I wouldn't worry about Hitchens. He's been on call-in shows a million times and when Philion called in, it set off his Spider Senses so he let him have it NPR style. Here's a good recent interview about Orwell http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/int2002-10-23.htm
"Q:Does it really seem such a stretch that neoconservatives should want to claim him, given that so many of them were one-time socialists who became disillusioned with Soviet communism? Hitchens:I'm sorry to say this in the hearing of my conservative friends, but one reason why they admire him and wish to possess him is that they don't have an equivalent figure of their own. Which is for a good reason. One thing I stupidly left out of my piece on Martin Amis's Koba the Dread was to say, Look if you're going to write about why Stalinism was a moral crisis, you have to ask yourself why so many conservatives were taken in by it to one extent or another. For example, Winston Churchill openly said to Stalin's ambassador in London, Well, at least I see someone has taken care of the Bolsheviks in the purges and the trials. And T. S. Eliot, a man pretty much accepted as a conservative cultural icon for the last century, was one of the reasons for the non-publication of Animal Farm—not only because he didn't want to be rude to the Russian ally, but also because he suspected what he calls Orwell's Trotskyism. "
I'd concern yourself more with the mental state of Saddam. What was he thinking letting out all of the political prisoners? Didn't he see what happened in Easter Europe? ------- Saddam: I have a great idea. We'll let out all of the prisoners except for the American and Zionist spies.
#1: I don't know about that. It could get out of hand and snowball. And what about the prisoners who were a result of the military purges? Won't they be looking for revenge?
Saddam: Actually, I'm letting them go at the request of the generals. They're getting awfully demanding lately.
#1: Really our only hope is Ramsey Clark and Stevie P. and the others. Hopefully they can stop the American war machine so we can continue our quest for WMDs and eventually hold the region hostage.
(evil laughter)
Saddam (brightening): Did you see they that they had some good turnouts for the anti-war marches?
#1: Yeah I read about it in the New York Times. Our spies say they low-balled the counts.
Saddam: Well, what do you expect?