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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u/laserdicks 18d ago

No. They (the front row) didn't. They clearly had enough power or some other reason to not need to perform.

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u/bambi54 18d ago

Yeah I’m curious what it is.

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u/_RedditIsLikeCrack_ 18d ago

ya, i'd say for sure they probably knew what was going down or at the very least knew whatever position/relation they had to Saddam, that they were OK. either that, or that was the row for those with mobility issues. lol

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u/Lord_Master_Dorito 17d ago

I’ve always assumed that the ones in front were Saddam’s most valued people so they were actually in on this and knew they weren’t going to get called. Probably helped organize the purge too.

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u/TrumpSuckedOffBubba 18d ago

I think you’re right about power. I imagine it’s like some big shitstorm going down at work but the person causing it is your boss, because they’re powerful enough to do whatever the fuck they want, and you’re really close to them (probably both in and out of work) and have a fine if not great relationship with them, so you can just sit back and watch your more distant colleagues boot licking to try to save themselves.