If you thought Saddam’s art collection was wild, check out his son Uday’s videos. Newsweek’s Colin Soloway watched 100 of the tapes and reports on what he saw.
Most of the video tapes found in Uday’s bombed-out palace are not pornography, and they’re not amateur either–they’re professionally produced vanity videos of Uday doing things like playing with his pet lions or displaying injuries from a 1996 assassination attempt. Some tapes are marked “private,” and show drunken parties at his mansion. These seem to have been shot secretly from behind a two-way mirror, and show Uday making out with two women at once on his couch, while one of his friends chases another woman around the room.
One tape shows a birthday party where Uday, who’s drunk, fires a machine gun in the air, keeping time with the band. He also targets champagne bottles with a pistol and fires at beer bottles tossed in the air. His guests throw themselves on the ground in terror, then get up clapping and laughing. Uday next fires directly over the heads of the band members, who keep on playing. Uday then shakes hands with the frightened singer, and says, “See all those holes? All those bullets could be in your belly.”
The tapes are now in the possession of the newly-reorganized Iraqi Media Network, which has replaced the old state-controlled TV and radio. They plan to air some of the tapes to give Iraqis a glimpse of the now-vanished Uday’s private life.
Never underestimated the capabilities of Big Government.
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