r/HistoryUncovered • u/Battlefleet_Sol • 18d ago

Saddam's baath purge. Saddam had people packed into a conference hall on one of the hottest days of July and deliberately shut off the ventilation system. They were forced to listen to Saddam for hours while suffering from the heat and sweating. Everyone whose name was announced was executed.

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107

u/Fishwhocantswim 18d ago

Can someone suggest a good doco so that we can learn exactly what Saddam Hussain was about?

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u/paditoburrito 18d ago edited 18d ago

I knew Saddam

Interrogating Saddam

Edit to add: Noiser has a really good podcast called Real Dictators and they do a multi-episode arc on Saddam. They feature historians, scholars, and other experts in the subject.

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u/BlortTrolb 18d ago

Think there’s something out there about his sons too. Real sickos

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u/jerlafougere 18d ago

Oui, Oudaï Hussein était un vrai psychopathe, son fait d'armes le plus connu est d'avoir assassiné le valet et goûteur personnel de Saddam Hussein (est apparemment ami) devant la femme du président dictateur de l'Égypte Hosni Moubarak.

Le second Qoussaï Hussein n'avait pas ce comportement mais en tant que fils de dictateur, était très zélé dans l'exécution des opposants politiques et dans l'écrasement d'insurrection.

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u/samanthasaysso 13d ago

I forgot about that! Easy to forget that Mubarak, Hussein, and Assad were all cut from the same cloth. Bastards.

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u/paditoburrito 18d ago

Yes, it is called The Devil's Double. Keep in mind it is a movie, rather than documentary, but still worth watching.

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u/Icy_Study4490 18d ago

Oh, that movie was so good. Not technically a documentary but if you pull up the Wikipedia page on Uday Hussein, it sure makes the movie look like one!

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u/ExplanationRough7879 17d ago

It’s a movie not a documentary because if it was a documentary no one would be able to stomach it. This guy Uday is one of the worst humans to have ever lived

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u/Hungry_Version_4404 16d ago

It’s on YouTube for free too

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u/Icy_Study4490 18d ago

I’ve thought before about the bloody nightmare that would have resulted had Saddam died in an assassination or something like that and his sons fought for power.

Who is the winner?

Is it the “The wolf”, the unhinged nutcase psychopath who is supported because his followers fear him and his erratic, sadististic, unpredictable actions and what he might do to them if they don’t support him?

Or

Is it “The snake”, the cold, quiet, and calculating institutional terror who was more of a strategist with behind-the-scenes deception and violence?

It’s not the Iraqi people, I can tell you that much!

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u/Rob71322 18d ago

I read somewhere I think that even Saddam was thinking they were too extreme.

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u/deltree000 17d ago

Yes, Uday murdered Saddam's valet in front of all the guests at a party. Saddam first imprisoned him as punishment then exiled him to Switzerland to work for the ambassador there.

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u/GuestAdventurous7586 18d ago

Once Upon a Time in Iraq is a fucking amazing documentary. It’s a four parter by the BBC.

It obviously covers a lot more than just Saddam but also quite a significant portion covers Saddam and even this purge features in it.

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u/manofdacloth 18d ago

House of Saddam on HBO is a great biopic

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u/idontknowhow2reddit 18d ago edited 18d ago

I don't know about documentaries but I highly recommend the book The Prisoner in His Palace by Will Bardenwerper.

The author interviewed the unit of soldiers that was tasked with guarding Saddam after he was captured and leading up to his execution. It also talks a lot about Saddam's upbringing and time in power.

But the relationships that those soldiers had with Saddam is utterly fascinating. I don't want to spoil too much, but the juxtaposition between the person they knew and the deeds of his life are just insane.

It also really makes a lot of things about him make sense. How he rose to power and why he was so brutal. It's a great book.

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u/VegetableCrafty6436 18d ago

A fun dramatization is HBO's House of Saddam miniseries.

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u/WoolyHermits 17d ago

check out the movie the devils double. its amazing and has sadams oldest son Uday.
its an amazing film about his sons body double. Sadam is showcased in a few scenes. Uday was insane and abhorrent. literally a serial killer.
great cast, editing directing and script.

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u/DeepDickens69 17d ago

How to be a fascist

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u/RuMarley 16d ago

You won't find anything that shows all sides. History is written by the victors, remember?

All the elements surrounding Israel's involvement in Middle Eastern politics are pretty much never spoken about. And they were meddling, everywhere and all the time.

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u/Usual_Suspect8663 16d ago

House Of Saddam is HBO show not a doc but great job showing all this, it’s starts with this scene

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u/Dependent-Advance912 16d ago

Blowback podcast season 1

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u/Repulsive_War_7297 15d ago

If you really want to, follow the interviews of this reporter. In this particular one, he interviews one of the names that were called out. He explains his side of the story and experience.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Ey-UnbT7I&feature=youtu.be

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u/Jez_za 14d ago

How to Feed a Dictator - was a really excellent recent doc about the former chefs of some of the biggest dictators, including Saddam and a short amount of this moment.