The Dictator's Playbook

(dramatic music) (explosion) (gunfire) (explosion) -

Narrator

2003. Following a swift and lethal invasion, U.S. led forces occupy Iraq. One of the most brutal regimes of the twentieth century has come to an end. Ladies and gentlemen, we got him. (cheering) -

Narrator

Iraq's former dictator, Suddam Hussein has been captured by U.S. Army Special Forces. They found him on a farm, near the city of Tikrit, at the bottom of an eight foot hole in the ground. -

Man

It was quite a night. There was a real buzz in the station and everybody was very excited. And I was part of the team that went into debrief Saddam Hussein. (dramatic music) I remember thinking, it's Saddam, its really him. I still couldn't believe it. At first, he was very disarming. You're expecting to get the butcher of Baghdad and instead, you're getting somebody who is very charming, very personable. Over time though, I will have this to say, the more you got to know Saddam, the less you liked him. And the more you got to see another side of him, which was, could be a very nasty and brutish and kind of a horrible and frightening figure. Saddam was so ruthless, so brutal, so violent in all sorts of ways. (cheering) He was one of the most murderous leaders really, in history and he got away with it. And he still was able to instill in his public, complete loyalty to him. (cheering) -

Narrator

Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq with an iron fist for almost 30 years. To maintain power for so long, he used fear, intimidation, and violence, like few other dictators in history. (dramatic music) But in the end, even that was not enough. (gunfire) How did Saddam Hussein become one of the most feared dictators of the twentieth century, only to lose it all? -

Woman

Dictatorships have had an incredible impact on the past century. These dictators ended up learning from one another. -

Man

They rule different, but then they use the same tactics. -

Woman

The use of terror. -

Man

Propaganda. -

Woman

Control the elites. -

Woman

Create an enemy. -

Woman

Cult of personality. -

Man

Use violence. These are tools that dictators use to say in power.