In addition to interrogating Saddam, John is eventually brought in to share his findings with President Bush. How did it feel to be in those two rooms with those two people?

NIXON I’m one of the few people who actually shook the hand of both President George W. Bush and President Saddam Hussein. If I had one that I’d rather hang out with, it would probably be Saddam Hussein. I came away liking him a lot more than Bush.

But I found there were a lot of similarities between them. They’re surrounded by an inner circle that basically isolates them from the real world, so much so that they really are out of touch with reality. A week before the American Army’s going to end his reign, Saddam is working on a novel and asking Tariq Aziz, “Hey, let me know what you think of this draft — I think it’s pretty good.”

KINNAMAN Saddam thought 9/11 was going to bring the U.S. and Iraq closer because it was clear they had a common enemy. To hear that from Saddam is the biggest indictment of all the motivations of going to war with Iraq, because it just shows how 100 percent wrong those reasons were, especially in motivating the American people on a false premise. It’s terrifying how the men in these positions have such a shallow understanding of what’s actually going on in the regions of the world where they’re wielding their power.

[Smiling] Fortunately, we now have leadership that is so much more mature and thoughtful and are really just thinking of the common good of the entirety of the human race. I’m so glad we’ve evolved as a society, and that we’re finally past these petty tyrants.

I interviewed actor Joel Kinnaman and former CIA analyst John Nixon about High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam, Kinnaman’s new series dramatizing Nixon’s identification and interrogation of Saddam Hussein following his capture by American forces, for the New York Times. (Gift link!)