Iraqi Opposition Activist Mazen Al-Samarrai: Saddam Hussein's Only Mistake Was That He Didn't Kill The People Who Are Leading Iraq Today And Dump Their Bodies

Iraqi opposition activist, Mazen Al-Samarrai, said in a June 26, 2020 interview on Channel 9 (Turkey) that the only mistake Saddam Hussein had made was that he had not killed the people who are currently leading Iraq and dumped their bodies like stray dogs. Samarrai, often presented as the "official spokesman of the Iraqi opposition," added that everything else Saddam had done had been correct and had elevated him "to the level of the most pious people." Turkey's channel 9 is an Arabic-language channel – one of several Muslim Brotherhood affiliated channel broadcasting from Istanbul.

Host: "What was President Saddam Hussein's biggest mistake in the 1990s, up to 2003?"

Mazen Al-Samarrai: "The only - or most prominent - mistake he made was that he did not send people to kill [the Shi'ite leaders] who are now holed up in the Green Zone and who were referred to at the time as 'the opposition.' His only mistake was that he did not kill them and dump [their bodies] like stray dogs.'

Host: "He should have carried out assassinations abroad?"

Al-Samarrai: "Saddam Hussein's only mistake was that he did not do this."

Host: "What else?"

Al-Samarrai; "Everything else he did was correct."

Host: "All of it?"

Al-Samarrai: "Yes."

Host: "This will be recorded in history."

Al-Samarrai: "Yes. Let it go down in history that in this place and on this date, I am saying that Saddam Hussein's actions elevated him to the level of the most pious people."