There are many good reasons to brand Saddam a true psychopath, but the way he reared his sons seems to me like one of the most striking:
A coming-of-age party is a touching occasion observed in almost every world culture. Some kids get a Camaro for their sweet 16, while others get a gold watch or a fat envelope of cash.
The sons of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator, got Beretta pistols, full clips, and a sitting duck.
The execution chamber deep in the bowels of al-Nihayyah (Palace of the End) was an ancient room that stank of blood, shit, and fear. Inside, a middle-aged man stood swaying and trembling. In 1979, Saddam Hussein arrested dozens of Iraqi politicians during his bid for absolute power. The public servant in the basement had been tortured for days, his fingernails plucked out with pliers.
The heavy iron door clanked open, and in walked a squad of Mukhabarat, Saddam’s secret police. With them were two skinny teenagers trying to look tough as nails. Anyone moved to chuckle, however, would have been well advised to consider the two guns the boys were holding in front of them.
“Ustav, ustav!” exclaimed the guards, shouting “master” to the two adolescents. Suddenly, the prisoner knew the boys’ identities. His stomach churned with dread. These were the sons of Saddam Hussein: Uday, 15, tall for his age, with bulged-out eyes and protruding teeth; and Qusay, 13, smaller, but the image of his father at the same age.
As an official read a list of crimes, the boys raised their guns and took aim. Before the politician could utter a word, their first shots slammed into his torso, throwing him against the wall. The police escort then drew their own weapons and fired. As dozens of bullets riddled the body, it jerked spastically. The boys kept firing until the body was nothing more than a bloody lump and some tatters of cloth.
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From an early age, the brothers underwent training. Sitting enthralled in front of the TV like normal kids watching cartoons, the brothers watched torture videos of the Iraqi police “disciplining” dissidents: forcing a victim’s jaw open until it broke, injecting water under the skin until it ripped. On special occasions, the boys were even allowed to watch the rape videos, used for official blackmail.
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