All language subtitles for The.Dictators.Playbook.Series.1.Part.6.Idi.Amin.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

(male narrator)
June, 1975.

With the world press looking on,

Uganda's dictator Idi Amin
is about to pick a fight

with his country's former
colonial ruler-- Great Britain.

Amin calls himself

the Conqueror
of the British Empire.

(narrator)
The target of his
anti-imperialist fury

is a British citizen living
in Uganda, Dennis Hills,

an author who plans to publish
a book that is critical of Amin.

The dictator wants Hills
to face a firing squad.

(Idi Amin)
Any British citizen

who is here against me

or against the people of Uganda,

he will face
the law of the country.

(narrator)
The British know this is
no idle threat.

Amin's regime is infamous
for its torture chambers,

state-sanctioned murders,
and public executions.

(Mariam Mufti)
The scale of violence
was immense.

In the 8 years
that he was in power,

almost 300,000 people
were massacred.

(narrator)
Queen Elizabeth herself

writes a letter to Amin,
asking for clemency.

The dictator ignores her plea.

In the end, it's Britain
that blinks.

The foreign secretary flies to
Uganda to secure Hills' release.

The author apologizes
for his book, and Britain

even agrees to review
its foreign aid to Uganda.

(Iain Grahame)
It was a very clever
set-up by Amin.

(Alicia Decker)
Critics have written Amin off as
a buffoon, as a big dumb brute.

But in actual fact, Amin was
far more strategic,

calculating, cunning, clever

than anyone would have
ever imagined.

(narrator)
Idi Amin rose to power
from humble beginnings,

won the affection
of millions of Ugandans,

and struck fear in the hearts
of his many opponents.

Was he just a murderous tyrant,

or was there a method
to his madness?

(woman)
Dictatorships have had
an incredible impact

in the past century.

These dictators ended up
learning from one another.

(man)
They're all different but
many use the same tactics.

(woman) The use of terror.
(man) Propaganda.

(woman) Control the elites.
Create an enemy.

Cult of personality.
(man) Use violence--

These are tools that dictators
use to stay in power.

(man)
This program is

(narrator)
Uganda, 1952.

Idi Amin's rise to power begins
in the colonial army--

the institution that will,
more than any other,

shape the kind of dictator
he will become.

The 24-year-old is an ambitious
young corporal

in the King's African Rifles,
the British Empire's

elite military force
in East Africa.

(Alicia Decker) Individuals like
Amin were recruited

into The King's African Rifles

to help the British
maintain order.

They were essentially the muscle

behind the colonial
establishment.

(narrator)
British explorers began arriving
in the 19th century,

drawn by the wealth of coffee,
tobacco, and gold.

In 1894, new, international
borderlines were drawn

and the British protectorate
of Uganda was established.

For centuries, this part
of Eastern Africa had been home

to dozens of free tribal peoples
and ancient kingdoms

like the Buganda,
Toro, Ankole, and Busoga.

Now, the British have full
control of the country,

occupy its best lands
with white settlers,

and exploit
its natural resources.

(Deo Katono)
Colonial rule caused hardships.

Of course, colonial rule
destroyed our kingdoms,

destroyed our rulers.

If colonial rule had not come,

we would be somewhere,
we would be better off.

(narrator)
Under the British-controlled
government,

Africans like Idi Amin
are condemned

to a life with almost no
political or economic agency.

(Mark Leopold)
The Colonial powers thought that

Africans were inferior
to all white people.

They were seen as being
particularly primitive,

unable to look after themselves
or rule themselves.

Amin very much grew up
within that system.

(narrator)
Amin is from a small tribal
group called the Kakwa,

part of Uganda's
Muslim minority.

And as an African, Amin can

strive to become
a sergeant major

but he can never be
commissioned as an officer.

In spite of these disadvantages,

he is determined
to exceed expectations,

break barriers, and rise through
the ranks as far as he can.

Amin was always thinking about
ways that he could get ahead.

(Iain Grahame) Idi Amin when I
joined the battalion,

was a very junior soldier then,

and although he was illiterate,

virtually no education at all,

he made a mark for himself
extremely quickly.

Amin was strong, athletic,

he had good skills
on the rifle range.

He was known to be ruthless,

which good soldiers are--
you've got to be.

(Alicia Decker)
People who knew him as a child

said that he was very violent.

And, in fact, he would get
into these

punching matches
with other children.

And one of his former
childhood friends said

that there were times that if

they had not intervened
to break up the fight,

Amin would have killed
the other child.

(narrator)
But it's in the Colonial Army
that Amin learns

to harness violence and use it
to advance his own interests.

It's a lesson he will apply,

time and again,
on his path to dictatorship.

(Mariam Mufti)
Violence is extremely important
to almost any dictator

because it can be used as
an opportunity

to not only consolidate
their hold over power,

to also get rid
of opposing forces,

to get rid of external threats.

(Mahmood Mamdani)
Amin's use of violence was not
mindless, it was measured.

And the object was always to
keep the hold on power.

(Mariam Mufti)
He wanted to very clearly,
very publicly, very visibly,

demonstrate
that he was invincible

and that no one could
threaten him.

(narrator) In 1952,

Amin will get an opportunity
to use violence

as a way to launch
his rise to power.

[a siren wails]

In neighboring Kenya,
a rebellion has broken out

and it threatens to spread
across the region.

An alliance of tribesmen
known as the Mau Mau,

fed up with colonial oppression,
stage armed attacks

on British-owned farms
and properties.

[a siren wails]

As dozens of white settlers
are killed, terror grips

the colonial population
throughout East Africa.

The British were up in arms
because for the first time,

they were being targeted.

(narrator)
The colonial authorities
aim to stop the uprising--

by any means necessary.

The British stamped it out
with a great deal of force

and violence, and it certainly
seems that there were

a lot of atrocities
committed by the British,

but that doesn't mean
that British officers

were doing their killing
and the torturing themselves.

They were getting their African
soldiers to do it for them.

(narrator)
They pick their best soldiers
to lead the fight.

Among them is Corporal Idi Amin.

In the spring of 1953,

Amin is part of the first wave
of colonial forces

to take on the Mau Mau.

His skill as a warrior
will be put to the test

on a nighttime patrol,
deep in the Kenyan rainforest.

My memory is that Idi Amin

was actually leading
that patrol at the time.

We were ambushed
by a Mau Mau gang...

and he was very nearly
decapitated.

Idi reacted extremely quickly,

then the rest
of the Mau Mau gang,

they started to attack us
as well,

and we only had
a very quick engagement.

(narrator)
The skirmish is as lethal
as it is quick.

Several Mau Mau are killed
and the rest flee.

Amin, was involved in extremely

harsh types of violence
against the Mau Mau.

But of course, this is something
that pleased the British.

(narrator)
Throughout the 1950s, as the
Mau Mau guerrilla war rages on,

Amin sees regular combat,
developing a reputation

for ferocity that pleases
his commanding officers.

(Mahmood Mamdani)
So there is a certain level
of cruelty

that he learned
in the colonial laboratory.

And the fact that he was
promoted at every level,

meant that this cruelty
was seen as functional.

(narrator)
For the future dictator,
the message is clear--

violence is
how you solve problems.

Violence is how you get ahead.

By 1960, the Mau Mau uprising
is all but crushed.

More than 10,000 rebels have
been killed and thousands more

incarcerated and tortured
in detention camps.

For Amin, his success
on the battlefield

positions him perfectly
for his next move.

But there's an obstacle.

Amin has already risen
to the highest possible rank

for an African enlisted man

and further promotion
is impossible.

The colonial officer corps
is whites only.

But on February 3, 1960,

Amin's prospects
change overnight.

British Prime Minister
Harold Macmillan

announces a decision that will
remake the continent--

Britain will grant independence
to all its African colonies.

(Mark Leopold) After the Second
World War, really,

it became increasingly obvious

to the British that they

couldn't maintain the empire
as it was and had been.

Partly that was because of
economic weakness

after having fought
such a long war.

Partly it was because of
international pressure.

(narrator)
In Uganda,
dramatic change begins

even before
the British withdraw.

Democratic elections
will be held

to decide
the country's new leader.

And for the first time, black
soldiers get the opportunity

to rise above the ranks
of enlisted men.

In 1961, Amin is commissioned
as a lieutenant, the first

of two Ugandan officers
in the entire colonial army.

I think, probably for Amin

independence
would have represented

both a threat
and an opportunity.

It would have represented
a threat because

his power base up till then

had been very much
through the British,

particularly through
the military part

of British colonial rule.

Independence meant that a lot of
his power base was disappearing.

So he would have to develop
a different set of strategies

for succeeding,
getting on, and winning.

(narrator)
Finally, on October 9, 1962,

Uganda officially gains
independence from Britain

and the transfer of power
is complete.

[applause]

Idi Amin, along with millions
of his fellow Ugandans,

celebrate their liberation
from foreign rule.

(Henry Kyemba)
At the time of independence,

I was in government
as a public civil servant,

and we were all thrilled,
we were excited.

Here we are young men, blacks
taking charge of the country!

[men sing
in their native language]

(narrator)
For Idi Amin,

the end of colonialism
has given him a status

beyond anything he had ever
dreamed possible.

Now, he sees the opportunity
to rise

even further through the ranks

and become the supreme commander
of the military.

(Alicia Decker) What he soon
came to recognize,

is that by getting rid of the
British,

there created a space

from which he could enter and
assume power.

(narrator)
Amin allies himself

with the one man who can give
him further promotion--

the new, democratically elected
Prime Minister of Uganda:

Milton Obote.

(Mark Leopold)
Obote and Amin were really
polar opposites.

Obote was an intellectual,

a politician,
a very educated man.

Amin was a soldier,
strong, charismatic,

very popular among
the rank and file.

It was useful for Obote
to have a military ally,

and it was certainly useful for
Amin to have a political ally.

(narrator)
Obote knows
he will need the army

to back up his fragile
coalition government,

already rife with infighting.

He sees Amin, the fierce,
up-and-coming officer,

as the ideal man to help protect
his authority.

Within 3 years,
Obote promotes Amin

all the way to colonel and
deputy commander of the army.

The two men have built
a powerful alliance.

But they're about to face
a crisis

that could destroy them both.

In 1966, Obote's government
is facing

intense opposition from its main
rival, the Kingdom of Buganda.

This ancient tribal group,
whose ancestral lands

cover much of the southern part
of the country,

has long sought more power
and autonomy in Uganda.

Now, the Bugandan king,
Kabaka Mutesa II,

is leading the call
for regime change.

The Bugandans claim they have
uncovered a criminal conspiracy

implicating Obote and the man
they see as his lackey,

Idi Amin.

The Bugandans are right--
for more than a year,

Amin has been abusing his senior
position in the army.

With Obote's support, he has
built a huge smuggling network,

supplying arms to rebels
and mercenaries

in the jungles of Congo.

In exchange for guns, Amin has
funneled large sums of cash,

gold, ivory, and coffee
into Uganda,

making him and the Prime
Minister very rich men.

Amin had actually profited
significantly

from these deals-- $30,000 had

miraculously appeared
into his own bank account.

(narrator)
For the Bugandans, the illegal
arms deal is proof

that Obote and Amin must go.

The Bugandan king prepares
to mount

an armed rebellion
against the government.

Amin is at risk of losing
everything

he has worked
so hard to achieve--

his status,
his wealth, his power.

Obote and Amin respond quickly
to the crisis.

Amin orders his forces to
surround the Bugandan palace

in the capital city, Kampala.

The next day, they attack,
and set the palace ablaze.

Scores of rebels are killed,

and the Bugandan king
flees the country.

With Amin's support, Obote uses
the incident as an excuse

to suspend the constitution

and outlaw all remaining
opposition parties.

He's begun to transform Uganda's
fledgling democracy

into a dictatorship.

Many Ugandans are appalled by
Obote's power grab,

but there is little resistance--

they know any protest would mean

facing the wrath
of Idi Amin and his army.

In return for helping to secure
Obote's power,

Amin gets the ultimate
promotion.

(Mark Leopold)
He became Commander of the Army,

and he became unchallenged
military leader

within the country.

(narrator)
The man who was once
a lowly foot soldier

in the Colonial Army,
now controls the military,

a powerful tool
in any dictatorship.

(Mariam Mufti)
The army has all the guns
and trained soldiers.

And if the dictatorship wants
to establish

a monopoly over the coercive
apparatus of the state,

number one, and number two

the legitimate use of violence
within the state,

then absolutely you need the
cooperation of the military.

(narrator)
As commander of the army,
Amin has never been stronger.

He will do whatever it takes
to protect his position.

(Alicia Decker)
Amin recognized that

the military could be
the ultimate arbiter of power

and that he didn't need to

necessarily follow the orders
of a president.

And so once he was head
of the military,

Amin began amassing supporters

by recruiting heavily
from his home region,

his so-called ethnic kin

to build up
a greater base of support.

(narrator)
Obote catches wind
of what Amin is up to

but he knows a direct
confrontation with

his powerful military commander
would be far too risky.

(Alicia Decker)
As it became increasingly aware
to Obote

that Amin might actually
become a threat

to his own hold on power,

Obote began trying
to find ways to stifle him.

(narrator)
Obote turns to his internal
spy organization

to keep tabs on the military,

stacking the army officer corps

with loyalists who covertly
keep an eye on Amin.

So over time it was this
calculated game of chess.

(narrator)
By 1971, Obote believes he has
enough support in the army

to move against
his disloyal commander.

Obote plans to strip Idi Amin
of his rank,

his power, and even his freedom.

On January 5th, the president
leaves Uganda

to attend the Commonwealth
Conference in Singapore.

While he is abroad,
he gives orders

for the immediate arrest
of Idi Amin.

Obote sent a message back
to Uganda to the military

saying that Amin should be
arrested, for subversion.

(narrator)
But Obote has badly
underestimated

the army's loyalty
to its commanding officer.

Amin has spent years
building up a force

whose rank-and-file troops

are more loyal to him
than to the government.

(Alicia Decker)
The message from Obote

was actually intercepted
by a lower ranking soldier

who was loyal to Amin,

who then relayed
the message on to Amin.

He saw the writing on the wall.

He knew that he was
going to be eliminated.

(narrator)
Amin counters Obote's move
with the ultimate power play.

With his army behind him,
he stages a coup.

Amin orders his troops to fan
out across the Ugandan capitol.

Tanks surround Obote's residence
and block major roads.

His forces engage
in running gun battles

with the few army units
still loyal to Obote.

Within hours,
all opposition is crushed,

and Amin has control of Uganda.

Milton Obote, thousands of miles
from home, is caught off guard.

Dr. Obote will come back to
Uganda as a citizen of Uganda

but not as a president
of the republic of Uganda.

(narrator)
Some Ugandans have secretly
hoped for this moment,

convinced that Obote is a
corrupt, out-of-touch elitist

who is getting what he deserves.

Obote had become
increasingly unpopular

among many Ugandan groups.

(Alicia Decker)
Many folks saw him as

removed from the masses,

and they wanted him overthrown.

(narrator)
Obote does not return home.

Instead, Amin forces him into
exile in neighboring Tanzania.

Amin has defeated his nemesis
and taken power.

But he faces a problem...

many Ugandans are deeply
suspicious of this

military commander who is now
in charge of their country.

(Alicia Decker)
Many people were on edge.

They were very nervous
about what was coming.

(narrator)
Amin comes up with a shrewd
political solution.

To win the hearts of the people,

he sets aside
his aggressive tendencies

and launches
a nationwide charm offensive.

(Alicia Decker)
Amin was a master strategist.

He was very good
at reading people,

and he knew what they needed
to hear and when.

(narrator)
Amin assures the public
that under his leadership,

the promise of independence
will finally be realized--

improved housing, better jobs,
a brighter future.

(Mark Leopold)
He talked a strong
anti-colonial line.

He talked the language of the
African man

taking over power over his own
country

and his own economy.

He made all the right noises.

[joyful exclamations]

(narrator)
Amin's popularity soars
to even greater heights

when he promises a return
to democracy.

(man)
Would you like to stand
for parliament yourself?

I am not ambitious
of standing for power

but my job is that I want to
hand over the government clean

to somebody
who is coming

and that's what I want and then
I can go back to barracks

and then take again orders
from him.

You will see me,
I am coming,

saluting him
and obey his orders.

(Alicia Decker)
He represented a fresh start.

It was a time of possibility
and hope and excitement.

(narrator)
But Amin's
extraordinary popularity

and his newfound power

spur him to consider
a different plan.

March, 1971.

Just two months after the coup,

Amin extinguishes all hope
of democracy.

He re-establishes
a dictatorship,

and takes Uganda for himself.

(Deo Katono) Power corrupts.

So once you go into this
position and you realize

as an individual what you are
able to do with power,

then you want to keep it
rather than give it away.

(narrator)
Amin has much of the country's
lower class behind him.

But the new dictator faces
fierce opposition from many

who still believe Milton Obote

is the rightful leader
of Uganda.

(Alicia Decker)
At the very beginning of his
regime, he was absolutely

terrified of being overthrown.

Different military leaders,
cabinet officials

and the soldiers
who were associated

with the former president,
Milton Obote,

were a threat to Amin
because they had the ability

to potentially threaten
his hold on power.

(narrator)
Amin is determined to avoid
his predecessor's fate

and he moves quickly
to stamp out any dissent.

He will follow the lead
of dictators before him

and build a potent weapon to
defend himself and his regime

against internal threats.

(Natasha Ezrow) Having control
over the secret police

is an incredibly important tool
for any dictatorship,

particularly in the beginning.

They have to set the tone
and set the message straight

that nobody can be disloyal
and survive this regime.

(narrator)
Amin begins to transform Uganda
into a police state.

He establishes a vast network
of secret agents,

spies, and enforcers at every
level of the government,

the military, and even
on the public streets.

Many members of Amin's secret
police are easily identifiable

in their flowery shirts, dark
sunglasses and flashy cars.

(Henry Kyemba)
What happened after the coup

spoke volumes.

All he was interested was

how the army did with any
opposition to his leadership.

(narrator)
The secret police make
thousands of arrests,

rounding up targets
without warning, day or night,

in military barracks, public
streets and private homes.

If he suspected you

to be in conversation
with his opponent,

you know,
he would not just delay,

he would just remove you
instantly.

Not putting them before
the judicial system--

just murdering.

(narrator)
Within the first year
of Amin's regime,

an estimated 10,000 Ugandans
are murdered by the state.

(Fathali Moghaddam) They want
certain people out of the way

because they regard them
as infections,

infections that could spread.

And they want to use them
as examples

of what could happen to you
if you step out of line.

(narrator)
But it's behind the locked doors
of his secret police prisons

that Amin shows the full extent
of his cruelty.

His torture chambers
become legendary.

Among other atrocities,

prisoners are immersed
in boiling water,

forced to beat each other
with hammers,

and made to eat bags of salt

until they nearly die
from dehydration.

(Natasha Ezrow)
Many dictatorships resort
to using torture

because it ensures compliance.

It actually also serves
a purpose of

psychologically affecting
the victim quite extensively.

That they won't ever, ever again

attempt to,
to challenge the regime.

(Mahmood Mamdani)
The consolidation of power
is brutal.

This government is born
in an orgy of blood.

Because it's purging
of all elements

which he thinks could challenge
his hold on power.

(narrator)
Amin makes sure everyone
in Uganda

understands
the price of disloyalty.

Public executions
become a common event.

He wanted to send a very clear
message to his opponents,

that no disloyalty would be
tolerated.

Anyone who threatened his power

was almost a death sentence.

(Fathali Moghaddam)
Ordinary people in dictatorships

want to rebel,
want to bring the regime down.

But they are facing a gun,

a loaded gun,
and they will be killed,

many of them will be killed
if they rebel.

(narrator)
Ugandans from
all levels of society

come to learn
that they are being watched.

And that opposing Amin means
risking your life.

(Idi Amin)
Everybody in Uganda,

members of the armed forces,

police, and the public,

they are responsible
for my security.

And immediately they hear

anybody making
subversive activities

or try to plan
anything against me,

they report that person
straight to the police.

This is what I am happy because

it seems that they love me

and that is why
they are doing this,

which I am very happy,

and I thank them very much.

(narrator)
Throughout his rule,
Amin's murders never stop.

The killings cut across all
sections of the population--

the army, farmers, students,

clerks, even religious figures.

In many cases, Amin orders his
victim's corpses to be thrown

into the Nile where they become
food for crocodiles.

[Henry Kyemba speaks]

In the 8 years that he was
in power,

almost 300,000 people
were massacred.

In fact that number, according
to Amnesty International

is cited to be as high
as 500,000 people.

(narrator)
Amin's violence will remain

the central pillar
of his dictatorship.

But he knows he cannot rule
through fear alone.

Dictators are very careful.

We talk about indiscriminate
acts of violence as a strategy

that are used by dictators,
but there is a tipping point.

Dictators do not want
to kill everyone.

You don't want to create so much
state repression,

so much violence, that you
actually end up instigating

a rebellion from within,
or a revolution from within.

(narrator)
For his next move, Amin will
offer the carrot, not the stick.

In an act
of crowd-pleasing populism,

he will give his people
what he believes they want...

it's a move he thinks will
win him their undying loyalty.

in the beginning there's been
a lot of fear,

repression, purges used,
arrests,

and of course, fear is a big
part of it.

But no dictator can survive
with just repression alone,

they have to cultivate
some form of popularity.

(narrator)
Amin wants to demonstrate
that he can give the people

a better, more prosperous life,
especially among his base--

the millions of lower-class
Ugandans who have been stuck

in a cycle of poverty
since colonial times.

People have a need
for stability.

They need to feel like
they're taken care of.

And that's something that
dictatorships provide.

They want to ensure
that the masses feel

that there is a need
for this dictatorship.

When Uganda became independent
in 1962,

for most people,
nothing much changed.

(narrator)
Amin has a radical idea to give

black Ugandans real economic
power for the first time.

And to make his plan work,

he will use
a classic dictator's tactic.

(Mariam Mufti) If you want to
bring people together,

and you want to give people
a sense

that the dictator
must be in power,

because he is a savior or a
guardian of their interests,

then creating a common enemy is
an extremely effective strategy.

Now in the case of Idi Amin,

that common enemy
stemmed from indophobia,

which was very common
at the time,

and it was directed towards the
South Asian settlers in Uganda.

(narrator)
South Asians were first brought
to Uganda by the British

in the 19th century to help run
the colonial economy.

The British believed that the
Africans

weren't really capable of
carrying out

these these economic positions--

running shops
and small businesses.

In effect
the Asians were running

pretty much all
the Ugandan economy.

(narrator) By 1972,

Asian Ugandans make up less
than 1% of the population,

but they own 90% of
the country's businesses.

By targeting Asians,

and their role
in the economy,

Amin believes he can transfer

power and prosperity
to black Ugandans.

It's a move that will provoke
outrage around the world

and define the rest
of his dictatorship.

On August 5, 1972,
Amin orders the expulsion

of Uganda's entire Asian
population, some 80,000 people.

(man)
Would you like to get
all Asians out really?

Yes! they must go
to their country!

It was early August in 1972,
and ah...

we had the radio on,

and we heard this thing about
the Asian expulsion.

And it just, we were oblivious,
we said no, it can't be.

This must be some kind of joke
or something.

(narrator)
But Amin proves to be
deadly serious.

The dictator gives Asian
Ugandans like John Nazareth

and his family just 90 days
to arrange their affairs,

close their businesses,

and make plans to emigrate
to a new country.

(John Nazareth) Panic...

it was pretty rough.

The less serious you took it--
I don't know whether it was

just a defensive mechanism
in the mind to make light

of something because if you
didn't laugh, you'd cry.

(narrator)
The world press condemns Amin
for his drastic move,

often resorting to caricature
and barely veiled racism.

(Mark Leopold)
The reaction abroad,
particularly in the UK

was to really make Amin seem
a heartless monster,

to make him the notorious
dictator that he has become.

(narrator)
But for many of
his supporters at home

and across the African
continent, Amin is seen as

a bold, pioneering champion
of black rights.

[applause & cheers]

(narrator)
In the end, more than 50,000
Ugandans of Asian origin

are thrown out
of their own country.

Amin expropriates
the Asian owned businesses.

He siphons much of the revenues
to his government

and shares the properties
among his supporters.

(Mahmood Mamdani)
Amin was the source of a future
for so many people.

Uganda had suddenly become
a land of opportunity

for its black population.

He tapped into something big.

I mean, this was almost like a
social revolution.

Except it had been carried out
from above.

(narrator)
The Asian expulsion remakes
Uganda's economy...

but in ways Amin had never
intended.

The impact on the economy
was disastrous.

(Deo Katono)
It was a big disaster

because the Africans who took
over these businesses

had no experience at all

in the management
of these properties.

(narrator)
Commercial supply chains,

for decades controlled
by Asian business owners,

suddenly break down.

Manufacturers can't get parts
and raw materials.

Unemployment soars.

Store shelves are bare,
and basic household goods

like matches and sugar
are unavailable.

(Deo Katono)
Then there was
a phenomenon of crime.

These were burglars,

these were bandits
invading homes

and stealing from people.

It was on the rise stimulated by
the biting economic conditions.

(Mahmood Mamdani)
The support that he had gained

through the Asian expulsion was
beginning to to wane.

To ensuring a running economy,

or a rule of law--

Amin had lost that credibility.

(narrator)
With even his most
ardent supporters

now questioning his leadership,

Amin is facing the possibility
of revolt.

To win back popular support,

he turns to
another tactic.

He will try to divert
public attention

away from his failed policies.

(Natasha Ezrow) It's an
important tool for any dictator.

It's a way of distracting people

from the transgressions of the
regime, from the repression,

from the poor policies.

The economy was doing terribly.

He was running the country
into the ground.

(narrator)
Amin's plan is to turn
the public spotlight

away from the failing economy
and train it on himself.

(Alicia Decker) An important
aspect about Amin

is the theatricality of his
personality. Right?

He loved to, he loved to make
a spectacle, a show of things,

and he loved to ruffle feathers.

(narrator)
The dictator launches a public
war of words

with the outside world.

He begins sending out
a series of lewd and

controversial telegrams, often
to prominent world leaders.

One example of this would be

when he sent
the Queen of England

a telegram telling her not to
get her knickers in a bundle

over something that he had done.

The world were outraged--

how can you send such
an inappropriate message

to the Queen of England
talking about her underpants?

(Deo Katono)
There's one telegram
that he sent to Nixon,

the U.S. President,
congratulating him

after he'd been impeached
over the Watergate scandal.

(Alicia Decker)
He deployed irrationality
as a performative tactic

to try and get people talking
about him.

He loved a good show,
he loved a good performance.

And so by engaging in these
sometimes over-the-top,

outrageous behaviors,
by sending these missives to

various heads of states, saying
various inappropriate things,

he was able to get people's eyes
focused on him.

(narrator)
Once again, the world press
scrambles to cover Idi Amin,

framing him as an unthinking
and unhinged despot.

(Deo Katono)
These newspapers said look,
this man is crazy.

He is a buffoon.

Actually they used
the word buffoon.

(narrator)
But at home,
many Ugandans set aside

their concerns over the economy

and thrill to the sight
of their leader

on the world stage,
standing up to the West.

So when he projected himself as
a critic of colonialism,

as a protestor
against white domination,

he received very high marks.

(Alicia Decker)
Part of the reason why many
people have not

taken Amin seriously is because
of his antics.

But I think we need to take
these telegrams

and these missives very
seriously, because they tell us

a lot about
the inner calculus

of the political machine
that was, you know, Amin.

(narrator)
Amin manages to keep a tenuous
hold on popular support,

but by 1978, Uganda's economy
is weaker than ever,

and the dictator is facing
an urgent problem.

With his government
nearly bankrupt,

Amin's once loyal army
is underfunded

and increasingly out of control.

(Alicia Decker)
Amin created a
hypermilitarized state.

What he did is,
over time he created

multiple different organizations
that were responsible

for various aspects of security
in the country.

As these groups were able

to amass increasing amounts
of power,

they were not necessarily
loyal to him anymore.

And so eventually the militarism
which had brought him power

was what ultimately undid him.

(narrator)
In neighboring Tanzania,
Milton Obote

now in his 8th year of exile,
is watching closely.

He rallies thousands
of Ugandan rebels

to join forces
with the Tanzanian Army

and waits for the right moment
to strike.

(Mark Leopold) Increasing
numbers of exiles

were organizing in Tanzania,

and they were getting more and
more international support.

So he was very much
under threat.

(narrator)
Amid the crisis,
Amin sees an opportunity,

a way to shore up
his crumbling regime

and preempt Tanzania's
imminent attack.

He'll employ a risky tactic

one that's been used
by other dictators.

This war was about trying
to give the soldiers

something concrete to focus on

that was not going to get them
involved in other business

that they shouldn't be
involved in,

such as questioning the
authority of the state.

(narrator)
In October 1978,

Ugandan forces invade Tanzania.

[loud explosion]

(narrator)
Amin's army, whose troops
he can no longer afford to pay

loot and plunder
their way across

nearly 700 square miles
of Tanzanian territory.

[loud explosions]

(Alicia Decker)
During the invasion,
they massacred

every living thing
that was around.

Reports suggest that it was
complete and total destruction.

(narrator)
Amin's gamble
on a war with Tanzania

seems to have paid off.

He declares a great victory,

but he has misjudged
the will of his enemy

and the strength
of his own army.

(Mariam Mufti)
The Tanzanians weren't going to
take lightly, and in fact

they came back full force and
recaptured their territory,

pushing Amin back into Uganda,
pushing his troops back.

(Alicia Decker)
And so instead of
fighting back,

Amin's troops were very
dilapidated by the end--

a disorganized mess.

And so it was very easy
for the Tanzanian army,

who at this point were
very highly organized,

to chase after Amin
and his soldiers.

(narrator)
With his troops in full retreat,
Amin barricades himself

in his presidential residence
in Kampala.

On April 10, 1979,

Tanzanian forces enter
the Ugandan capitol.

Amin's war has proved to be
a fatal mistake.

[enthusiastic cheering]

(Mariam Mufti)
This entire episode,

which stemmed
from Amin realizing

that he was losing control
of his regime

led him to go on a misadventure
and make a mistake.

It was a huge misstep for Idi
Amin because it led to the end.

(narrator)
Through a combination
of populist charm

and brutal violence,

backed up by
a vast police state,

Idi Amin managed to rule Uganda,

and confound the whole world,
for 8 years.

Now, it's all over.

On April 11, 1979,

with Tanzanian troops
and Ugandan rebels

closing in on his compound,

Amin boards an army helicopter
and flees the country.

Millions of Ugandans, finally
free of Amin's brutal rule,

rejoice in the streets.

But they must also reckon with

what the dictator
has left behind:

a devastated economy
and the slaughter

of hundreds of thousands
of their fellow citizens.

There are people
who lost parents,

as a result of Idi Amin
and have never recovered.

(Henry Kyemba)
I lost my brother.

I lost my sons.

I lost my close relatives.

(narrator)
As Milton Obote
returns to Uganda

to reclaim
his old dictatorship,

Amin flees to the Middle East.

There he leverages his Muslim
heritage to find refuge.

Ultimately, he is given a safe

and comfortable haven
in Saudi Arabia.

(Alicia Decker)
Once Amin got to Saudi Arabia,
he had a very nice lifestyle.

The Saudi government put him up
in a very beautiful house.

He was able to marry at least
two additional women.

And so by all accounts,
it would appear that Amin

ended his days without ever
having to pay for the violence

and devastation
that he brought to Uganda.

(narrator)
Amin lived a long life and never
answered for his crimes,

dying peacefully
of kidney failure in 2003.

But ever since his downfall
in 1979,

the culture of violence
and militarism

that he created in Uganda
has continued.

The country has seen periods of
relative stability and peace,

but Amin's successors have all
resorted to similar tactics

to intimidate and control
their people.

(Alicia Decker)
Every leader since Amin,

has relied upon military force
to maintain power

and to stifle dissent,
largely because they have

learned through Amin,
that violence is effective,

violence works.

The violence that was
inculcated and supported

by Amin's militarism, is
something that lives on

as one of his most
enduring legacies.

(narrator)
Next time
on "The Dictator's Playbook"...

(Natasha Ezrow)
There's no country
that exercises

more power over its citizens
than North Korea.

(Jean H. Lee) After hundreds
of years of feudal rule
and brutal Japanese occupation.

(Bruce Cumings)
Kim Il Sung saw himself
as the great unifier.

(Natasha Ezrow)
He was able to create
a complete religion.

(Michael Madden)
For the North Koreans,
Kim Il Sung was a living god.

(Jean H. Lee)
Controlling what they think,
what they eat.

(Charles K. Armstrong)
That has lasted now
for almost 70 years.

(Jean H. Lee)
We had never seen anything like
that in the communist world.

(m

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(man) To order "The Dictator's
Playbook" on DVD,

visit shopPBS.org

or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

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