In November 1990, Iraqi Air Force Vice Admiral Georges Sada made a terrifying discovery.

Saddam Hussein ordered the planning of an air assault against Israel in retaliation for being forced to surrender Kuwait. The mission was to strike with ninety-eight of its best fighter jets in two waves of back-to-back assaults. They had to use three types of chemical weapons: the Tabun nerve agent; Sarin 1 and Sarin 2. The attack would begin as soon as the US-led coalition forces began their assault.

Sada was the only man willing to defend that plan. It did so based on the anticipation that the sophisticated technology of the Israeli air force would result in the destruction of most or all of the Iragi fighters. Most likely they were shot down over Jordan and Syria. This would spread the deadly chemical agents over their Arab neighbors.

After an hour and 40 minutes of presenting his case to Saddam and his advisers, the room fell silent. He was loaded with the anticipation that Saddam would take Sada’s head off the spot. It had happened before to other officers who had angered Saddam.

Vice Admiral Sada had other motivations for risking his life with Saddam. As unlikely as it may seem, Georges Sada was an Assyrian Christian. He was not a member of the Baath party and Saddam had come to rely on his knowledge and judgment free of political motives.

Vice Admiral Sada dared to disobey Saddam’s orders once again. Necklace. David Eberly of the US Coalition Forces was shot down in Iraq and jailed. He begins his Forward as follows:

“You are about to learn some of the untold secrets of the most tyrannical leader since Adolf Hitler, told by the bravest man, Georges Sada, a retired Iraqi general, fighter pilot and man of faith who faced certain death at the hands of of Saddam’s mad son, Qusay … “

General Sada was put in charge of the prisoners of war and formally interrogated the colonel. Eberly during his incarceration with respect for his human dignity. However, as the bombing of Baghdad intensified, Qusay ordered the execution of all prisoners.

Georges Sada argued that the rights granted to prisoners under the Geneva Convention were inviolable. Necklace. Eberly writes; “He was able, by the grace of God, to convince Saddam that the captured pilots should not die.” As a result, Sada himself was imprisoned by the Republican Guard in January 1991 under threat of death.

This book is a fascinating look at the rise and fall of this century, the most brutal of despots. To some, it will appear selfish and lacking in an honest assessment of General Sada’s own guilt as part of this despotic regime.

Today, Georges Sada is a key figure in the reconstruction of Iraq and the formation of a new constitution that respects human rights.