of course, he can use said foreign language in some occasion to convey a positive message : “look! I like your country, I even speak the language”. But he’s unlikely to say anything important in these cases. And by the way, \*\* Derleth \*\*, Saddam stating “Our language is arabic” isn’t arrogance. It’s a plain statement of truth, and it’s rather obvious that a politician interviewed by foreigners in his own country will expect them to adress him in his language, in the language of his country. If you want to know, I believe the arrogance is yours, for thinking that not speaking one’s own language in one’s own country is arrogant. You seem to be arrogant enough to believe that foreign head of heads of state should speak \*\* Derleth \*\* 's language and should have some good reason or some evil ulterior motive if they don’t want to use it. Or course, \*\* Derleth \*\*, if you want to respond to my post, I expect you’ll do so in _french_ or else, I’ll assume you’re an arrogant guy who doesn’t want to write in french on an american board. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/13 "2003-04-16T19:27:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tonbo0422 \* > This also goes to Hitler. He almost certainly spoke quite good English (he was a noted Britannophile,) so why didn’t he? Actually, I strongly doubt whether Hitler could speak English at all. Nor should this be terribly surprising: his education did not extent beyond school and I doubt English was routinely taught to schoolkids in early 20th century Austria. The _lingua franca_ of the time, French, was, but his grades in it were recorded as “unsatisfactory” (Kershaw, _Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris_, Penguin, 1998, p19). The private meetings with Chamberlain required an interpreter, Paul Schmidt (Kershaw, _Nemesis_, Penguin, 2000, p110, 122). As a result, Schmidt’s memoirs are an important eyewitness account of what happened at Munich. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/14 "2003-04-16T20:36:23Z")
He didn’t ask if JFK really said he was a jelly doughnut. He asked if anyone remembered the “jelly doughnut” speech. To which the correct answer is, “Yes. Lots of people remember the speech.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/15 "2003-04-16T20:40:11Z")
‘DID Saddam Hussain speak English?’… ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-saddam-hussein-speak-english/169019/16 "2003-04-16T21:07:11Z")
I’m fairly positive that Hitler was not fluent in English, but multiple Nazi party officials were. I seem to remember either Himmler or Goebbels being nearly as fluent as someone who had spent their entire life in England.