Rufus Jones has written a review of a forthcoming documentary on Saddam by French filmmaker Joel Soler called "Uncle Saddam":

Besides decontamination, Saddam does have other hobbies: he enjoys joshing with his doubles, firing weapons into the air at mandatory-attendance rallies, dancing to traditional Arab music, smoking Cubans (cigars, not people), and going fishing with grenades. Risking life and limb, Soler periodically escaped his state-appointed minders (who he generously mentions in the documentary's credits: "Attempted to be directed by Abou Noor"), to film some of Saddam's palaces.

It begins to feel like an episode of MTV's "Cribs," except instead of the tacky "Scarface" posters typically favored by our nation's leading gangster rappers, Saddam's cribs come with all sorts of extra amenities: private casinos, gold-leaf thrones, escape bunkers, even underground runways. While Saddam does tend toward the ostentatious (after asking his people to donate their gold for the war effort against Iran, he later showed up in a solid-gold carriage), he's not above sharing his wealth. In 1998, we are informed, "When American planes began to bomb some of Saddam's palaces, Saddam invited the Iraqi people to sleep inside."

Also see my previous posts on the conditions in Iraq and Saddam's psychopathic sons. Also, see this link to Mark Bowden's "Tales Of A Tyrant" essay.

Update: Paula Zahn of CNN has interviewed Joel Soler about his documentary and you can see a video on the CNN website of part of the interview.