If Helen Thomas can ever again get President Bush to call on her at a press conference, she should ask him why Saddam Hussein has been paid thousands of dollars since his capture in December 2003.

Chances are the President will read her a stern lecture, and issue a firm and spirited denial.

If so, he’ll have a lot of egg on his face later. Because the fact of the matter is that either the U.S. government or the sovereign nation of Iraq has paid Saddam 75 Swiss Francs (about $60) a month for the last 30 months. That adds up to thousands of dollars, 1.8 of them, to be exact.

That’s the salary Saddam is entitled to as a General designated as a POW:

But neither the Supreme Court decision nor the Pentagon order recognizes the 450 Guantanamo detainees as prisoners of war — a classification enjoyed by
Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Panama’s Manuel Noriega.
[...]
Countries holding them must give POWs monthly pay of at least eight Swiss francs, or the equivalent in local currency, on a scale that rises with rank. Generals get 75 Swiss francs a month.