July 22nd, 2003: Saddam’s sons killed by US Forces

Saddam and his sons were the top 3 targets on the Coalition’s most wanted list.
Saddam would remain at large until December 2003.
As prominent members of their father’s regime, Uday and Qusay reportedly lived a bizarre and brutal life that was part bureaucrat, part playboy and part psychopath.
Qusay, the second son, was appointed his father’s heir apparent in 2000. He controlled the paramilitary organization “Fedayeen Saddam” and was also the one time director of the Iraqi equivalent of the Secret Service. As a result he oversaw widespread repression and he was accused of ordering multiple mass executions. On the eve of the invasion of Iraq he was also responsible for the theft of a billion dollars from the Iraqi Central Bank.
Uday, Saddam’s first born son, was a more erratic figure and reportedly prone to violent outbursts that were directed at enemies as well as friends and family. As head of Iraq’s Olympic committee he reportedly tortured athletes who failed to perform and in a bit of “palace intrigue” straight out of Game of Thrones, murdered Saddam’s food taster, possibly at the request of his mother, after the food taster had introduced Saddam to a younger woman.
The Bush administration had morticians clean up the bodies, apply make up and shave them to better resemble how they had looked in the media before the invasion. These macabre images along with photos taken soon after their deaths were released to the public in hopes of bolstering Iraqi support for the coalition and demoralizing the increasingly deadly and effective insurgency.
Based on the footage I’ve seen in the immediate aftermath the general population was subdued while Saddam’s supporters were enraged and the insurgents were undaunted.

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