FRONTLINE: THE SURVIVAL OF SADDAM (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series. This edition presents a portrait of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, using rare photographs of Saddam; recent and archival footage, including Iraqi television footage; and interviews with biographer Said K. Aburish, Iraqi opposition leaders, CIA officers and diplomats, and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. The program begins with the failed White House-ordered coup d'Žtat attempt in 1996; using clips ranging from music videos featuring Saddam that play on Iraqi television every night to then President Bill Clinton's call for government change in Iraq, the program details how Saddam has been able to hold power despite CIA attempts to overthrow him. Aburish, who worked closely with Saddam's government to acquire weapons and is a key source in the documentary, begins by discussing Saddam's early leadership; he notes the Arab world's desire for an Arab nuclear power, the initial potential that Saddam represented, and eventual comparisons of Saddam to Adolf Hitler because of the dictatorial nature of his rule. Aburish also discusses Saddam's initial entry into politics and violence when, as a hitman for the Ba'ath party, he attempted to assassinate Iraqi strong man General Abdul Karim Kassem. James Akins, attachŽ at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad (1963-1965), talks about the American concern at the time that Iraq was under the influence of the Soviets. After the 1963 CIA-supported coup, Saddam participated in the elimination of supposed Communist sympathizers, but, as Dr. Mahkmoud Othman recounts and Aburish affirms, Saddam was an admirer of Joseph Stalin and kept a library full of his books. Later Saddam became vice president under Ahmad al-Bakr, but in July 1979 he staged a party coup and named himself president; footage is provided of the meeting in which he named those he considered traitors who were lead out and never seen again. Next, the program discusses how Iraq manipulated the rivalry between the superpowers during the 1970s and 1980s: footage of Saddam's 1972 meeting with Leonid Brezhnev is included, and James Chritchfield, CIA Near East Division Chief during the Cold War, talks about Saddam's interest in increasing his influence in the Arab world by accumulating weapons. The program next covers Iraq's war with Iran, including the following: the debate about how much the United States knew about Saddam's discussion of his plans with Jordan and other Arab states; testimony by Warren Marik about how CIA agents provided Iraq with intelligence about Iran during the war; and the souring of U.S.-Iraq relations in the wake of the Iran-Contra hearings and of revelations that Iraq had used chemical weapons. Next, the program discusses Iraq's relationship to the first Bush administration, including Gulf War footage, discussion of the failed Iraqi uprising against Saddam (footage of the beating and execution of rebel leaders broadcast by Saddam is included), and comments by former national security advisor Brent Scowcroft and Aziz. The program next covers post-war weapons inspection: Aburish comments on the role played by the defection of Saddam's brother-in-law Hussein Kamel who revealed where biological weapons were and was later killed upon his return to Iraq; footage of Operation Desert Fox in response to Saddam's ejection of weapons inspectors in 1998 and Saddam's bunker broadcasts are included. Next, various attempts at resistance during the mid-1990s are covered: rebel leader Ahmad Chalabi, Warren Marik, and Sen. Robert Kerrey (D-Nebr.) comment particularly on the U.S. failure to follow through on its initial aid to Kurdistan rebels and the resulting weakening of that resistance; Hamid al-Bayyati discusses the southern Shiite resistance to Saddam centered in Basra. The program ends with Frank Anderson, CIA Near East Division Chief in the early 1990s, predicting that Saddam will remain a problem for the United States "for a very long time."
(On-screen timecode occasionally obscures titles.)
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 2003.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: January 25, 2000 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:56:38
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:75278
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Presidents - Iraq - Biography
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1983-
- COMMERCIALS:
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CREDITS
- Michael Sullivan … Executive Producer
- David Fanning … Senior Executive Producer
- William Cran … Senior Producer
- Greg Barker … Producer, Director, Writer
- Claudia M. Rizzi … Associate Producer
- Rick Young … Researcher
- Alexander Kandourov … Researcher
- Igor Morozov … Researcher
- Joan Yoshiwara … Researcher
- Paul Foss … Music by
- Mason Daring … Music (Misc.), Series Music
- Martin Brody … Music (Misc.), Series Music
- Will Lyman … Narrator
- Said K. Aburish
- James Akins
- Frank Anderson
- Tariq Aziz
- Ahmad al-Bakr
- Hamid al-Bayyati
- Leonid Brezhnev
- George Bush
- Ahmad Chalabi
- Bill Clinton
- James Chritchfield
- Adolf Hitler
- Saddam Hussein
- Hussein Kamel
- Abdul Karim Kassem
- Kerrey, Robert (See also: Kerrey, Joseph Robert; Kerrey, Bob)
- Warren Marik
- Mahkmoud Othman
- Brent Scowcroft
- Joseph Stalin