Saddam Hussein

, 1956 Saddam Hussein Al-Majid Al-Tikriti was born on 28 April 1937, in al-Awja, a small village near Tikrit, to a Sunni Arab family from the Al-Bejat clan of the Bedouin Al-Bu Nasir tribe. His father, Hussein Abd al-Majid, was from the Al-Majid branch of the Al-Bejat clan, while his mother Subha Tulfah al-Mussalat was granddaughter of Mussallat bin Omar Al-Nasiri, a tribal leader of the Al-Bu Nasir tribe and an opponent of the Ottoman rule in Iraq. Saddam's name means "the fighter who stands steadfast". His father died before his birth. His stepfather, Ibrahim al-Hassan, treated Saddam harshly after his return, and (according to a psychological profile created by the CIA) beat him regularly, sometimes to wake him up. At around the age of 10, Saddam fled the family and returned to live in Baghdad with his uncle Khairallah Talfah, who became a fatherly figure to Saddam. He was reported to have served five years in prison for his role in fighting against Great Britain, and often mentored and told tales of his exploits to the young Saddam. Later in his life, relatives from his native city became some of his closest advisors and supporters. Under the guidance of his uncle, he attended a nationalistic high school in Baghdad. After secondary school, Saddam studied at an Iraqi law school for three years, dropping out in 1957 at the age of 20 to join the revolutionary pan-Arab Ba'ath Party, of which his uncle was a supporter. During this time, Saddam apparently saw himself as a secondary school teacher. Ba'athist ideology originated in Syria and the Ba'ath Party had a large following in Syria at the time, but in 1955 there were fewer than 300 Ba'ath Party members in Iraq, and it is believed that Saddam's primary reason for joining the party as opposed to the more established Iraqi nationalist parties was his familial connection to Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and other leading Ba'athists through his uncle. The rise of Nasser foreshadowed a wave of revolutions throughout the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s, with the collapse of the monarchies of Iraq, Egypt, and Libya. Nasser inspired nationalists throughout the Middle East by fighting the British and the French during the Suez Crisis of 1956, modernizing Egypt, and uniting the Arab world politically. == Rise to power ==

Assassination attempt on Qasim In 1958, the Ba'ath Party was originally represented in Abdul-Karim Qasim's cabinet, the prime minister of Iraq and its de factor leader. However, Qasim—reluctant to join Nasser's newly formed union between Egypt and Syria—sided with various groups within Iraq (notably the social democrats and the Iraqi Communist Party) that told him such an action would be dangerous. Instead, Qasim adopted a wataniyah policy of "Iraq First". To strengthen his own position within the government, Qasim also had an alliance with the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP), which was opposed to the notion of pan-Arabism. His policies angered several pan-Arab organizations, including the Ba'ath Party, which later began plotting to assassinate Qasim at Al-Rashid Street on 7 October 1959 and take power. Saddam was recruited to the assassination conspiracy by its ring-leader, Abdul Karim al-Shaikhly, after one of the would-be assassins left. During the ambush, Saddam (who was only supposed to provide cover) began shooting prematurely, which disorganised the whole operation. Qasim's chauffeur was killed and Qasim was hit in the arm and shoulder. The assassins thought they had killed Qasim and quickly retreated to their headquarters, but Qasim survived. Saddam himself is not believed to have received any training outside of Iraq, as he was a late addition to the assassination team. Richard Sale of United Press International (UPI), citing former United States diplomat and intelligence officials, Adel Darwish, and other experts, reported that the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Qasim was a collaboration between the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Egyptian intelligence. Pertinent contemporary records relating to CIA operations in Iraq have remained classified or heavily redacted, thus "allow[ing] for plausible deniability." It is generally accepted that Egypt, in some capacity, was involved in the assassination attempt, and that "[t]he United States was working with Nasser on some level." At the time of the attack, the Ba'ath Party had fewer than 1,000 members; however, the failed assassination attempt led to widespread exposure for Saddam and the Ba'ath within Iraq, where both had previously languished in obscurity, and later became a crucial part of Saddam's public image during his tenure as president of Iraq. Kanan Makiya recounts: The man and the myth merge in this episode. His biography—and Iraqi television, which stages the story ad nauseam—tells of his familiarity with guns from the age of ten; his fearlessness and loyalty to the party during the 1959 operation; his bravery in saving his comrades by commandeering a car at gunpoint; the bullet that was gouged out of his flesh under his direction in hiding; the iron discipline that led him to draw a gun on weaker comrades who would have dropped off a seriously wounded member of the hit team at a hospital; the calculating shrewdness that helped him save himself minutes before the police broke in leaving his wounded comrades behind; and finally the long trek of a wounded man from house to house, city to town, across the desert to refuge in Syria. Exile to the United Arab Republic Michel Aflaq, the leader of the Ba'athist movement, organized the expulsion of leading Iraqi Ba'athist members, such as Fuad al-Rikabi, on the grounds that the party should not have initiated the attempt on Qasim's life. At the same time, Aflaq secured seats in the Iraqi Ba'ath leadership for his supporters, one of them being Saddam. The assassins, including Saddam, all eventually escaped to Cairo, United Arab Republic, "where they enjoyed Nasser's protection for the remainder of Qasim's tenure in power." Saddam initially escaped to Syria and then to Egypt itself in February 1960, and he continued to live there until 1963, graduating from high school in 1961 and unsuccessfully pursuing a law degree at Cairo Law School (1962–1963). It is possible that Saddam visited the U.S. embassy in Cairo during his exile, and some evidence suggests that he was "in frequent contact with US officials and intelligence agents." Army officers with ties to the Ba'ath Party overthrew and killed Qasim in the Ramadan Revolution coup of February 1963; long suspected to be supported by the CIA, however, pertinent contemporary documents relating to the CIA's operations in Iraq have remained classified by the U.S. government, although the Ba'athists are documented to have maintained supportive relationships with U.S. officials before, during, and after the coup. Ba'athist leaders were appointed to the cabinet and Abdul Salam Arif became president. Arif dismissed and arrested the Ba'athist leaders later that year in the November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état. Being exiled in Egypt at the time, Saddam played no role in the 1963 coup or the brutal anti-communist purge that followed; although he returned to Iraq after the coup, becoming a key organizer within the Ba'ath Party's civilian wing upon his return. Unlike during the Qasim years, Saddam remained in Iraq following Arif's anti-Ba'athist purge in November 1963, and became involved in planning to assassinate Arif. In marked contrast to Qasim, Saddam knew that he faced no death penalty from Arif's government and knowingly accepted the risk of being arrested rather than fleeing to Syria again. Saddam was arrested in October 1964 and served approximately two years in prison before escaping in 1966. In 1966, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr appointed him Deputy Secretary of the Regional Command. Saddam, who would prove to be a skilled organizer, revitalized the party. He was elected to the Regional Command, as the story goes, with help from Michel Aflaq—the founder of Ba'athist thought. In September 1966, Saddam initiated an extraordinary challenge to Syrian domination of the Ba'ath Party in response to the Marxist takeover of the Syrian Ba'ath earlier that year, resulting in the Party's formalized split into two separate factions. Saddam then created a Ba'athist security service, which he alone controlled. 1968 coup In July 1968, Saddam participated in a bloodless coup led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr that overthrew Abdul Rahman Arif, Salam Arif's brother and successor. While Saddam's role in the coup was not largely significant (except in the official account), Saddam planned and carried out the subsequent purge of the non-Ba'athist faction led by Prime Minister Abdul Razzaq an-Naif, whose support had been essential to the coup's success. According to a semi-official biography, Saddam personally led Naif at gunpoint to the plane that escorted him out of Iraq. Arif was given refuge in London and then Istanbul. Al-Bakr was named president and Saddam was named his deputy, and deputy chairman of the Ba'athist Revolutionary Command Council. According to biographers, Saddam never forgot the tensions within the first Ba'athist government, which formed the basis for his measures to promote Ba'ath party unity as well as his resolve to maintain power and programs to ensure social stability. Although Saddam was al-Bakr's deputy, he was a strong behind-the-scenes party politician. Al-Bakr was the older and more prestigious of the two, but by 1969 Saddam had become the moving force behind the party. == Vice presidency (1968–1979) ==

Political program In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, formally al-Bakr's second-in-command, Saddam built a reputation as a progressive, effective politician. At this time, he moved up the ranks in the new government by aiding attempts to strengthen and unify the Ba'ath party and taking a leading role in addressing the country's major domestic problems and expanding the party's following. At the center of this strategy was Iraq's oil. On 1 June 1972, Saddam oversaw the seizure of international oil interests, which, at the time, dominated the country's oil sector. A year later, world oil prices rose dramatically as a result of the 1973 energy crisis, and skyrocketing revenues enabled Saddam to expand his agenda. Saddam subsequently implemented a national infrastructure campaign that made progress in building roads, promoting mining, and developing other industries. Electricity was brought to nearly every city in Iraq, and many outlying areas. Saddam focused on fostering loyalty to the Ba'athists in the rural areas. After nationalizing foreign oil interests, Saddam supervised the modernization of the countryside, mechanizing agriculture on a large scale, and distributing land to peasant farmers. The Ba'athists established farm cooperatives and the government also doubled expenditures for agricultural development in 1974–1975. By the late 1970s, Iraq had experienced significant economic growth, with a budget reserve surpassing US$35 billion. The value of 1 Iraqi dinar was worth more than 3 dollars, making it one of the most notable economic expansions in the region. Saddam Hussein's regime aimed to diversify the Iraqi economy beyond oil. The government invested in various industries, including petrochemicals, fertilizer production, and textile manufacturing, to reduce dependence on oil revenues and promote economic self-sufficiency. The oil revenue benefited Saddam politically. According to The Economist, "Much as Adolf Hitler won early praise for galvanizing German industry, ending mass unemployment and building autobahns, Saddam earned admiration abroad for his deeds. He had a good instinct for what the "Arab street" demanded, following the decline in Egyptian leadership brought about by the trauma of Israel's six-day victory in the 1967 war, the death of the pan-Arabist hero, Gamal Abdel Nasser, in 1970, and the "traitorous" drive by his successor, Anwar Sadat, to sue for peace with the Jewish state. Saddam's self-aggrandizing propaganda, with himself posing as the defender of Arabism against Zionist or Persian intruders, was heavy-handed, but consistent as a drumbeat. It helped, of course, that his mukhabarat (secret police) put dozens of Arab news editors, writers and artists on the payroll." In 1972, Saddam signed a 15-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union. Arms were sent along with several thousand advisers. According to historian Charles R. H. Tripp, the treaty upset "the US-sponsored security system established as part of the Cold War in the Middle East. It appeared that any enemy of the Baghdad regime was a potential ally of the United States." In response, the US covertly financed Kurdish rebels led by Mustafa Barzani during the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War; the Kurds were defeated in 1975, leading to the forcible relocation of hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians. After the oil crisis of 1973, France had changed to a more pro-Arab policy and was accordingly rewarded by Saddam with closer ties. Saddam's rare trips abroad included many Western countries. His visit to Spain took place in December 1974, when the Caudillo of Spain, Francisco Franco, invited him to Madrid and he visited Granada, Córdoba and Toledo. In September 1975 he met with Prime Minister Jacques Chirac in Paris, France. Saddam's 1975 visit further cemented close ties with French business and ruling political circles., de jure president of Iraq alongside Hafez al-Assad of Syria at an Arab League summit in Baghdad in November 1978Iraq's relations with the Arab world have been extremely varied. Relations between Iraq and Egypt violently ruptured in 1977, when the two nations broke relations with each other following Iraq's criticism of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's peace initiatives with Israel. In 1978, Baghdad hosted an Arab League summit that condemned and ostracized Egypt for accepting the Camp David Accords. Saddam led Arab opposition to the Camp David Accords. Peace treaty with Iran Iran and Iraq had been engaged in a long-standing territorial dispute over the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which serves as the border between the two countries. The 1975 Algiers Agreement, also known as the Algiers Accord, was a significant diplomatic agreement signed between Iran and Iraq on 6 March 1975, to settle border disputes and improve bilateral relations. As the ailing, elderly al-Bakr became unable to execute his duties, Saddam took on an increasingly prominent role as the face of the government both internally and externally. He was the de facto leader of Iraq some years before he formally came to power in 1979. In 1979, al-Bakr started to make treaties with Syria, also under Ba'athist leadership, that would lead to unification between the two countries. Syrian President Hafez al-Assad would become deputy leader in a union, and this would drive Saddam to obscurity. Saddam acted to secure his grip on power by forcing the ailing al-Bakr to resign on 16 July 1979, and formally assumed the presidency. == Presidency (1979–2003) ==

Consolidation of power The first sign of consolidation of power came, when Muhyi Abd al-Hussein Mashhadi, the secretary-general of the Ba'ath Party, was replaced by someone closer to Saddam. Many officers during al-Bakr's time were removed. Saddam claimed to have found a fifth column within the ruling party and directed Muhyi Abdul-Hussein to read out a confession and the names of 68 alleged co-conspirators. A second round of purges took place in June 1982, when half of the sixteen RCC members who had survived the 1979 "countercoup" were removed from power. Large number of Shias were removed from the regime. Later the government invited back Shias to hold posts within the government, to gain support. Under Saddam's administration, senior government, military, and security roles were predominantly filled by Arab Sunni Muslims, a minority that made up about a fifth of the population. While key security posts were often reserved for close relatives, he also appointed members of various religious and ethnic minorities to high-ranking positions and as representatives based on loyalty to his regime. Paramilitary and police organizations Iraq faced the prospect of régime change from two Shia factions — Dawa and SCIRI which aspired to model Iraq on its neighbour Iran as a Shia theocracy. A separate threat to Iraq came from parts of the ethnic Kurdish population of northern Iraq which opposed being part of an Iraqi state and favored independence, an ongoing ideology which had preceded Ba'ath Party rule. Membership in the Ba'ath Party remained open to all Iraqi citizens regardless of background, and repressive measures were taken against its opponents. The major instruments for accomplishing this control were the paramilitary and police organizations. Beginning in 1974, Taha Yassin Ramadan, a close associate of Saddam, commanded the Popular Army, which had responsibility for internal security. As the Ba'ath Party's paramilitary, the People's Army acted as a counterweight against any coup attempts by the regular armed forces. In addition to the People's Army, the Department of General Intelligence was the most notorious arm of the state-security system, feared for its use of torture and assassination. Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam's younger half-brother, commanded Mukhabarat. Foreign observers believed that from 1982 this department operated both at home and abroad in its mission to seek out and eliminate Saddam's perceived opponents. Saddam was notable for using terror against his own people. The Economist described Saddam as "one of the last of the 20th century's great dictators, but not the least in terms of egotism, or cruelty, or morbid will to power." and committed war crimes in Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued regular reports of widespread imprisonment and torture. Conversely, Saddam used Iraq's oil wealth to develop an extensive patronage system for the regime's supporters. Although Saddam is often described as a totalitarian leader, Joseph Sassoon notes that there are important differences between Saddam's repression and the totalitarianism practiced by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, particularly with regard to freedom of movement and freedom of religion. The Iran–Iraq War devastated Iraq's economy, causing an estimated US$120 billion in damages and leaving the country with around $90 billion in debt, including approximately $40 billion owed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait alone. Following the Gulf War and the imposition of UN sanctions in the 1990s, the Iraqi economy had sharply declined, and the system increasingly shifted toward crony capitalism. Saddam implemented a national infrastructure campaign that made progress in building roads, promoting mining, and developing other industries. He established one hospital, specially for treatment of children with Cerebral palsy. Saddam's government also underwent a large campaign to beautify Baghdad by erecting statues and monuments. The government also supported families of soldiers, granted free hospitalization to everyone, and gave subsidies to farmers. Saddam established and controlled the "National Campaign for the Eradication of Illiteracy" and the campaign for "Compulsory Free Education in Iraq," and largely under his auspices, the government established universal free schooling up to the highest education levels and hundreds of thousands learned to read in the years following the initiation of the program. Women were strongly encouraged to pursue education and join the workforce, and many rose to high-ranking positions in government, medicine, and academia. The Ba'ath Party is also known to have "popularized women's education" during their rule, leading Iraq to achieve one of the highest female literacy rates among Muslim-majority countries at the time. Saddam's government passed labor and employment laws that guaranteed equal pay, six months of fully paid maternity leave, and legal protections against sexual harassment. According to PeaceWomen, the rights of female workers in Ba'athist Iraq rivaled those of the United States during the same period. By the late 1970s and into the 1980s, women in Iraq held significant roles in society, accounting for 46% of all teachers, 29% of doctors, 46% of dentists and 70% of pharmacists. Women also constituted 40% of the civil service at one point in the 1980s. Unlike other Arab or Muslim majority countries, women in Iraq played an important role in the society. According to a report in 1985 by The New York Times: "Iraqi women, historically among the most emancipated in the Arab world, hold jobs in all the professions, dress as they please, vote and hold more than 10 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. At the University of Baghdad, 55 percent of the enrollment is female. Day care is provided by the state free of charge, and with the war, women have taken on more traditional men's jobs and now make up 25 percent of the entire work force." Early in his presidency, Hussein donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a church in Detroit and received a key to the city. In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the fall of Saddam's government, Iraqi authorities initiated efforts to identify and repatriate assets believed to have been transferred abroad during his rule. In 2007, the Iraqi government formally requested assistance from France in locating funds allegedly deposited in French financial institutions. Saddam once owned a trust fund known as Montana Management, which had a 2% holding in Lagardère Group; however all of its holdings—including its $90 million stake—were frozen following the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Iran–Iraq War: 1980–1988 Background , the leader of People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, 1987 In early 1979, Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's Pahlavi dynasty were overthrown by the Islamic Revolution, thus giving way to an Islamic republic led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The influence of revolutionary Shia Islam grew apace in the region, particularly in countries with large Shia populations, especially Iraq. Most Iraqi Shias, who comprised the majority of the Iraqi Armed Forces, chose their own country over their Shia Iranian coreligionists during the war that ensued. The outbreak of the war in September 1980 was preceded by a long period of tension between the two countries throughout 1979 and 1980, including frequent border skirmishes, calls by Khomeini for the Shia Muslims in Iraq to revolt against the ruling Ba'ath Party, and allegations of Iraqi support for ethnic separatists in Iran. There were frequent clashes along the Iran–Iraq border throughout 1980, with Iraq publicly complaining of at least 544 incidents and Iran citing at least 797 violations of its border and airspace. On 1 April 1980, the Islamic Dawa Party, an Iraqi Islamist group with supportive ties to Iran, attempted to assassinate Tariq Aziz, Iraq's then deputy prime minister at the University of Baghdad campus, in retaliation for a 30 March decree declaring "membership of Dawa [to be] a capital offense". On 30 April, Iraq organized an attack on the Iranian embassy in London. Warfare (1940–1989), the Defence Minister, being awarded by Saddam. Iraq invaded Iran on 22 September 1980, first launching airstrikes on numerous targets in Iran, including the Mehrabad Airport of Tehran, before occupying the oil-rich Iranian province of Khuzestan, which also has a sizable Arab minority. By 1982, Iraq was on the defensive and looking for ways to end the war. Encyclopædia Britannica states: "Estimates of total casualties range from 1,000,000 to twice that number. Neither side had achieved what they had originally desired and the borders were left nearly unchanged. The campaign was in retaliation to Kurd's support for Iran and their rebellion. It considers the campaign as an act of genocide. The attack occurred in conjunction with the Anfal campaign designed to reassert central control of the mostly Kurdish population of areas of northern Iraq and defeat the Kurdish peshmerga rebel forces. Following the incident, the U.S. State Department took the official position that Iran was partly to blame for the Halabja massacre. A study by the Defense Intelligence Agency held Iran responsible for the attack, an assessment that was subsequently used by the Central Intelligence Agency for much of the early 1990s. According to Joost Hiltermann: "Analysis of thousands of captured Iraqi secret police documents and declassified U.S. government documents, as well as interviews with scores of Kurdish survivors, senior Iraqi defectors and retired U.S. intelligence officers, show (1) that Iraq carried out the attack on Halabja, and (2) that the United States, fully aware it was Iraq, accused Iran, Iraq's enemy in a fierce war, of being partly responsible for the attack." It initially refused to supply Iraq on the basis of neutrality in the conflict. In his memoirs, Mikhail Gorbachev claimed that Brezhnev initially refused to aid Saddam due to anger over the regime's treatment of Iraqi communists. In a U.S. bid to open full diplomatic relations with Iraq, the country was removed from the U.S list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in February 1982. Ostensibly, this was because of improvement in the regime's record, although former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Noel Koch later stated, "No one had any doubts about [the Iraqis'] continued involvement in terrorism ... The real reason was to help them succeed in the war against Iran." Middle East special envoy Donald Rumsfeld met Saddam on 19–20 December 1983 at Baghdad. After which, Saddam sent his deputy Aziz to visit the United States in 1984. He met with President Ronald Reagan and then vice-president George H. W. Bush at the White House and secured further U.S support for Iraq. While the U.S. supplied Iraq with arms, dual-use technology and economic aid, it was also involved in a covert and controversial illegal arms deal, providing sanctioned Iran with weaponry. Saddam reached out to other Arab governments for cash and political support during the war, particularly after Iraq's oil industry severely suffered at the hands of the Iranian navy in the Persian Gulf. The United States government also supplied Iraq with "satellite photos showing Iranian deployments." This satellite imagery may have played a crucial role in blocking the Iranian invasion of Iraq in 1982. However, Saddam's government later blamed the Iraqi defeat in the First Battle of al-Faw in February 1986 on "misinformation from the U.S." Gulf War: 1990–1991 Tensions with Kuwait: 1988–1990 The end of the war with Iran served to deepen latent tensions between Iraq and its wealthy neighbor Kuwait. Saddam urged the Kuwaitis to waive the Iraqi debt accumulated in the war, some $30 billion, but they refused. Saddam pushed oil-exporting countries to raise oil prices by cutting back production; Kuwait refused, then led the opposition in OPEC to the cuts that Saddam had requested. Kuwait was pumping large amounts of oil, and thus keeping prices low, when Iraq needed to sell high-priced oil from its wells to pay off its huge debt. Saddam's Iraq became "the third-largest recipient of US assistance." Reacting to Western criticism in April 1990, Saddam threatened to destroy half of Israel if it moved against Iraq. In May 1990, he criticized US support for Israel warning that "the US cannot maintain such a policy while professing friendship towards the Arabs." In July 1990 he threatened force against Kuwait and the UAE saying "The policies of some Arab rulers are American ... They are inspired by America to undermine Arab interests and security." The US sent warplanes and combat ships to the Persian Gulf in response to these threats. April Glaspie calls upon Saddam for an emergency meeting. On 25 July 1990, Saddam summoned the US ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, for an emergency meeting where the Iraqi leader attacked American policy with regards to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. During the meeting, Glaspie stated that "we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait," which was interpreted as tacit approval for the invasion of Kuwait. Saddam stated that he would attempt last-ditch negotiations with the Kuwaitis but Iraq "would not accept death." Later, Iraq and Kuwait met for a final negotiation session, which failed. Saddam then sent his troops into Kuwait. Invasion of Kuwait , Prime Minister of Kuwait Provisional Free Government for unification talks in Baghdad, 1990 On 2 August 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait, initially claiming assistance to "Kuwaiti revolutionaries", thus sparking an international crisis. On 4 August an Iraqi-backed "Provisional Government of Free Kuwait" was proclaimed, but a total lack of legitimacy and support for it led to an 8 August announcement of a "merger" of the two countries. On 28 August Kuwait formally became the 19th Governorate of Iraq. Just two years after the 1988 Iraq and Iran truce, "Saddam did what his Gulf patrons had earlier paid him to prevent." Having removed the threat of Iranian fundamentalism he "overran Kuwait and confronted his Gulf neighbors in the name of Arab nationalism and Islam." When later asked why he invaded Kuwait, Saddam first claimed that it was because Kuwait was rightfully Iraq's 19th province and then said "When I get something into my head I act. That's just the way I am." Shortly before he invaded Kuwait, Saddam shipped 100 new Mercedes cars 200 Series cars to top editors in Egypt and Jordan. Two days before the first attacks, Saddam reportedly offered Egypt's Hosni Mubarak $50 million in cash, "ostensibly for grain." George H. W. Bush responded cautiously for the first several days. On the other hand, Washington foreign policymakers, along with Middle East experts, military critics, and firms heavily invested in the region, were extremely concerned with stability in this region. The invasion immediately triggered fears that the world's price of oil, and therefore control of the world economy, was at stake. Yasser Arafat supported Saddam during the war. During the period of negotiations and threats following the invasion, Saddam focused renewed attention on the Palestinian problem by promising to withdraw his forces from Kuwait if Israel would relinquish its occupation over Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights. On 6 March 1991, Bush announced "What is at stake is more than one small country, it is a big idea—a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law." In the end, the Iraqi army proved unable to compete on the battlefield with the highly mobile coalition land forces and their overpowering air support. In the aftermath of the fighting, social and ethnic unrest among Shia Muslims, Kurds, and dissident military units threatened the stability of Saddam's government. Under the campaign, numerous mosques and Islamic institutes were built across Iraq. Economic hardship followed within the country as GDP plummeted from US$44.36 billion in 1990 to US$9 billion by 1995. Iraq had lost around US$170 billion of oil revenues. On 9 December 1996, Saddam's government accepted the Oil-for-Food Programme that the UN had first offered in 1992. amid "a decade-long effort to encourage a military coup in Iraq." By the end of the 1990s, diplomatic isolation of Iraq with Arab states was gradually dissipating, and the economy of Iraq had improved by 2000, with its GDP increasing to $23.73 billion. Saddam later decided to use euros, instead of U.S. dollars for Iraqi oil. Almost all of Iraq's oil exports under the Oil-for-food program were paid in euros since 2001. He appeared on television threatening to burn and destroy Israel. Amid the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq initiated a missile campaign against Israel. Saddam maintained close relations with Palestinian leaders such as Yasser Arafat. He supposedly offered that Iraq will end its anti-Israel foreign policy if the issue of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon was resolved. Following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in the Palestinian territories, Saddam openly expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, and established the Jerusalem Army, a volunteer force in solidarity with the Palestinians. Saddam also provided financial assistance from Iraq's oil revenue, to the families of the Palestinian victims and militants. Contrary to the claims of the United States and the Israel, the financial support was not exclusively used to support suicide bombing. In 2001, Saddam declared on the state Iraqi television: In 2002, following Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory, Saddam stopped supplying oil to Western countries in order to force Israel to abandon its incursions, a move supported by Iran and Libya. == 2003 invasion and war ==

Background after the invasion Many members of the international community, especially the U.S., continued to view Saddam as a bellicose tyrant who was a threat to the stability of the region. In his January 2002 state of the union address to Congress, President George W. Bush spoke of an "axis of evil" consisting of Iran, North Korea, and Iraq. After the passing of UN Security Council Resolution 1441, which demanded that Iraq give "immediate, unconditional and active cooperation" with UN and IAEA inspections, Saddam allowed U.N. weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix to return to Iraq. With war still looming on 24 February 2003, Saddam took part in an interview with CBS News reporter Dan Rather. The Iraqi government and military collapsed within three weeks of the beginning of the invasion. Saddam was nowhere to be found and his government was completely overthrown. Upon their deaths, he commemorated them as "martyrs" on radio. On 14 December, US administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer confirmed that Saddam had indeed been captured at a farmhouse in ad-Dawr near Tikrit. Bremer presented video footage of Saddam in custody. British tabloid newspaper The Sun posted a picture of Saddam wearing white briefs on the front cover of a newspaper. Other photographs inside the paper show Saddam washing his trousers, shuffling, and sleeping. The U.S. government stated that it considered the release of the pictures a violation of the Geneva Convention and that it would investigate the photographs. During this period Saddam was interrogated by FBI agent George Piro. The guards at the Baghdad detention facility called their prisoner "Vic", which stands for "Very Important Criminal" and let him plant a small garden near his cell. Trial On 30 June 2004, Saddam, held in custody by US forces at the US base "Camp Cropper", along with 11 other senior Ba'athist leaders, was handed over to the interim Iraqi government to stand trial for crimes against humanity and other offences. A few weeks later, he was charged by the Iraqi Special Tribunal with crimes committed against residents of Dujail in 1982, following a failed assassination attempt against him. Specific charges included the murder of 148 people, torture of women and children and the illegal arrest of 399 others. Numerous challenges came during his trial. Saddam and his lawyers contested the court's authority and maintained that he was still the President of Iraq. There were assassinations and attempted assassinations of several of Saddam's lawyers. Execution Saddam was executed by hanging on the first day of Eid ul-Adha, 30 December 2006, despite his request to be executed by firing squad, which he argued was the most appropriate method due to his role as commander-in-chief of the Iraqi military. The execution was carried out at Camp Justice, an Iraqi army base in Baghdad's Kadhimiya neighborhood. Saudi Arabia condemned the Iraqi authorities for carrying out the execution on a holy day. An unofficial video of the execution was recorded on a mobile phone and his captors could be heard insulting Saddam. It was later claimed by the head guard at the tomb where his remains lay that Saddam's body had been stabbed six times after the execution. Saddam's demeanor while being led to the gallows has been discussed by two witnesses, Iraqi Judge Munir Haddad and Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie. Not long before the execution, Saddam's lawyers released his last letter. Saddam spoke his last words during the execution, "May God's blessings be upon Muhammad and his household. And may God hasten their appearance and curse their enemies." A second unofficial video, apparently showing Saddam's body on a trolley, emerged several days later. It sparked speculation that the execution was carried out incorrectly as Saddam had a gaping hole in his neck. Saddam was buried at his birthplace of Al-Awja in Tikrit, Iraq, on 31 December 2006. He was buried from his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein. His tomb was reported to have been destroyed in March 2015. Before it was destroyed, a Sunni tribal group reportedly removed his body to a secret location, fearful of what might happen. ==Personal life and family ==

• Saddam married his first wife and cousin Sajida Talfah in 1963. They became engaged in Egypt during his exile, and married in Iraq after Saddam's 1963 return. The couple had five children. The Jordanian royal family refused to hand her over. She was married to Hussein Kamel al-Majid and has had five children from this marriage. • Rana Hussein (1969), who is Saddam's second daughter. She, like her sister, fled to Jordan and has stood up for her father's rights. She was married to Saddam Kamel and has had four children from this marriage. • Hala Hussein (1972), who is Saddam's third and youngest daughter. Very little information is known about her. Her father arranged for her to marry General Jamal Mustafa Abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti in 1998. She fled with her children and sisters to Jordan. In June 2021, an Iraqi court ordered the release of her husband after 18 years in prison. • Saddam met his second wife, Samira Shahbandar, in 1979 and married her in 1986. Not very much is known about him other than the fact that his mother is Samira Shahbandar. and Uday were killed in a gun battle in Mosul on 22 July 2003. • Saddam had allegedly married a third wife, Nidal al-Hamdani, the general manager of the Solar Energy Research Center in the Council of Scientific Research. • Wafa Mullah Huwaysh is rumored to have married Saddam as his fourth wife in 2002. There is no firm evidence for this marriage. Wafa is the daughter of Abd al-Tawab Mullah Huwaysh, a former minister of military industry in Iraq and Saddam's last deputy Prime Minister. In August 1995, Raghad and her husband, Hussein Kamel al-Majid, and Rana and her husband, Saddam Kamel al-Majid, defected to Jordan with their children. They returned to Iraq after receiving assurances that Saddam would pardon them. Within three days of their return in February 1996, the Kamel brothers were killed in a gunfight with clan members who considered them traitors. In August 2003, Saddam's daughters Raghad and Rana were granted sanctuary in Jordan. Saddam was known for his lavish tastes, including wearing a diamond-coated Rolex wristwatch, which he reportedly gifted to political allies and friends. On 28 April 2001, Saddam marked his 64th birthday with a large state-sponsored celebration. == Honors and awards ==

In 1991, the Iraqi government awarded Saddam the Order of the Two Rivers, the country's highest honor, as a recognition of his "historic role" and "noble services to Iraq". This announcement was made following a Cabinet meeting, and Information Minister Hamid Youssef Hummadi stated that the decision was unanimous. He was honored by titles such as "Field Marshal" and "Comrade". Saddam Hussein is one of the recipients of the Key to the City. In 1980, Saddam received a ceremonial key to the city of Detroit after making a donation of nearly half a million dollars to a local Chaldean-Catholic church. Saddam successfully turned Iraq into a leading hub for healthcare and education. This improved the quality of life in Iraq. For this reason, Saddam was honored by an award from UNESCO. A collection of medals attributed to Saddam was once displayed in a museum in Johannesburg, South Africa. He received the Order of Merit (Wisam al-Jadara), which is rare and was awarded to only a few Iraqi rulers. Order of the Mother of Battles was awarded to Saddam Hussein for his role in the 1991 Gulf War against Kuwait and the United States. He received numerous medals from the Iraqi state commemorating his involvement or leadership during various events. == Political and cultural image ==

The political ideas and policies pursued by Saddam became known as Saddamism. During his leadership, Saddam promoted the idea of dual nationalism that combined Iraqi nationalism and Arab nationalism, linking Iraq's identity to wider matters that impact Arabs as a whole. Saddam viewed Iraq's ancient Mesopotamian heritage as compatible with his vision of Arab nationalism. During the Gulf War, Saddam claimed the historic roles of Nebuchadnezzar, Saladin, and Gamal Abdel Nasser. He organized two show elections in 1995 and 2002. In the 1995 referendum, he reportedly received 99.96% of the votes with 99.47% turnout, gaining 3,052 negative votes among an electorate of 8.4 million. In the 2002 referendum, he officially achieved 100% of approval votes and 100% turnout, as the electoral commission reported the next day that every one of the 11,445,638 eligible voters cast a "Yes" vote for the president. == Reception and legacy ==

Throughout the Arab world, many Arabs praise Saddam as a resolute leader who stood up to Western imperialism, Israeli occupation of Palestine, and foreign intervention in the region, while some Iraqis, especially Shias and Kurds, may view him negatively as a dictator responsible for brutal authoritarianism, repression and injustices. Supporters noted that under Saddam, the government invested heavily in infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges, and public buildings. Saddam's regime was secular in character. Religion did not play a dominant role in the government's policies. By contrast, critics described Saddam as a repressive totalitarian leader. His regime was notorious for its repressive tactics. These included widespread surveillance, torture, and extrajudicial killings. Numerous cases of human rights abuses committed by his government were documented by human rights organizations. Saddam's regime suppressed political opposition through a combination of violence, intimidation, and censorship. He initiated three military conflicts, including the Iran–Iraq War, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and the Gulf War. These actions led to heavy casualties and widespread regional instability. While there were economic development initiatives, Saddam's regime was also marked by mismanagement and widespread corruption, particularly during the final years of his regime. The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq during his rule further exacerbated hardships for the country's population. Saddamism has been described by critics as a mix of "Sunni Arab nationalism, confused Stalinism, and fascist zeal for the fatherland and its leader". In July 2016, then US presidential candidate Donald Trump praised Saddam for militant suppression and stability during his presidency in Iraq. Libyan politician and commander of the Libyan National Arab Army, Khalifa Haftar, named his son Saddam Haftar after Saddam Hussein. Cultural depictions of Saddam can be found in various movies, including three documentary movies made about Saddam. Saddam's Tribe, released in 2007, explores the complex relationship between Saddam Hussein and the Al-Bu Nasir, a powerful Arab tribe in Iraq to which Saddam belongs. In 2008, a TV series based on his life — House of Saddam — was released. In 2024, it was announced that Irish actor Barry Keoghan would appear in a new movie about Saddam's final days. == See also ==