It's extraordinarily effective. He's been working on it for a very long time. Initially, he had people from his own village. He has a lot of members of his own family. They are people that he still trusts, according to all reports. But he's been absolutely ruthless in dealing with opposition, from the Shias in the south, and perhaps even more so for the Kurds in the north. Right after the war, when Saddam was defeated, we made a number of extraordinary mistakes. We didn't demand that Saddam come and sign the capitulation agreement himself. We allowed his lieutenants to do that, so they took the blame for the defeat.

The same way that most dictators stay in power--he has complete control of the security apparatus. He is totally ruthless. He is surrounded by people who have a great interest in the survival of the regime, such as the Republican Guard, and members of the Ba'ath Party. They know that if he's overthrown, they're going to be hanged too. I don't think there's any mystery about why he survives. It's difficult for those who don't understand that regime to comprehend its ruthlessness. You've seen it develop over the years. How methodical has he been in developing a security apparatus to keep control?