'and I have a message for them.'
The tyrant will soon be gone.
The day of your liberation is near.
'All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end.
'Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours.'
Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict
commenced at a time of our choosing.
'Events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision.'
Where's Mama? Inside, she's packing. Why is she packing?
Mama, what are you doing? We can buy new glasses.
Make sure your mother and sisters have money.
Go, and make sure they listen.
'They must leave the country immediately.' Mustafa, the suitcases.
Hala, quickly.
'But we will not leave Iraq.'
We keep moving until the Americans are defeated. Yes, Papa. Now go.
Take care of your brother, Qusay.
I will.
Mama, they are not important. We have to go.
This programme contains some strong language and some violent scenes.
EXCITED CHATTERING
MUSIC PLAYS
INDISTINCT
Is that my little mouse?
HE LAUGHS
Are you enjoying your party? Saddam...
Ready when you are. Ah.
Let's go and find Mama.
I'll just be a moment, Barzan.
Mm?
This little mousey belongs to you.
Habibti.
What time will he come? Soon.
Mr Deputy. Mm.
Are they all here?
Yes, everyone's here.
Khomeini has a big mouth.
Mm.
SHOUTING ON TV
Thank you, Hamdani.
PEOPLE CHANT:
Heard enough? More than enough.
He is a thoughtless son of a bitch.
Bark, bark, bark, all day long - every day.
He is a dog with teeth, Ali.
Sharp teeth.
We can offer a hand of friendship but he will bite it off.
He wants his revolution to infect all of the Arab world.
Beginning with the Iraqi Shia.
Exactly.
He will become more and more dangerous by the day.
Comrades...
time is running out.
America hopes for a strong Iraq.
The Arab world demands it. The Iraqi people themselves deserve it.
To the revolution.
To the party.
To unity.
To a new Iraq.
ALL: To a new Iraq.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
I'll be out here.
Mama.
How is the lemonade?
It's too sweet.
Raghad.
Find Mohammed.
Ask him to join the party, he's shy. Yes.
She's becoming a woman.
She's still my baby.
She should marry Barzan's son, Mohammed.
It will bond the family closer still.
Mr Deputy, the President is about to arrive.
Mama, excuse me.
Mr President. Mr Deputy.
Sajida, you look beautiful.
You are too kind.
Thank you so much for coming, Mr President. Hala will be thrilled.
Not at all, thank you for inviting an old man
to a seventh birthday party.
It is an important occasion.
Please, please, everybody. Please, carry on.
Where is the birthday girl?
I can't see her. Here she is.
Where? Where? Here. Here.
All I see is a grown-up princess. Where is little Hala?
It's me, it's me!
Then this gift must be yours, princess. You're very kind.
What do we say to the President?
Thank you. You are very welcome, my child.
ALL: # Happy Birthday to you
# Happy Birthday to you
# Happy Birthday, dear Hala
# Happy Birthday to you. #
Make a wish, habibti, and your dreams will come true.
CHEERING
Let's leave the women and children to their games.
We have much to discuss, Mr President.
You must save me a piece of cake. Of course I will.
LAUGHTER
Mr President...
Please, sit down.
There is something I have to say.
I smell disquiet.
I am concerned about Khomeini
and the proposed union with Syria.
Khomeini continues to call on our people to join his revolution because he knows we are weak.
And this alliance with Syria will make us weaker still. Nonsense.
Two Arab people together will make a strong alliance.
Headed by the Syrian President.
Assad of Syria will be first and you will be second.
With Saddam Hussein third? HE LAUGHS
Is that your true objection?
I have no objection.
Why object to something that does not exist?
And will never exist.
I will not allow it.
You will not allow it, Mr Deputy?
I smell more than disquiet.
Comrade Bakr, it's over.
Stop. Say no more.
Saddam...
your time will come.
We are a team, you and me. Look at what we have accomplished.
Look at what you have accomplished.
Iraq has schools and hospitals and food for all of the people.
For the first time in our history,
their minds are developed and their bellies are full,
because of you and me.
Our country is just beginning to walk in the world.
This alliance, us, we will make Iraq stronger.
So...
do I get to eat my cake now?
It is over, comrade.
DOORS OPEN
They won't help you.
Either you resign voluntarily or through force.
Either way, you resign.
You have earned your retirement
and it is the wish of each of us
that you get to enjoy it.
Adnan Khairallah, you are my Defence Minister and an officer in my army.
Come and stand by my side and this...this will be forgotten.
Hamdani, we think alike you and me.
Stand by my side.
You will announce your retirement due to ill-health
and you will name your deputy as your successor.
The Command Council will never approve it.
You can remain in the Presidential Palace until matters are resolved.
Comrade.
Saddam Hussein al-Majid. My President.
Tariq Aziz.
My President.
Hamdani, my friend.
Mr President.
So, it's done.
You are to be President.
Now you will need your brothers more than ever. Yes, Mama.
And no-one must be allowed to do to you, what you have done to al-Bakr.
Don't worry, Mama.
I am making Barzan my head of security.
I'll protect him, Mama.
Let's put you to bed.
Good boy.
I feel like tomorrow, I will wake up in a land of...progress
and opportunity.
I have ideas to help build Iraq,
make it ready to take its rightful place in the world,
and not just the Arab world.
We have a lot of work to do.
Me and you.
And I will always be by your side.
Already I feel different.
You feel empowered. Yes.
And you like it?
HE LAUGHS Yes, very much.
THEY LAUGH
What's so funny? Hamdani likes power.
Yes.
What's wrong with that?
'It is my view that the man best qualified to assume the leadership'
is my esteemed deputy, Comrade Saddam Hussein.
Mr President, this is absurd!
Now is not the time to be stepping aside.
We are on the brink of a new era in Arab brotherhood.
Comrade Mashhadi, he has made up his mind.
We must respect his decision.
Mr President, what's going on here? What is happening?
Please comrade, please, I'm very tired.
Then we can only accept your recommendation by a unanimous vote.
Very well, we will have a vote in our next session.
The members of the council will need some time
for thoughts and reflection.
CLAPPING
Where is Hamdani? I don't know.
Comrades...
it causes me great pain
that one of my first duties as President
is to tell you that we have uncovered an atrocious plot
against our beloved Ba'ath Party.
You can end this now.
Just do what we need and confirm it.
My pain is not eased by the fact that these collaborators
are sitting amongst us here.
Or...things can get worse.
The witness.
MURMURING
Now I want you to imagine your daughter sitting
where you are sitting.
Imagine.
'Since 1975,'
I have been part of a Syrian plot
to overthrow both Comrade Saddam and al-Bakr.
When we, the conspirators,
realised...that al-Bakr was to step down in favour of his deputy,
the assumption of the presidency by Comrade Saddam Hussein
forced us to put into action a plan to remove him.
But as we did so, we revealed ourselves
and our plans were uncovered.
MURMURING
Comrades, you can imagine how stunned I was
to discover that I had been betrayed by my closest colleagues.
When the first of the criminals were arrested,
I asked them,
what political differences are there between you and me?
Did you lack any power or money?
And if your opinion differed... on anything,
why didn't you bring it to the party?
They had...nothing to say to defend themselves.
The people whose names are read out should leave the hall.
Mohammed Ayesh.
Fouad Abdullah.
Amjid Haish.
HE CONTINUES READING NAMES
We have done nothing! We have done nothing!
We are innocent.
We are innocent. This is all lies.
Go out!
I am innocent. Out!
Long live Saddam! God save Saddam!
CHEERING
Long live Saddam! Long live Saddam!
Mashhadi?
Fire.
GUNSHOT Fire!
My President,
I came as soon as I got your message.
Is there something wrong?
Hamdani.
Forgive me.
You are always my friend.
I have nothing to forgive you for.
Mama?
Habibti, what is it?
Baba says he'll see you now.
Is it true that I am promised to Mohammed?
Is it true? Mohammed is a good boy.
And when the time comes, you must be a good daughter.
A good wife.
It's what your grandmother Subha wants.
He was your friend, Saddam.
His wife was my friend.
How am I supposed to face her?
What am I supposed to tell her?
I did...
..what was necessary.
The man who can sacrifice even his best friend
is the man without weakness.
In the eyes of my enemies... I am stronger now.
MAN LAUGHS
Don't speak unless you're spoken to.
Be respectful, and just listen. Understand?
Yes. Hello.
Here come the al-Majids.
No women, gentlemen? No dancing?
What's the matter with you? You should be making the most of life. Tomorrow we could all be dead.
You're a funny man, Ali.
HE LAUGHS Take a seat, Hussein.
So who saw it coming?
Hamdani?
Saddam.
You didn't know?
Did he tell you why? Only Saddam knows what Saddam is thinking.
Only Saddam knows what we're all thinking.
You believe that? If Saddam believes it, that's all that matters.
Maybe he had a big mouth.
Maybe he couldn't handle his whisky. The two don't mix.
Cousin, I'm simply talking,
amongst friends, amongst family.
Hamdani wasn't family. Be careful.
Nor am I.
Yeah, but you're a Christian, Tariq. You're a threat to no-one but yourself.
Hamdani was too clever for his own good.
He's the past.
Tonight my friends, I'm getting drunk, I'm getting laid,
and in the morning, I won't remember a thing
except my loyalty to our President.
Who is neither al-Majid nor Ibrahim, but half and half.
Go fuck a donkey. Go.
HE LAUGHS
I can't do this.
SOBBING
I loved him like a brother.
Hamdani, he and I spoke many times, so many times...
about how we would put the nation before our own needs.
Did he ever talk like that to you?
Yes.
Always.
So I know in my heart...
..that he would have understood,
that in my place, he would have done the same.
What is good for Iraq...
is good for me.
He believed in you, Saddam.
He followed you in all things.
And so do I.
Tell me...
what I and my children...
can do to serve you and Iraq.
PEOPLE CHANT: Saddam! Saddam! Saddam! Saddam!
HE SINGS:
Why can't we go somewhere where there are bigger animals?
I'm tired of shooting little birds.
You hear that, Saddam? Your boy wants to shoot something bigger.
If Qusay was here, I could shoot him.
One day you'll shoot a lion, Uday.
This is the middle of nowhere.
Tikrit is not the middle of nowhere. Come. There's nothing here.
Mr President.
OK... You see?
He's yours.
Aim carefully.
Good.
His name is Khomeini.
GUNSHOT
LAUGHTER
Bastard.
Never mind. Never mind.
When I was a boy, if I missed, it meant empty bellies for my family.
And a beating from my stepfather.
Come.
He was a bastard.
I don't know why we have to come back to this godforsaken place.
It's home.
Be careful with that.
And this thing with the tent.
The entire wealth of the country is ours, and what do we do?
We put up a tent!
HE LAUGHS It's true, Adnan.
INSECT BUZZES
What's wrong with going to London or Paris?
Make him happy, Sajida.
If Saddam's happy, then it will be easier for me.
What do you mean?
I don't want him to rush into war.
He has his sights set on Khomeini.
Then speak plainly.
As long as my sister is on my side, I will.
Adnan, he loves you.
You are practically his brother.
We took him in,
we fed him, we all grew up together.
He will listen to you. He is President.
He will listen.
Be good to Subha.
It's hard to believe but she still has influence.
Look at her.
She doesn't like the way I dress, can you believe it?
HE CHUCKLES
Shh. HE LAUGHS
Look around you, Uday.
Look around. The land between two rivers.
The first great armies and empires were founded here.
Do you know the first laws were written here?
We have the birthplace of civilisation beneath our feet
and we will make it great again, you and I.
We are lucky men, Uday.
We have a land to die for.
Baba. Mm? I'm hot.
Have you heard a word I've said?
You are your mother's son.
Of course you're hot,
we are in the desert.
Drink some water.
We are hunters.
HE MUTTERS Come.
Next time maybe I'll bring Qusay.
WOMAN:
He did well.
Your mother wants to talk to you. She's inside.
Isn't that Tariq?
What does he want?
I'll be with her as soon as I can. Tell her.
Barzan is already interrogating him.
An agent of Iran?
No doubt. Son of a dog.
And in the south, Mohammed Bakr al-Sadr and his Dawa Party
have now pledged open allegiance to Khomeini.
Treason. I have my army units at the ready, in case of uprising.
Iraq's army.
Of course.
Mohammed Bakr al-Sadr is one man. It is Khomeini who is the problem.
Khomeini is a cause.
I struggle to see any option but military.
We don't want to appear weak,
but would it be an idea to seek the views of our allies,
both Arab and Western?
If there is to be war, they will benefit, so why shouldn't they contribute?
And they would like to protect their supply of oil.
Of course. Access to information from American satellites would be a great advantage.
Providing we know our objective.
Our objective is to cut off the head of the snake.
Excuse me.
So it's war.
I don't understand.
You're holding counsel without the people that really matter - the Ibrahims.
Mama, we are hunting. And talking.
Where's Barzan? Where's Sabawi? Watban?
They are busy. They should be here.
Ali Hassan al-Majid is here.
He brings his cousin, Hussein.
Who is also my cousin. Mama, what do you want, in the name of Allah?
They are eager to show their loyalty.
They are eager to make their fortunes.
It is your brothers that should be always here
beside you at the counsel. Half-brothers.
And your elder son
has the grace of a pig.
And your wife allows it.
All the way here, he did nothing but break wind.
Uday is a boy, Mama.
What should I do, beat him? Like Barzan's father did to me?
Drive him away from his home?
You have too much to say to your mother.
Leave me.
I'm tired.
WOMAN:
GUNSHOT
MACHINE-GUN FIRE
SINGLE GUNSHOT
And cut!
MAN: And cut.
Very good. Impressive. Is that what it was really like?
Well, in reality, the bullet hurt.
The film will cover the early life of our President,
when he was fighting for a free Iraq. It's for the people,
for the purposes of morale.
Saddam! What an honour.
You did well. Thank you.
These gentlemen are from Time magazine.
Saddam Kamel.
Remarkable resemblance, don't you think? You're cousins, right?
That is correct.
Saddam Kamel is my brother.
And you're Saddam and you're Hussein?
We have a lot to live up to.
Unbelievable.
We want to have good relations with the US.
We want people in America to understand
what has happened inside Iraq.
And is there opposition to the war
from the Shia in your own country, Mr President?
Ask the people directly. Go into their homes.
See their love for their country.
And for their President.
No-one forces them to put pictures of Saddam Hussein on their walls.
Still they choose to do that.
Is it true that the war is going to bankrupt the economy?
These stories are lies.
Speak to the people.
Ask them if they want for anything.
And what of the reports of Iran's military success
forcing Iraqi troops back to the borders?
Recently Iran has been receiving foreign assistance.
But what about...? As a country of principle,
we are fighting a man of superficiality.
Principle will be the victim. Do you think that the...?
Gentlemen, we have something special to show you.
ALL:
Excellent.
You have worked very hard.
The children enjoy it very much.
Tell me...
how many of you have fathers or brothers in the army?
Oh!
Good. You should be proud.
This girl looks like my own daughter, Hala.
She is very pretty.
Tell me, when you are at home with Baba and Mama,
what does Baba say about Saddam?
Anything at all?
Baba says, long live Saddam.
Beautiful. Thank you.
HE LAUGHS
Please...
Slow down.
I hope you have enjoyed your visit as much as I have.
It would be wonderful if you could visit us again soon.
I would like that. I will arrange it.
Hussein is a good boy, a good soldier.
He'd never let you down. He's loyal.
Yes. I like him. I'm pleased... for the family.
Kamel Hanna. Yes, Your Excellency.
Ask the lady to join us. Yes.
Hussein, stand on your head.
For the President.
HE LAUGHS He would do it!
For you, he would do anything.
Is that her?
She is pretty.
She is married. So what?
Mr President, we are honoured.
And I'm honoured you're honoured. Please...
You look beautiful.
Sit here, next to me.
Thank you.
And may I just...
..so I can see you.
And I you.
Thank you for coming.
We are honoured.
Yes, you said.
May I say that your wife is very beautiful.
You must love her very much. I do.
I think our President...
likes her.
She's my wife.
..Beautiful.
I'd really do nothing, if I were you.
There will be compensation.
Why am I reading of Iranian successes on the battlefield?
You would have been informed.
What else has been hidden from me?
Were you hiding it from me, Barzan?
No! No. A report has been prepared.
Why did we fail at Al-Muhammarah?
We were taking too many casualties, and a withdrawal was ordered.
So our soldiers refused to die for their country?
It was becoming a massacre, Mr President.
It was a tactical decision to fall back and regroup.
It was a coward's decision, General Khairallah.
I want Colonel Ahmed al-Dulaimi and General Jawad Shiatna executed.
They are two of our best.
Their decision was purely tactical.
HE BANGS TABLE
The Iraqi Army
does not retreat!
Do you understand?
Barzan...
summon the commanders in question and oversee their execution, immediately.
Hussein, come with me. Stand for the President!
Hussein is like Saddam's Siamese fucking twin.
He's doing his job, Barzan, nothing more.
Yeah. He's doing something.
How is she?
Barzan's with her.
She's very weak.
Mama... LABOURED BREATHING
Barzan, leave us.
I want to talk to Saddam.
Your strength
is in the family.
Blood is permanent.
I want Raghad
to marry Barzan's boy.
I want you to keep the family together,
my family.
Mama, why are you talking like this?
Keep Barzan close.
He was always loyal to you, even when he was little.
You should...
You should rest, Mama.
Yes.
It is a good thing
that you never knew your father.
He was bad blood.
LABOURED BREATHING
GASPING BREATH
BREATHING STOPS
SHE GASPS
You...
gave me nothing.
LOW CHANTING
Saddam. She was proud of you...
and of our strength as a family.
As I am.
You should know, Barzan,
it was her wish before she died,
that Raghad should marry Hussein.
No!
to my son Mohammed for years.
It was her wish. No.
She thought it was time to recognise my father's family.
She said that?
Saddam, I've been loyal to you, always, and now this insult,
not just to me but to all the Ibrahims.
Please...
think of my honour.
Hussein, the driver of this truck is to be arrested.
Those coffins should be covered.
Mothers and wives do not need to be reminded of their sacrifice.
Everything in the city is to be normal.
Shouldn't we also be thinking of other towns and cities?
Our soldiers come from all over.
What about the wives and mothers of Mosul, Basra, Dujail?
Victory will heal everything.
Yes, victory will bring rewards for all.
These places belong to the Shia.
You have to go to them.
Let them see you. The war is casting a shadow only you can lift.
CHEERING
CAR HORNS BLARE
INDISTINCT VOICE OVER MICROPHONE
We will have justice.
We will have victory over Khomeini.
'Just as our nation fought off the invaders of the past,
'so we will crush Khomeini...'
No-one has sacrificed more than your brothers,
but the 39,000 people of Dujail are loyal to the country,
to the party
and to Saddam Hussein!
CHEERING
CAR HORNS BLARE
EXPLOSION
TYRES SCREECH
MACHINE-GUN FIRE
Are you injured, Mr President?
They tried to kill me. They tried to kill me.
We need to get you out of here. No. We must go back.
To Dujail! Now.
Now!
These few shots won't frighten the people of Iraq
and they won't frighten Saddam Hussein.
We will find the assassins.
And I swear on my honour,
we will have justice.
We will have victory over these agents of Khomeini.
CHEERING
My men are making arrests already.
Hussein, how many rounds of ammunition were fired at my cars?
My estimate is in excess of 300.
300 rounds.
I'm not immortal.
All it takes is one bullet. One bullet.
Yet these traitors were given 300 opportunities to kill me.
Yes, and they will be found and punished.
I hear you're the second most powerful man in Iraq, Barzan.
Some might say you have the most to gain from my assassination.
No, no.
No-one is more loyal than me.
Saddam, I am your brother.
I will do my duty.
I will find the traitors.
I promise.
RUMBLING
ENGINE HUMS
SCREAMING
Tear it all down! Everything! I want everything destroyed!
Every house, every brick!
Everything destroyed! Crushed!
Leave nothing standing. Get rid of it all!
Separate the men from the women.
Beautiful.
You look simply beautiful.
Paris is beautiful.
Who's the blonde?
Just some friend of Tariq's.
Barzan.
You look worried.
He couldn't find a donkey.
HE LAUGHS
That's a good one.
I want you to know, I would only trust the happiness of my daughter
to a man who owes me everything.
Hussein is such a man.
He will be a good husband.
OK, habibti?
DOOR OPENS
Mr President, I have things that need to be said.
It is done. I have carried out your orders to the letter.
Dujail has gone.
And it's my wedding gift to you.
Raghad, please...
The traitors, their families, their associates - all gone.
I know. I'm ready to serve my President,
my brother.
From now on, Barzan, Hussein will be responsible for my personal security.
He will be my son. I trust him.
We will talk more later.
No.
Why are you insulting me this way?
I have been loyal to you.
I have done everything that you ask of me.
I even accepted this wedding.
Saddam, by continuing to favour the al-Majids
you are surrounding yourself with weakness.
They are not interested in Iraq.
Know your place, Barzan.
They are my blood. You understand?
And I know a traitor before he knows himself.
I have given you my soul.
You will attend the wedding, and then you will leave Iraq.
PEOPLE ULULATE
APPLAUSE
HE YELLS
Now, watch this, Qusay.
Cool, eh?