mop_gov, if you really have a Middle Eastern background [as do I, Iran to be exact] then you would know the Arabic media was going to paint Saddam to the best they could for either fear of death or just simply because they wanted to. When Saddam came into power it was a well known fact that many people started out loving the man, what would they think if their leader came out and admitted to drinking alcoholic drinks when he was supposed to be a strong Sunni Muslim? How would he have ever gotten his men and troups to fight the Iranians the way they did if they didn't truly believe this man was a man worth fighting for? Especially when his own people knew about 60% of his country were Shia's who would put religion first over any kind of pan-Arabism.
Many people, his own included especially, didn't know for many years how the man even came into power. They thought it was because people wanted him there and voted on it. It wasn't until years later they realized what was truly going on behind the scenes. Shifting ballot boxes to vote for him, intimidation of the original leader to become president himself, etc etc. He was also all over radio stations, television stations, statues, this man had to try his hardest to make himself look like he was some kind of God send, especially during the Iran-Iraq war, or not a soul would have supported him, especially since the better part of the country were Shia's.
While I agree there were a lot of key elements left out of this show, it was still very solid in how it decided to portray the man. If this was more than a four part series, say nine or ten episodes, then it would have been much easier to paint the man with a broader brush and dive into everything that happened during his time.
Bottom line: What he told his mother when she was dying is anyones guess. But believing his words like he didn't drink alcohol at any time in his life is hilarious though. Most people, religious or not, have done it at certain times in there life. It fails to register with me why some tyrant would authorize and carry out malicious attacks against Kurds, yet never pick up a drink.
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