In a chilling display of power and control, Saddam Hussein once publicly accused 68 members of his own Ba’ath Party of treason during a televised meeting in 1979, shortly after taking full control as President of Iraq. The event unfolded like a staged political purge: one by one, names were read aloud as Hussein sat smoking a cigar, calmly watching the room unravel. Many of the accused were led out of the chamber in front of their stunned colleagues—some weeping, others in disbelief. They were l