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[theme music plays]

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[narrator] So, you've seen
how following the tyrant's playbook

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can help you rise from obscurity

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and seize total control of your nation.

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But, believe it or not,
gaining power was the easy part.

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From day one of your reign,

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you'll be beset by enemies
and treacherous rivals

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eager to bring your regime to a quick

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and likely violent end.

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It's a lesson one of history's
most famous leaders learned the hard way.

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[machine gun fires]

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Killed by former allies

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less than two years
after naming himself dictator for life.

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That too ancient for you?

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How about Laurent Kabila of Congo?

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Assassinated by one
of his own child soldiers

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who got out of line.

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And then there's Liberia's Samuel Doe.

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[machine gun fires]

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Captured and tortured on camera

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before being murdered by a rival warlord.

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But you can avoid their fate

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by using the playbook
to put potential rivals in their place.

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And nobody did this better
than the Butcher of Baghdad:

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Saddam Hussein.

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Who ruled Iraq for 24 years

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[gun blasts]

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by never forgetting the mantra

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all tyrants must follow:

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"Kill or be killed."

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[ominous music plays]

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[speaking Arabic] I will pick up my gun
and fight to the end.

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Saddam Hussein was a brute.

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[man]
His way to stay in power was to make sure

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that anybody he even vaguely suspected

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might be an opponent, would be dead.

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[narrator] But before we get into
how Saddam masterfully

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used the playbook
to stay one step ahead of his rivals,

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here are some fast facts
about how he made it to the top.

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From a very early age,
Saddam Hussein believed in power.

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When he was young,
Saddam would carry a metal rod,

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and he'd use this metal rod as a way
to threaten and intimidate others.

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But he also used it
to torture small animals.

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[Joseph] Saddam participated

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in the assassination attempt in 1959

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of the leader in Iraq, Abd al-Karim Qasim.

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And that really gave him

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a badge of honor within the Ba'ath Party.

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After the coup, one of his cousins,

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Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr,
becomes the president.

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And Saddam was appointed vice president.

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[narrator] But Saddam was destined
for bigger things.

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[woman] Saddam was
a vice president for ten years,

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but in the meantime,
he's actually taking alliances

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and creating friendships
with different aspects of the government.

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[Joseph] Saddam went one day

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to Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and told him,

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"You're getting older.
I hear your health is not in great shape."

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"Time for you to retire."

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[narrator] Or to put it another way…

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[Zainab] You have a choice
of either be executed

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or have a peaceful transition of power.

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The next day, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
goes on TV and says, "I'm retiring."

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[machine gun fires]

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[narrator] So, now you know
how Saddam rose to power,

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let's talk about how he kept it.

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Starting with the first crucial period
of any tyrant's reign,

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when you'll have to show what it means
that there's a new sheriff in town.

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[gun blasts]

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[electronic music plays]

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[woman] There are certain rhythms
to dictatorships.

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Right after they seize power
is actually a very unstable time.

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[Bruce] In order to stay in power,
you have to be ever vigilant.

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You have to make sure that anybody

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who is a potential rival is controlled

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and put in their place.

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[narrator] And those will even include
some of your first and closest allies

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with dangerous ambitions of their own.

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[gun shots]

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[Bruce] Even a minor slight,

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if not dealt with,

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may be a signal to rivals that,
"Oh, this guy is vulnerable."

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[narrator] These fair-weather friends
are now waiting in the wings

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to try to take you down.

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[gun blasts]

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So don't give them the chance.

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These guys didn't.

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[Bruce] Every general
on The Great March with Mao

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was dead

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within a few years.

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[crowd cheering]

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Almost everybody
who fought the revolution in Cuba

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on behalf of Fidel Castro

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was dead within two years.

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[narrator] How about Joseph Stalin's
original comrades in the USSR?

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All gone…

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…in a short time.

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[narrator] But Saddam did them one better

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with a surprise move for the ages.

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[machine gun fires]

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One of Saddam's friends tells him

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that there are people
who are murmuring and not happy

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about Saddam's takeover from al-Bakr.

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So then Saddam does this call for everyone

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in the Ba'athist party to attend Congress.

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And Saddam comes with his famous cigar.

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And he says,
"There are people in this room

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who are opposing my leadership."

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The dreams of the conspirators are many.

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[applause]

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[Benjamin] And then a man
by the name of Mashadi,

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a senior member of the Ba'ath Party
who was highly regarded,

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begins to give a rehearsed speech.

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[speaking Arabic]

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And in it, Mashadi confesses

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to having plotted a coup or conspiracy

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against the Iraqi leadership,
including Saddam Hussein.

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[narrator] Which, in truth,
was entirely made up.

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We know through accounts
that Mashadi had been tortured.

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Saddam brought Mashadi's wife
and daughters to the prison,

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and he told Mashadi he had a choice.

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He could either sit there and watch

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the guards rape his wife and his daughters

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and then kill them,

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or he would confess.

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[narrator] Mashadi chose option two.

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[applause]

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And one by one,
Mashadi begins to read out the names

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of Ba'athist officials
who were, according to him,

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accomplices and conspirators.

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[Mashadi speaking Arabic]

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[in Arabic] Get out.

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And then a member
of the police dressed in plain clothes,

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the security force,
would come and escort out this person.

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Some of these men are begging him,
like, "Please, no, no."

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[shouting in Arabic]

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[Benjamin] And it was
a bizarre spectacle of feigned loyalty…

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[in Arabic] Long live the party!
Long live Saddam Hussein!

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[Benjamin] …but also fear.

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You could see the fear
in the eyes of many of these men

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who felt at any moment
their names could be arbitrarily read.

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[narrator] Outside the meeting room,
the purged party members learn their fate.

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More than 20 are sentenced to die.

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The rest get prison time.

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They think they're lucky

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until they're forced
to conduct the executions themselves.

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A sadistic twist?

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Perhaps.

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But it extinguishes any doubt

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about what Iraq's new leader is
willing to do to protect his authority.

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[gun blasts]

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And in case anybody didn't get the memo…

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The video of that meeting
was sent all around,

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including to Iraqi embassies abroad.

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And the message was, "Look what happens

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when people are betraying
the regime and their leader."

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"That's the way they're gonna end."

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[narrator] What better way
to kick off a new era?

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Now that your rivals know
what you're capable of,

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they'll have no choice
but to raise their game as well.

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How do you make sure
you keep the upper hand?

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To survive as a tyrant,

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you need to have eyes,
ears, and muscle you can rely on

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everywhere.

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[Benjamin]
For a dictator to keep any threat

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to his power from rising up,

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the only way to do that effectively
is to do it in the shadows.

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[narrator] That's why
every dictator's best friend

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is an effective
and ruthless secret police.

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During the Great Terror of the late 1930s,

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Joseph Stalin's secret police, the NKVD,

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presided over the arrest and execution

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of nearly a million
so-called enemies of the people,

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accused of opposing Stalin and his regime.

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In Uganda, Idi Amin enforced loyalty
through his State Research Bureau,

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which was staffed by members of his tribe,

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as well as local criminals
and mercenaries from abroad.

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Haitian dictator
"Papa Doc" Duvalier's enforcers

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were nicknamed
"the Tonton Macoute" or "Bogeyman,"

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after a character in folklore

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who kidnaps and eats unruly children.

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The idea of a secret police in Iraq
began in 1964 with the Jihaz Haneen,

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which was a security apparatus
that Saddam helped found.

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After Saddam ascends to the presidency,

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he creates a special secret,
secret police, a sub-unit.

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And it's comprised entirely
of members of the tribe and family

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that are bound by blood
and oath loyalty to Saddam Hussein.

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[Joseph] In Iraq in the 1970s,

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everyone knew these people.

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They drove the same kind of cars,

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they dressed kind of the same.

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They even had the same mustache.

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[narrator] So much for the secret part.

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But no matter how much
you empower your secret police,

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you need something else
to show your rivals

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that there's nowhere to hide.

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A trusty network of informants.

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In Saddam's Iraq, spying was everywhere.

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Everyone spied on the other.

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The Ba'athists are
everywhere spying on you.

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So, in my own family, for example,

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the only way my parents would speak is
in the middle of the garden,

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blast out the radio far away from them,

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and then they would whisper to each other.

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And that's how they talked
with each other in the '80s.

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[narrator] Now when the playbook says,
"Be everywhere,"

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it's not just talking about
inside your borders.

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[Benjamin] When dissidents would make
their way into other parts of the world,

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Saddam would not hesitate to demonstrate

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that they were reachable to him,
regardless of where they were.

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[narrator] Which leads us to Iraq's former
Prime Minister Abd ar-Razzaq al-Naif.

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Al-Naif was a progressive politician,

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and Saddam's longtime nemesis.

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[applause]

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But after Saddam
and the Ba'athists seized power…

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[rain pouring, thunder rumbling]

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…al-Naif was forced
to flee with his family.

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He moved to Great Britain
and started speaking out,

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publicly criticizing the government.

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Unamused, Saddam begins exploring options

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for how to silence his worst critic.

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A pair of friendly neighborhood assassins
pay al-Naif a visit.

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[elevator dings]

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But they hit al-Naif's wife instead.

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She survived, by the way,
and the gunmen were ultimately arrested.

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[siren wails]

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So now Saddam sends elite agents

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from his secret police
from Iraq to London.

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Where these skilled professionals
tap their informants

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to keep track of al-Naif's every move,

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waiting for the opportunity to strike.

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[gun cocks]

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This time, they don't miss.

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[gun shots]

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[tires screeching]

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The assassination leaves behind
a chilling message for Saddam's critics.

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No matter where you run,
Saddam will find you.

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Murder and mayhem are always a solid play.

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But Saddam didn't rule by fear alone,
and neither should you.

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For the next tactic in the playbook,

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you'll see how to appeal
to another of your rivals' soft spots.

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Their greed.

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Whoever said you can't buy affection,
probably didn't try hard enough.

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What an inner circle needs to stay loyal
is actually very simple.

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They need to get more from the leader

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than they believe they can get
from anybody else.

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The efficient way to stay in power is

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essentially giving the coalition bribes

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and opportunities to be corrupt.

250
00:14:07,367 --> 00:14:08,785
[narrator] Sounds pricey.

251
00:14:08,869 --> 00:14:10,954
So where's the money coming from?

252
00:14:12,247 --> 00:14:13,957
Most of these regimes are

253
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,961
highly sophisticated operations
of kleptocracy.

254
00:14:18,879 --> 00:14:21,172
[narrator] What is kleptocracy exactly?

255
00:14:21,256 --> 00:14:23,091
I'm not talking about that kid at school

256
00:14:23,174 --> 00:14:25,719
who got busted
for shoplifting wine coolers.

257
00:14:26,511 --> 00:14:31,433
Kleptocracy involves stealing
the resources of your entire nation.

258
00:14:32,267 --> 00:14:35,812
Step one.
Nationalize your natural resources.

259
00:14:35,896 --> 00:14:38,064
Oil, gold, natural gas.

260
00:14:38,148 --> 00:14:41,443
If it's valuable,
it needs to be controlled by the State,

261
00:14:41,526 --> 00:14:42,861
aka you.

262
00:14:42,944 --> 00:14:45,530
Step two. Put your people in charge.

263
00:14:45,614 --> 00:14:48,408
You'd never play a big game
without paying off the referee.

264
00:14:48,491 --> 00:14:51,453
So don't start despoiling your country
without making sure

265
00:14:51,536 --> 00:14:54,331
all decision-makers are
on your team first.

266
00:14:54,414 --> 00:14:57,125
Step three. Control all trade.

267
00:14:57,208 --> 00:15:01,463
Set artificially high prices,
hold back goods to create demand,

268
00:15:01,546 --> 00:15:04,341
tack on some exorbitant taxes.

269
00:15:04,424 --> 00:15:06,343
Then watch the cash flow in.

270
00:15:06,426 --> 00:15:08,136
By mastering this technique,

271
00:15:08,219 --> 00:15:10,680
Saddam Hussein,
once a penniless shepherd's son,

272
00:15:10,764 --> 00:15:14,726
got his net worth up to
a cool two billion dollars.

273
00:15:14,809 --> 00:15:15,977
Not bad.

274
00:15:16,811 --> 00:15:19,898
But as tempting as it might be
to keep the riches to yourself,

275
00:15:19,981 --> 00:15:22,859
a smart tyrant knows the value of sharing.

276
00:15:22,943 --> 00:15:26,613
Saddam was able to plunder the resources,
the oil wealth of the State.

277
00:15:26,696 --> 00:15:30,492
But he used these proceeds
to not just enrich himself,

278
00:15:30,575 --> 00:15:32,953
but also as a form of patronage.

279
00:15:33,036 --> 00:15:36,456
He bought the loyalty
of other senior party officials.

280
00:15:37,499 --> 00:15:39,668
[narrator]
All this generosity isn't cheap.

281
00:15:40,418 --> 00:15:42,796
But ignore this tactic at your peril.

282
00:15:43,463 --> 00:15:48,343
Some tyrants find that they have wasted
so much of the government's money,

283
00:15:48,426 --> 00:15:52,055
so much of the people's money,
that they don't have enough left over

284
00:15:52,681 --> 00:15:57,310
to take care of their inner circle.
They wind up dead very quickly.

285
00:15:57,394 --> 00:15:58,770
[narrator] And if you're smart,

286
00:15:58,853 --> 00:16:02,565
you'll also set aside a little extra
to share with the common people.

287
00:16:03,441 --> 00:16:06,778
[Zainab] One famous,
famous Saddam would do,

288
00:16:06,861 --> 00:16:09,906
he would surprise Iraqis
by visiting someone's home.

289
00:16:11,074 --> 00:16:13,743
And the first thing he would do is
open their refrigerator.

290
00:16:13,827 --> 00:16:16,830
He had this image of himself

291
00:16:16,913 --> 00:16:20,125
that he is the man
who would bring all Iraqis food.

292
00:16:20,709 --> 00:16:23,378
And when he sees an empty refrigerator,

293
00:16:23,878 --> 00:16:25,171
he makes sure that he shows

294
00:16:25,255 --> 00:16:27,841
that there are people
being loaded with gifts.

295
00:16:28,383 --> 00:16:32,429
So that's the charm,
but it's mingled with the fear.

296
00:16:33,471 --> 00:16:35,890
[indistinct chatter]

297
00:16:37,934 --> 00:16:40,353
[woman] The end goal is to make people

298
00:16:40,437 --> 00:16:44,232
in the public say that,
"No, actually everything is a-okay."

299
00:16:45,483 --> 00:16:47,402
"This dictator is a good man."

300
00:16:47,485 --> 00:16:51,448
"He's doing the right things,
right policies. I like him."

301
00:16:52,198 --> 00:16:56,161
[narrator] Who doesn't want to be liked?
But don't go soft now.

302
00:16:56,244 --> 00:16:59,039
Once your inner circle
gets a piece of the action,

303
00:16:59,122 --> 00:17:00,874
they're going to keep demanding more.

304
00:17:01,583 --> 00:17:03,543
Time to develop a new skill,

305
00:17:03,626 --> 00:17:07,714
to remind them you're still the boss,
and they're not.

306
00:17:10,258 --> 00:17:12,260
[big band music plays]

307
00:17:16,389 --> 00:17:17,891
[Ruth] Most successful dictators

308
00:17:17,974 --> 00:17:22,353
engage in ritual humiliation
of everyone around them,

309
00:17:22,437 --> 00:17:24,814
including their closest collaborators.

310
00:17:24,898 --> 00:17:29,235
And they do this very early on so that
the rules of the game are understood.

311
00:17:29,861 --> 00:17:31,946
Are you gonna be on my side
if I let you up?

312
00:17:32,030 --> 00:17:33,156
Sure, Dick, sure.

313
00:17:33,239 --> 00:17:36,743
I'm on your side.
Just let me up. I'll do anything you say.

314
00:17:36,826 --> 00:17:40,497
[narrator] And why are these displays
such a key part of the tyrant's playbook?

315
00:17:41,039 --> 00:17:43,416
'Cause they're pathological narcissists.

316
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,127
Tyrants are deeply insecure.

317
00:17:46,878 --> 00:17:50,256
Their response
to any sort of criticism is attack.

318
00:17:50,882 --> 00:17:54,761
You don't want somebody thinking
that "I have a better way to do things."

319
00:17:54,844 --> 00:17:57,222
Ideas are very bad for dictators.

320
00:17:58,056 --> 00:18:02,310
[narrator] Keeping your rivals scared
and off-balance is so much better.

321
00:18:02,393 --> 00:18:05,438
Saddam told friends how he killed

322
00:18:05,522 --> 00:18:08,775
one of his best friends,
who was a minister.

323
00:18:08,858 --> 00:18:12,320
His wife went to Saddam and said,
"Please release him." And he said,

324
00:18:12,403 --> 00:18:14,948
"Tomorrow,
you will find him at your home."

325
00:18:15,532 --> 00:18:16,825
The next day…

326
00:18:17,492 --> 00:18:18,785
[gun blasts]

327
00:18:18,868 --> 00:18:22,497
Saddam sends his body cut in pieces,

328
00:18:22,580 --> 00:18:24,457
in a coffin, to his wife.

329
00:18:26,292 --> 00:18:29,295
[Benjamin] Stories like this
were a form of control.

330
00:18:29,379 --> 00:18:31,548
Whether or not they were true
was not the point.

331
00:18:31,631 --> 00:18:34,801
The point was to demonstrate
that he could do these things.

332
00:18:34,884 --> 00:18:36,511
The potential was there.

333
00:18:36,594 --> 00:18:38,596
[narrator] Let me tell you a story.

334
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,559
One day in the early '80s,
Saddam orders a group of top ministers

335
00:18:42,642 --> 00:18:46,104
to report for a trip
to destination unknown.

336
00:18:46,688 --> 00:18:49,315
They load onto a bus
with blacked-out windows

337
00:18:49,399 --> 00:18:53,069
that slowly drives them
in circles around Baghdad.

338
00:18:53,778 --> 00:18:57,574
They arrive at a remote palace
outside of the city.

339
00:18:57,657 --> 00:19:00,368
The men are directed to put all belongings

340
00:19:00,451 --> 00:19:02,871
into envelopes marked with their names.

341
00:19:03,454 --> 00:19:06,124
They're made to wash with disinfectant,

342
00:19:06,207 --> 00:19:09,502
then forced to wait in silence for hours.

343
00:19:10,670 --> 00:19:12,213
-[tape pauses]
-[narrator] Uh…

344
00:19:12,297 --> 00:19:14,632
wait a minute. For you to understand this,

345
00:19:14,716 --> 00:19:17,093
you have to know
what was happening at the time.

346
00:19:17,177 --> 00:19:18,553
-[gun blasts]
-[machine gun firing]

347
00:19:19,846 --> 00:19:21,014
[machine gun firing]

348
00:19:21,097 --> 00:19:24,142
[Benjamin] In 1979,
under Ayatollah Khomeini,

349
00:19:24,225 --> 00:19:26,227
you had the Islamic Revolution in Iran,

350
00:19:26,311 --> 00:19:29,898
which Saddam looked at with great concern.

351
00:19:29,981 --> 00:19:30,982
[all shouting]

352
00:19:31,065 --> 00:19:33,651
[Benjamin] So, there was now
this new Iranian regime

353
00:19:33,735 --> 00:19:36,321
that was calling for
a rebellion, an uprising,

354
00:19:36,404 --> 00:19:37,697
an overthrow of Saddam.

355
00:19:38,364 --> 00:19:42,243
And it actually had
the resources to make it happen.

356
00:19:42,327 --> 00:19:45,413
Saddam decided
to preemptively attack Iran.

357
00:19:45,496 --> 00:19:46,581
[bomb detonates]

358
00:19:46,664 --> 00:19:50,793
[Joseph] He really believes
that it is going to be a short war,

359
00:19:50,877 --> 00:19:54,255
that within a month,
the regime will collapse.

360
00:19:55,381 --> 00:19:57,383
[reporter]
Saddam Hussein's war against Iran

361
00:19:57,467 --> 00:20:01,679
has now lasted not three days,
but ten long months.

362
00:20:02,180 --> 00:20:05,934
There was a lot of rumblings
among some ministers.

363
00:20:06,017 --> 00:20:07,602
"This is a dead end."

364
00:20:08,186 --> 00:20:10,563
"Where is it going to end?"

365
00:20:11,773 --> 00:20:14,984
[narrator] So, before his restless allies
got any bad ideas,

366
00:20:15,526 --> 00:20:19,280
Saddam decided to give them
a little attitude adjustment.

367
00:20:19,364 --> 00:20:21,950
Let's get back to the palace
where Saddam's ministers

368
00:20:22,033 --> 00:20:24,702
have been waiting
in silent terror for hours.

369
00:20:24,786 --> 00:20:27,121
Finally, Saddam arrives.

370
00:20:28,039 --> 00:20:31,042
He speaks for 30 rambling minutes.

371
00:20:31,626 --> 00:20:34,379
Having seen
their leader's brutality firsthand,

372
00:20:34,462 --> 00:20:36,047
the men prepare for the worst.

373
00:20:38,675 --> 00:20:43,680
Instead, Saddam invites them
to a lavish supper.

374
00:20:45,598 --> 00:20:48,393
Gives them one thousand dollars each,

375
00:20:48,476 --> 00:20:50,561
and has them driven home.

376
00:20:51,646 --> 00:20:53,356
But the message is clear.

377
00:20:54,065 --> 00:20:56,401
Next time they might not be so lucky.

378
00:21:00,154 --> 00:21:04,742
It was his way of instilling fear,
of projecting his power and authority.

379
00:21:04,826 --> 00:21:07,662
It was a form
of psychological manipulation.

380
00:21:08,288 --> 00:21:11,374
What he was doing is keeping fear alive.

381
00:21:11,457 --> 00:21:14,335
And he did it with intention.

382
00:21:15,044 --> 00:21:18,339
[narrator] When times get tough,
sometimes fear is all you have.

383
00:21:18,423 --> 00:21:21,551
[Joseph] The Iran-Iraq War
lasted eight years.

384
00:21:22,927 --> 00:21:25,054
He lost a lot of soldiers.

385
00:21:25,138 --> 00:21:26,306
And at the end,

386
00:21:26,389 --> 00:21:31,394
Khomeini was far more popular
and stronger in the whole world.

387
00:21:31,477 --> 00:21:33,021
[narrator] How frustrating.

388
00:21:33,104 --> 00:21:36,607
When your ill-fated plans
lead to national disaster,

389
00:21:36,691 --> 00:21:40,570
you can count on facing
even graver threats to your rule.

390
00:21:41,571 --> 00:21:44,282
Some from the most unexpected places.

391
00:21:44,365 --> 00:21:48,578
Time to show how far you're
willing to go to preserve your power.

392
00:21:53,750 --> 00:21:57,754
Surviving as a tyrant
means making tough decisions.

393
00:21:57,837 --> 00:22:00,757
And you can't allow your emotions
to get in the way,

394
00:22:01,341 --> 00:22:03,009
even when it comes to blood.

395
00:22:03,092 --> 00:22:05,386
[Benjamin] Saddam had zero tolerance

396
00:22:05,470 --> 00:22:10,141
for any hint of rebellion or betrayal

397
00:22:10,224 --> 00:22:11,851
from members of his own family.

398
00:22:12,769 --> 00:22:16,022
And he would not hesitate
to arrest them, detain them,

399
00:22:16,105 --> 00:22:18,775
execute them, torture them,
whatever he needed to do.

400
00:22:18,858 --> 00:22:20,443
[narrator] Is it too much to ask

401
00:22:20,526 --> 00:22:22,737
for your family to stick by your side
no matter what?

402
00:22:23,321 --> 00:22:24,447
Of course not.

403
00:22:24,947 --> 00:22:26,491
[bombs detonating in distance]

404
00:22:28,034 --> 00:22:31,496
After being crushed
by coalition forces in the first Gulf War,

405
00:22:31,579 --> 00:22:33,748
Saddam needs
to quickly reaffirm his authority.

406
00:22:34,874 --> 00:22:38,002
Even if that means taking on
his nearest and dearest.

407
00:22:38,086 --> 00:22:41,255
[Joseph]
Saddam's two daughters were married

408
00:22:41,339 --> 00:22:45,635
to Hussein Kamel
and his brother Saddam Kamel.

409
00:22:45,718 --> 00:22:48,846
They were all third cousins,
second cousins.

410
00:22:48,930 --> 00:22:51,557
[narrator] Saddam placed
the older brother, Hussein Kamel,

411
00:22:51,641 --> 00:22:54,268
in charge of Iraq's
nuclear weapons program.

412
00:22:54,769 --> 00:22:58,606
[Joseph] Saddam really was
almost besotted with him.

413
00:22:58,689 --> 00:23:03,611
Saddam thought that,
"This is a great young man,

414
00:23:03,694 --> 00:23:08,241
who might be even one day my successor."

415
00:23:08,324 --> 00:23:12,036
[narrator] Which came as unwelcome news
to Saddam's eldest son

416
00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:15,289
and notorious psychopath Uday.

417
00:23:15,373 --> 00:23:20,211
[Joseph]
Uday was truly cruel and sadistic.

418
00:23:20,294 --> 00:23:22,880
He was jealous of Hussein Kamel.

419
00:23:22,964 --> 00:23:25,341
Hussein Kamel is beginning to sense

420
00:23:25,425 --> 00:23:31,597
that Uday is going to make it
more and more difficult for him.

421
00:23:31,681 --> 00:23:34,725
You know, sooner or later, kill him.

422
00:23:36,519 --> 00:23:38,855
[narrator] So, one night
under the cover of darkness,

423
00:23:38,938 --> 00:23:41,899
the brothers flee to Jordan
with their wives and children.

424
00:23:41,983 --> 00:23:45,903
Hearing the news,
Saddam is less than pleased.

425
00:23:45,987 --> 00:23:50,074
Especially when he learns
Hussein Kamel is demanding asylum

426
00:23:50,158 --> 00:23:54,120
and talking to CIA agents
about Iraq's chemical weapons program.

427
00:23:54,871 --> 00:23:57,415
But Saddam knows just how to respond.

428
00:23:57,999 --> 00:23:59,709
[ringing]

429
00:23:59,792 --> 00:24:01,502
He calls his daughters

430
00:24:01,586 --> 00:24:05,673
and swears the Kamels
will be forgiven if they return home.

431
00:24:05,756 --> 00:24:09,677
He must have been pretty convincing,
since they all returned to Baghdad.

432
00:24:10,303 --> 00:24:14,390
But Saddam greets them
with something other than open arms.

433
00:24:14,474 --> 00:24:15,391
[overlapping screaming]

434
00:24:15,475 --> 00:24:18,227
[narrator] He forces his daughters
to divorce the Kamels.

435
00:24:18,311 --> 00:24:20,438
A few days later, Saddam's government

436
00:24:20,521 --> 00:24:22,732
claims the brothers are killed
in a shoot-out

437
00:24:22,815 --> 00:24:25,443
with vengeful relatives
at the family estate.

438
00:24:25,526 --> 00:24:28,112
But others tell a different tale.

439
00:24:28,196 --> 00:24:32,408
That Saddam sent a death squad,
led by his own sons Uday and Qusay,

440
00:24:32,492 --> 00:24:34,494
to take the Kamel brothers out.

441
00:24:37,455 --> 00:24:40,583
What did you expect?
Actions have consequences.

442
00:24:41,626 --> 00:24:44,545
The aftermath is even more dramatic.

443
00:24:45,213 --> 00:24:46,964
[Zainab] They take the dead bodies

444
00:24:47,048 --> 00:24:49,175
and attach them to a car,

445
00:24:49,258 --> 00:24:50,760
and drive the car,

446
00:24:50,843 --> 00:24:54,639
dragging the dead bodies
of Saddam's son-in-laws

447
00:24:54,722 --> 00:24:56,390
into the entire city.

448
00:24:57,099 --> 00:25:00,061
He horrified the entire country.

449
00:25:00,144 --> 00:25:04,148
That, "This is
what I can do to my sons-in-laws

450
00:25:04,732 --> 00:25:06,150
if they disobey me."

451
00:25:07,026 --> 00:25:08,694
[narrator] Coldhearted? Sure.

452
00:25:09,570 --> 00:25:12,073
But that's how Saddam
kept his rivals underfoot

453
00:25:12,156 --> 00:25:15,201
until the last days of his reign.

454
00:25:16,786 --> 00:25:18,746
Nothing lasts forever.

455
00:25:20,456 --> 00:25:22,041
But to survive nearly this long…

456
00:25:22,124 --> 00:25:23,417
[machine gun fires]

457
00:25:23,501 --> 00:25:25,378
…you're going to need to deal with threats

458
00:25:25,461 --> 00:25:27,547
even more challenging
than treacherous rivals.

459
00:25:27,630 --> 00:25:31,384
Because they're coming
from inside your population.

460
00:25:32,218 --> 00:25:33,094
Fear not.

461
00:25:33,803 --> 00:25:35,680
The playbook has some handy tricks

462
00:25:35,763 --> 00:25:38,641
to keep any restless citizens
under control.

463
00:25:38,724 --> 00:25:40,560
But they're not pretty.

464
00:25:40,643 --> 00:25:42,728
Next stop, Uganda,

465
00:25:42,812 --> 00:25:46,691
to meet the man who mastered
the art of terror to preserve his reign.

466
00:25:46,774 --> 00:25:49,235
Are you ready to follow his lead?

467
00:25:49,318 --> 00:25:50,820
[reporter]
What will happen to these people?

468
00:25:50,903 --> 00:25:54,115
[Idi Amin] I think they will be sitting
like they're sitting on the fire.

469
00:25:54,198 --> 00:25:56,200
-[reporter] What will you do to them?
-You will see.

470
00:25:56,284 --> 00:25:57,493
[all laughing]

471
00:25:57,577 --> 00:25:59,161
[theme music plays]