When Saddam Hussein held a public purge

In 1979, Saddam Hussein publicly accused 68 of his own party members of treason. But it was a lie. A way to get rid of people he considered rivals, and who he feared could cause problems in the future.

Image credits:
Wikimedia Commons

Video credits:

Music credits:

This translation provides information about the licensing and sources for two musical pieces by Kevin MacLeod. The licenses allow for use with proper attribution under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 terms.

Sources:
"Saddam: His Rise and Fall" by Con Coughlin (2002)
"Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq" by Kanan Makiya (1989)

[altovisa]

Can you imagine.... the fear in that room . As they wait.

[stevenlovejoy]

How it feels when your teacher returns from her absence and she has a list of names the substitute left of students who were acting up while she was gone.

[darkninjacorporation]

In case you’re wondering:

No. Your country is not immune to such things happening.

[Heavenly.Harlot]

That video is one of the most terrifying films ever made

[duskopopov]

Every single man in that theatre had a mustache!

[MexBaker]

Was completely wrong to intervene in Iraq but i hate it whenever people defend this guy like some hero against the west. He was still a deranged dictator.

[AlmostCoolGuys]

Its always "Go after the family" the lowest method

[hopefullyreasonable]

It's difficult to find good sources online, but an interesting addition to this purge is Adnan Hamdani.
He can be found in lists of the purge but what is often missing is that he was a close friend of Saddam and was expected be second him command. It's said that Saddam personally executed him as a show of force, likely due to his opposition to the Iran war. He even grieved the loss of his friend and provided a pension for his wife.

Quite different to others that disagreed with him. The health minister who also very moderately opposed the war was tortured to death, chopped up, and delivered to his family in piece, with a funeral not allowed.

To me this shows that he clearly killed his friend for political power, even though it hurt him.
Hell of a way to kick off a purge.

[LewisDM]

Utterly terrifying. That brave man standing up there lying to make sure his family dont die. Wow.

[pbcfisher]

This is the format of a documentary ive been looking for. Kudos.

[somebodyintheinternet]

Here in iraq, husbands used to be so afraid of telling their wives of what they said, heard and did. It's not because of the wife getting angry, it's because the wife could report what the husband did if it mean more social benefits for her.

[eamonwright]

Saddam was fascinated by Stalinist Russia. This is his moment to shine and this was his homage to Stalin.

[Stash_box]

Sadam is a fascinating historical figure....his cold blooded and calculated demeanor was always unsettling to me.

[hasanaliakhmedov]

And yet he died like a dog, hiding in a pit for days, and then found and hanged, and the US forces ripped through his military of which he was so proud of.

[teteirasoutar]

Shocked to see only a handle of videos this channel had with how good this video is.

[apollomergulhao]

Apparently, his favourite movie was "godfather"

[vac]

The way you told this story was amazing. IM IN LOVE WITH THIS. Great job

[hot]

You’ve struck gold man. Settings, pacing, atmosphere absolutely professional. Instantly subscribed

[ethanomcbride]

This is an example of exceptional, suspenseful storytelling. Your channel, though small, is incredibly impressive so far. I cannot wait to see what you put out next. You’re telling stories that desperately need to be told.

[Thardworldghost]

And people have the audacity to claim that he wasn't a bad guy.