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The John Batchelor Show

2: 4. Saddam's Trial and Maliki's Revenge Abdullahad saw Saddam twice—as powerful youth icon then frail defendant in a trial that became "parody of justice," allowing Saddam to re-dignify himself in Arab consciousness. After December 2006 execution, Saddam's

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Society & Culture, Arts, News, Books

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

4. Saddam's Trial and Maliki's Revenge Abdullahad saw Saddam twice—as powerful youth icon then frail defendant in a trial that became "parody of justice," allowing Saddam to re-dignify himself in Arab consciousness. After December 2006 execution, Saddam's body went to Maliki's house, revealing "petty sectarian mentality." Civil war ended with Sunni defeat, former resistance figures like Hamid who opposed Al-Qaeda disappeared, and hundreds of thousands of educated Iraqis fled.

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:31.3

This is CBSI on the world. I'm John Batchewith, the author, Reith Abdullahad. He's also the journalist,

0:38.1

Reith al-Abdullahad. His new book is A Stranger in Your Own City, Travels in the Middle East Long War.

0:47.7

Great, I learned from you that you saw Saddam Hussein, the leader of necessity, twice, once as a youth and again end the trial.

0:53.5

What struck you as the change that you observed in him when he entered the courtroom?

0:59.4

So, John, as I said, you know, I grew up in the shadow of Saddam, and for me, when I was a child, he was something like, you know, bigger than God in our lives. And I remember when I was

1:04.3

a child seeing him on top of a Mercedes car waving to the crowd. The second time when I saw him

1:09.9

was this frail, old man, white beard,

1:15.3

entering the courtroom. And that court, that trial of Saddam, it could have been another point

1:21.6

in which the Iraqis would have learned something about their history. It could have been a moment

1:26.9

of reckoning with our history turned into Ashan about their history. It could have been a moment of reckoning with our history.

1:29.3

Turned into a sham, into a victor's justice.

1:34.0

It was a parody of justice.

1:36.9

It actually, what the trial did,

...

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