ESPN

Steven L. Miller

In spite of these personal stories and years of documented abuse, there will still be thousands of democ....oops, I mean people, that will think this is all "made up" or some other nonsense in order to promote a war with Iraq.

Latif Yahia

  (2:04 PM)

Yes, this is true. But I don't make stories to create a war against my country. Because I don't want this war against my country. I never would want innocent people in my country to be killed in a war. Yes, I live in Europe and I am a Western citizen now, but I am against any invasion by the United Nations because of the lives of children and others can be lost. In my estimation, the United Nations is in the control of the U.S. Yes, I am against the Iraqi government. I just don't want someone from the outside to come and try to put a democratic government in Iraq, because there's no way for Iraq to be democratic. The people who want war with Iraq want the oil.

Mike Foley

Say the IOC does ban Iraq from the Olympics. Do you think that will make Uday think twice about torturing more athletes? Or will it matter at all?

Latif Yahia

  (2:06 PM)

He doesn't care. Because he's not interested in sports. He's just head of criminal operations in Iraq. It will be no problem for him. He won't stop torturing athletes. It's in his blood.

Spanky (Fort Worth)

What will be Uday's response when he reads about all these horrible stories about him? ... Since coming out to discuss what you know and have seen for yourself, do you fear for your own life now? ... Do you think that public knowledge of what is going on at the Iraqi National Olympic Committee will change anything, either for the better or worse, for the athletes?

Latif Yahia

  (2:08 PM)

He's not the kind of person who feels sorry for torturing or killing people. He has no problem with doing illegal things. He will sit and laugh at these allegation. Right now I think he's thinking about war, not anything else.

Martha Pacey

What do you think the IOC should do about this situation?

Latif Yahia

  (2:09 PM)

Nothing. They can't do anything. Because this is Iraq. It's not like a shop that you can shut down. His answer to the IOC will be f--- off.

Rick Jones

Was Uday much of a sports fan? Why was he interested in the Olympic job originally?

Latif Yahia

  (2:12 PM)

Because he wanted to do something very special. He is a republic inside a republic. he wanted to own his own military unit, and everything else in Iraq. He belived the Olympic committee was the best place to make this happen, since he never wanted to be a general in the military like his father.

Mike Foley

What was Uday like to work for? And do you believe that the athletes who spoke to ESPN are telling the truth about being tortured?

Latif Yahia

  (2:15 PM)

He's not human. He's more than evil. He never appreciates when somebody does something for him. I'll give you one example. After all these years of working for him, which included me risking my life, he still put me in prison for 21 days. And he tortured me. And never apologized. Actually he did say sorry once, but I don't think he meant it.

Moderator Tom Farrey

  (2:16 PM)

Latif has left the chat room. Thank you for your questions, and your patience.