The guys in the Kremlin used to do this regularly.
They used to have a May Day parade every year in Moscow. There'd be all the big dogs lining Lenin's tomb looking out over the parade.
Official pictures were made and circulated throughout the country.
Every now and then one of the big dogs would fall out of favor. The guys in the Kremlin would airbrush out the bad guy, fill in the background, and publish a whole new set of official photos for nationwide circulation.
They didn't bat an eye.
Yup. The Soviets were masters at this. I think Hussein's boys need to go back to Moscow for additional training.