Saddam placed $60m bounty on Rumsfeld’s daughters’ heads as revenge for sons’ killings

WASHINGTON - Former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has revealed that he had faced an awkward” moment in a 2003 National Security meeting when he was informed that Saddam Hussein had put a 60 million dollar bounty on his daughters heads as revenge for the slaying of his two sons.

The Daily Mail quoted Rumsfeld as saying that that the former Iraqi dictator had offered the bounty to anybody who could get him both girls’ heads.

A similar threat was reportedly made to former President George W Bush’s two daughters Jenna and Barbara after Saddam’s sons Uday and Qusay and his 14-year-old grandson Mustapha were killed by US forces.

The President, however, had Secret Service protection that made him feel safer unlike Rumsfeld who felt uncomfortable and paused for a while after hearing the news during the 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. 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,” the paper quoted Rumsfeld, as saying.

‘There was not much I could do, my children did not have protection. I felt concerned but I felt realistic. I have have no regrets about Iraq and Afghanistan’ There are certain things that happen in life that one cannot do much about. ‘I made a comment like “Thank you” or something and President Bush looked me in the eye and said ‘You better take this seriously,’” he added.

Rumsfeld made his comments during the promotion of his new memoir ‘Known and Unknown,’ which gives a detailed account of his time in office till he retired in December 2006. (ANI)