Already in 1975, Saddam Hussein essentially came to sole power. Photo by Reuters
On October 19, 2005, the trial of Saddam Hussein began. Especially for him, the death penalty was restored in Iraq, which had previously been abolished by the American occupation authorities. The main point of the accusation was the massacre of local residents of Ed-Dujail. The event took place on July 8, 1982, in the second year of the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam visited this city with a mixed population, where the majority of residents were Shiites. After the rally, the president's motorcade headed to Baghdad and was attacked by conspirators on the way. The attempt failed. In retaliation, Saddam's guards carried out a punitive action. About 1.5 thousand residents of this locality went to prison, 148 were shot, 250 went missing.
The court did not take into account that an attempt was made on the head of state during a period when martial law was in force. In addition to the ex-dictator, the following were brought before the tribunal for this episode: former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, half-brother of Saddam Hussein, who previously headed one of the special services Barzan al-Tikriti, ex-assistant to the head of government Awad Ahmed al-Bandar and four functionaries of the Baath Party.
ED-DUJAIL
Shia communities in Iraq had close ties to Iran. The Shia clergy studied in Iranian madrassas. Since the beginning of the Iran-Iraq confrontation against the regime of Saddam Hussein, two Iraqi Shiite underground organizations have operated, which declared their goal to overthrow the dictator.
One of them was Dawa, and the second was the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. During the war, these groups took part in hostilities on the side of Iran. Dawa carried out two assassination attempts on Saddam Hussein, in 1982 and 1987.
In March 1980, Saddam deported more than 30 thousand Shiites to Iran and banned the Shiite religious organization Al-Dawa al-Islamiyya (Islamic Call). He ordered the execution of Shiite ideologists. Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, no less popular among Shiites than Khomeini, was arrested in June 1979, and on April 8, 1980, he and his sister were hanged. The new spiritual leader of the Shiites, Bakir al-Hakim, who replaced Bakir al-Sadr, was soon forced to flee to Iran. The assassination attempts against Saddam Hussein were Shiite retaliation for repression.
The prosecution stated that it considered an assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein committed by a group of Shiites in 1982 in the village of Ed-Dujail north of Baghdad, but could not prove it.
During the consideration of the case, the defense insisted that the assassination attempt actually took place and the actions of Saddam’s security forces were justified, since “the law requires that those responsible for the attack on the head of state be punished.” Saddam admitted that at one time he authorized the arrest of 148 Shiites on charges of assassination, but did not order their execution.
Despite the fact that the court was unable to prove Saddam Hussein’s personal involvement in the massacre of the residents of Ed-Dujail, it was for this episode that he was sentenced to death by hanging.
ATTEMPTS ON THE DICTATOR
During the 21 years of his rule, Saddam was subject to attempts on his life at least 10 times, more than once he found himself on the brink of death, but execution had mercy on him. During the September 1989 parade, the conspirators managed to deceive the security service. This time, the perpetrators of the assassination attempt were supposed to shoot Saddam from a tank gun. This happened during the parade; a T-72 tank without a tail number, driven by the conspirators, successfully joined the parade column of armored vehicles near the entrance to the main square of Baghdad.
Having reached the podium on which the dictator was located, the tank turned sharply and pointed its gun towards Saddam, made a short stop to fire a salvo, but for an inexplicable reason the shot was never fired. The tank then rushed forward towards the podium with the aim of crushing the dictator, but it was soon stopped. It can be assumed that at first the gun failed or the loader was unable to perform the actions necessary to fire, perhaps his nerves lost, then the crew apparently decided to ram the stand, but at the approach to it the tank’s engine stalled. After investigations, 19 officers were arrested and shot on charges of conspiracy.
The most expensive assassination attempt occurred in 1996, when Bill Clinton was US President. Then the CIA took up the case for the first time, the budget of the operation exceeded $120 million. The CIA was headed by Deitch John Mark, a Belgian by birth, a chemist by training (doctor), he also had a bachelor's degree in history. American experts chose the anti-government organization “Iraqi National Accord” as the executor. 120 million is not a small amount. For this money, the conspirators undertook not only to eliminate Hussein, but also to stage a coup in Baghdad. But the conspiracy was discovered even at the preparation level, the Iraqi National Accord organization was subjected to total liquidation, and those of its members who managed to escape considered themselves lucky, since the failure of the operation occurred suddenly. Those who were unlucky were executed. Perhaps the failure rests entirely on the conscience of the incompetent CIA leadership. This time, Saddam and his intelligence services managed to outmaneuver the most powerful intelligence service in the world. And the gentlemen from Langley do not forgive anyone for this.
They decided not to delay the next attempt to send Saddam to his forefathers for long - it came in 1997. The work was in full swing and debate, the conspirators were already anticipating victory, everything was going according to plan, and Saddam, it seemed, was already falling into their hands. Literally the day before the date of the assassination attempt, one of its organizers was on his way to another minor meeting. He was late and drove the car at full speed. At high speed, one of the car's tires burst, the driver lost control, the car overturned and was left lying on the side of the road upside down. When the police arrived at the scene of the accident, they found strange documents in the car that had been sent “to the right place.” That's all. It would seem like a trifle, but the deeply secret operation failed, 14 people were convicted and executed.
In one of the assassination attempts, the conspirators, led by the commander of the second brigade of the Republican Guard, General Abdelkerim Ad-Duleimi, were going to ambush the president’s motorcade on its way to a ceremony marking Iraqi Army Day. On this day, Hussein was supposed to present awards to a group of military personnel. However, the plot was discovered long before the date of the assassination attempt. All its participants, 38 people, were executed in one of the military camps near Baghdad.
In 2002, the conspirator and perpetrator of the assassination attempt turned out to be a MiG-23 pilot of the Iraqi Air Force. He tried to attack the dictator’s palace with the symbolic name “Tar Tar” from the air in his fighter, but was shot down (this happened shortly before the start of the 2003 war, that is, America’s hand is visible here too).
BIOGRAPHY OF SADDAM
The dictator's full name is Saddam ibn Hussein Abd al-Majid At-Tikriti. According to Iraqi folk tradition, a man's full name is formed as follows: first comes his own name - Saddam, which can be translated from Arabic as “striking”, then follows his father’s name with the prefix “ben” or “ibn” (meaning “son”) - Hussein . “Abd al-Majid” means belonging to a certain family, a clan, the name of which is taken from the name of its founder, an ancestor in a certain tribe. "At-Tikriti" means that Saddam is from the city of Tikrit.
According to official data, the future dictator was born on April 28, 1937. Saddam's home village, Al-Auja, is located in the province (Arabic governorate) of Salah Ed-Din on the western bank of the Tigris River, 13 km south of the city of Tikrit. Little Saddam did not know his father Hussein Abd Al-Majid at all. Saddam's mother's full name is Sabha Tulfan Al-Mussalat.
Soon Hussein's eldest son died, and Sabha, grief-stricken, tried to get rid of the unborn child. But for reasons beyond her control, she was unable to have an abortion. After Saddam was born, she did not even want to look at her newborn child and refused to feed him. The baby was in danger of death; he was saved by his mother's brother Khairallah, who took the infant Saddam into his family and took care of him.
Khairallah Tulfan Al-Mussalat was an army officer and a nationalist in outlook; in 1941, he participated in the uprising against the British authorities (Iraq was under the protectorate of London at that time), was arrested and thrown into prison. After his uncle's arrest, little Saddam returned to his mother, who by that time had married her first husband's brother, from whom Sabha had three sons and two daughters. The stepfather's name was Ibrahim, he treated the boy cruelly and did not care about his upbringing and education. By the age of 8, Saddam was illiterate, but his strength of character manifested itself at an early age. He spoke boldly to his stepfather, and one day he harshly told him: “Send me to school, father.”
Saddam was born into a Sunni Muslim family; to divorce your wife, you just need to say it loudly three times in the mosque. Saddam's mother married her first husband's brother, which means that her husband died while legally married to her. Only in this case, according to Sharia law, the brother takes the widow of his deceased brother as his wife in order to continue his seed.
Apparently, Saddam’s negative attitude towards his father was based on the image of his stepfather, that is, his brother, with whom he never reconciled. And as soon as Uncle Khairallah was released from prison in 1947, Saddam left his stepfather’s house and fled to Tikrit, to his uncle. There the future dictator went to school, from which he was soon expelled for hooliganism. At the age of 13, Saddam showed a harsh attitude towards people, but he reacted very painfully to the death of his beloved horse; he even suffered from temporary paralysis of his arm.
In 1953, Saddam ended up in Baghdad, where, following the influence of his uncle, he tried to enter the military academy, but failed the exam. And only in 1954 the young man entered the Al-Karkh school in Baghdad, where he became involved in pan-Arabism.
Saddam's first wife, Sajida, the daughter of his uncle Khairallah, was two years older than her husband, and her date of birth is known for certain - June 24, 1937. So it turns out that Saddam was actually born not in 1937, but in 1939. He was given two years. In those days, not only in the Middle East, boys were often credited with extra years in order to quickly push them into adulthood.
Under the influence of his uncle, Saddam joined the Baath Arab Socialist Revival Party in 1957. A year earlier, he underwent a baptism of fire and for the first time participated in an armed uprising against the Hashemite dynasty then ruling in Iraq. The following year, 1958, conspiratorial army officers led by Brigadier General (then Colonel) Abdel Kerim Qassem overthrew King Faisal II. Almost the entire royal family and the monarch himself were shot without trial. Abdel Karim Qassem became president, after which Iraq broke off relations with the United States and Great Britain.
The Baath Party opposed Qassem. Saddam was in Tikrit at that time and participated in the murder of the local leader of the new government; he was arrested, but released after six months of detention. In 1959, Saddam took part in the assassination attempt on the head of Iraq Abdel Qassem, for which he was sentenced to death in absentia. After the unsuccessful assassination attempt, Saddam hid for some time in his hometown of Al-Awji, then was forced to flee to Damascus, and later on February 21, 1960, he arrived in Cairo. In Egypt, Saddam continued his studies, first at the Qasr An-Nil school, then entered the Faculty of Law at Cairo University. In Egypt, he became a prominent figure in the regional branch of the Baath Party.
THE Rise of Saddam
On February 8, 1963, the Ba'ath Party, in collusion with General Aref, led a military coup d'etat in Iraq. On February 9, Kasem and his two comrades surrendered to the putschists, were sentenced to death (the trial lasted 40 minutes) and were shot live on the premises of the radio station. On November 18, 1963, Aref carried out another military coup against the Baath Party. Before the coup, Saddam returned to Iraq and was elected a member of the Central Peasant Bureau. After the events of November 18, Saddam, working underground, found himself in the inner circle of one of the Baath leaders, Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr. In February 1964, Ibn Hussein was arrested and escaped in 1966. Subsequently, at an emergency regional congress, held in conditions of extreme secrecy, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was elected secretary of the party, and Saddam Hussein was elected his deputy.
It was then that Saddam created and headed “Jihaz Khanin” - a special secret apparatus of the party, consisting of the most dedicated personnel and dealing with intelligence and counterintelligence issues.
After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, known as the Six Day War, Baghdad again began to escalate with the United States. Washington then considered the underground Baath Party as its ally in the Iraqi problem. The overthrow of the ruling regime in Baghdad occurred a year later. On July 17, 1968, the Baath Party carried out another coup in the country. Aref was deprived of power, the former president died in a helicopter crash in the El-Qurn area. The first person of the state was Al-Bakr, the head of the Baath; in addition to Al-Bakr and Saddam, there were two more strong independent leaders in power: the head of intelligence Abdul Razak al-Nayef and the head of the Republican Guard Ibrahim al-Daoud. On July 30, 1968, Saddam's previously planned plan to eliminate them was put into action. After this action, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr became the President of Iraq and headed the Revolutionary Command Council, Saddam was with him as an eminence grise.
In 1969, Saddam studied at the Muntaseriya University in Baghdad and received a law degree, and then studied at the Military Academy from 1971–1973 and 1976–1978.
From the beginning of 1970, Al-Bakr formally remained president, but was practically removed from business; the country was de facto led by Saddam.
In July 1970, at the initiative of Saddam ibn Hussein, an interim Constitution was introduced, according to which Iraq became a sovereign people's democratic republic. The Supreme Authority was proclaimed the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), whose chairman was Saddam Hussein. In 1975, Saddam Hussein signed two international treaties of friendship and cooperation that were significant for Iraq: the first with the USSR, on the Soviet side the document was signed by Alexey Kosygin, the second with the Shah of Iran R. Pahlavi.
Having subjugated the Iraqi security services, Saddam Hussein essentially came to sole power in 1975. He promoted relatives to key positions in business and government. By the end of the 70s, almost all high-ranking officials (from secretaries of regional party organizations to ministers) reported directly to Hussein. And on July 16, 1979, President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigned for health reasons. Saddam, the son of an unknown fellah Hussein, became the president of the Iraqi Republic (in Arabic, Jumhuriyyat al-Iraq).
According to Western experts, Iraq ranks third in the world in hydrocarbon reserves, second only to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Proven reserves, again according to Western estimates, amount to 112.5 billion barrels, and according to forecasts they can reach 215 billion barrels.
Iran and Iraq were under British control at the end of World War II. These oil pearls that adorned the English crown attracted the attention of American oil magnates, especially since the sun of the British Empire was already setting by that time, and the new world ruler in the person of the United States was confidently entering the forefront of history. The overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy was not without efforts from Washington. But at the most crucial moment, when the Americans thought that Iraqi oil was already in their pocket, the Soviet Union intervened in the Middle East game. Hence this tense leapfrog with numerous military coups. One after another, US proxies sought friendship with Moscow, which showed the way for the Iraqi dictators to nationalize the country's main asset - oil.
In Iraq, the nationalization of oil production began on December 12, 1961. Then the Iraqi government passed Law No. 80, transferring 99.5% of the oil production areas owned by the Anglo-French-American consortium Iraq Petroleum (IPC) to state control without compensation. On June 1, 1972, all IPC operations were transferred to the Iraqi National Oil Company. The year 1975 was marked for Iraq by the end of the process of nationalization of the oil industry.
The end of the 70s was a period of rapid growth in the Iraqi economy, the country took the leading position among the countries of the Middle East in all respects. The government actively invested national petrodollars in the development of industry, irrigation, energy, road infrastructure and agriculture.
In the struggle for one-party rule in the country, Saddam Hussein dealt the first blow to the Iraqi Communist Party. This was negatively received by Moscow and welcomed in Washington. Saddam Hussein suited the United States in many ways; he was a person of the people, a Sunni, and, according to the Americans, he needed their support in order to maintain power in a country where the majority of the population is Shiites (60%). The West allowed Saddam to consolidate his sole power through repression. The dictator effectively fought against radicalism; during his reign, there was not a single jihadist organization in Iraq.
In 1976, Iraq signed an agreement on military-technical cooperation with France to create a national nuclear industry. Just one French reactor would allow Iraq to produce up to 10 kg of weapons-grade plutonium per year, and by 1985 Baghdad could create five medium-yield atomic bombs. The French manufactured three reactors, but in Iraq they were able to install only one of them - Osirak; the rest were destroyed by Israeli intelligence MOSSAD while loading onto the ship in the port of Sienne-sur-la-Mer near Toulon. And the one that they managed to build was bombed by Israeli aircraft on June 6, 1881 during Operation Opera.
The technology necessary to implement the chemical weapons program was supplied to Iraq by Western countries. The American company Phillips Petroleum Company of Bartlesville, Ohio, through the Belgian company Phillips, sold Iraq 500 tons of the complex chemical thiodiglycol; it is known that when combined with hydrochloric acid, thiodiglycol forms mustard gas. Germany, Holland and Great Britain also sold Iraq technology and raw materials for the production of chemical weapons.
Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, relations between the United States and the entire Western world with Iran have steadily deteriorated. The situation was aggravated by the Persian capture of American diplomats in Tehran on November 4, 1979. And when the attempt of the American special forces to free them failed, Washington was ready to go to great lengths just to take revenge on Iran for the humiliation.
Saddam Hussein also wanted a war with Iran, primarily over the oil-bearing areas on the eastern bank of the Shatt al-Arab River. Tehran, moreover, soon after the revolution began to cause a lot of trouble for the Iraqi authorities: it either supported the Kurdish uprising, or began to raise discontent among the Shiite population of Iraq. Saddam was eager to fight and felt like an easy prey, since the Shah’s army had already collapsed, and Iran had not yet managed to create a new army.
America needed Saddam, and Saddam needed America. They just rushed into each other's arms. Saddam by that time condemned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and became closer to Saudi Arabia. He had personal contacts with the CIA. Saddam Hussein believed in American recognition of Iraq's role as an antagonist to radical, fundamentalist Iran. He also hoped that, with the help of Washington, he would be able to take a special leadership position in the Arab world.
IRANIRAQI WAR
Iraqi ground forces began an invasion of Iranian borders on September 22, 1980, at the same time Sadam launched the country's air force, which carried out air raids on major Iranian cities within the operational depth, and Tehran was also bombed.
The main fighting took place on the southern sector of the front, the total length of which was about 700 km. Here, Iraqi troops managed to create a five-fold superiority of forces and achieve some successes. Iraqi troops captured the cities of Qasre-Shirin, Neftshah, Mehran, Bostan and Khorramshahr, and also blocked Abadan and occupied the main oil-bearing areas on the eastern bank of the Shatt al-Arab River. But Saddam Hussein did not wage the war decisively; he turned out to be an unimportant strategist. The blitzkrieg, which he had intended to complete in one month, dragged on, and the war went into winter. Saddam announced that the army would go on the defensive. Meanwhile, Tehran managed to mobilize and organize arms supplies from abroad.
In early 1981, Iran launched a counteroffensive. At first it was very hesitant, but little by little the Persians got the hang of it and by the fall they had already achieved some success.
In the spring of 1982, Iraqi troops were already suffering heavy losses, and in mid-summer the Persians launched an invasion of Iraq. The direction of the main attack was the port city of Basra with a predominantly Shiite population. The Iranian command did not spare people, poorly trained militias in droves, wave after wave they threw into battle, the losses were enormous.
Despite incredible efforts, the Persians were unable to break through the Iraqi defenses for a long time. And only by February 1986 they managed to take control of the Faw Peninsula, which they held almost until the end of the war.
As soon as the military fortunes switched to Iran's side, US President Ronald Reagan took emergency steps to help Iraq. He signed the US National Security Directive number 4/82. The personal representative of the President of America, Donald Rumsfeld, was sent to Baghdad to contact Saddam Hussein. The White House has restored diplomatic relations with Baghdad. To facilitate the supply of weapons, Iraq was removed from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, American intelligence officers were sent to Baghdad to help interpret satellite information. The United States actively supported the Iraqi war economy, supplying the Iraqis with billions of dollars in credit, providing American military intelligence and advice, and closely monitoring third-party arms sales to Iraq to ensure that the Iraqi war machine was well supplied. The United States also trained Iraqi troops. The CIA, including Director Casey and Deputy Director Gates, knew, approved and facilitated the sale of non-US weapons, ammunition and equipment to Iraq.
According to retired Colonel Walter Patrick Lang, a senior Pentagon intelligence officer at the time, the Iraqis' use of chemical weapons on the battlefield was not a major concern for Reagan and his circle; it was vital to them to make sure Iraq did not lose the war. According to Roque Gonzalez, a former Special Forces officer, Saddam's elite troops received training in unconventional warfare at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The United States organized the supply of spare parts and repair kits (they were called “bear spare parts”) for Soviet-made military equipment to Iraq, purchasing it from manufacturers through intermediaries. The United States itself supplied Iraq with materials produced in the States, which were later used for the production of chemical weapons and their delivery vehicles. The decision to make these deliveries was approved at the highest level and confirmed by licenses from the US Department of Commerce. One of the largest suppliers of weapons to Iraq was Sarkis Sokhanelyan, who collaborated with the CIA. Through his mediation, Iraq received tens of billions of dollars worth of military equipment in the 80s. Sokhanelyan reported his operations to officials in Washington. Nearly 150 foreign companies supported Saddam Hussein's WMD program. Among them were 24 American firms involved in the export of inventory to Baghdad.
At the beginning of 1984, Baghdad and Tehran started a “tanker war” in the Persian Gulf, which continued in the active phase until December 1987 and ended with the end of the Iran-Iraq armed confrontation.
Iranian attacks against Kuwaiti tankers reached their greatest extent on November 1, 1986, which forced Kuwait to turn to foreign powers to protect its shipping.
In early 1984, Iraq attacked Iranian tankers and an oil terminal on Kharg Island. In response, Iran fired at ships carrying Iraqi oil coming from Kuwaiti ports. The fact is that Kuwait provided assistance to Iraq. After which any tanker from the Persian Gulf countries that supported Iraq was under threat. On May 13, 1984, an Iranian military pennant attempted to sink a Kuwaiti tanker off the coast of Bahrain. And on May 16, an Arabian tanker came under fire in the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia. On March 7, 1987, the US 5th Fleet was ordered to provide protection for ships chartered by American companies, an escort operation called "Earnest Will", which can be translated as "honest intentions". At the same time, the Pentagon carried out Operation Prime Chance in the Persian Gulf, aimed at combating Iranian saboteurs.
CHEMICAL WEAPON
Saddam Hussein and his army, without demonstrating masterpieces of military art on the battlefield, well learned one vile truth: that in war all means are good. Already in 1984, the UN received the first information about the combat use of chemical weapons by the Iraqi army. Mustard gas, tabun and sarin were used massively during the war with Iran, which led to the death of more than 20 thousand Iranians.
Iraq produced a large number of delivery vehicles for chemical and biological weapons, including over 16,000 free-fall bombs and over 110,000 artillery shells, and it possessed ballistic missiles: 50 with chemical warheads and 25 with biological warheads.
HORROR UNDER THE CURTAIN OF WAR
On July 3, 1988, an Iran Air Airbus A300B2-203 operated commercial passenger flight IR655 between Tehran (Iran) and Dubai (UAE) with an intermediate stop in Bandar Abbas (Iran). Despite the fact that the flight took place within the 35-kilometer wide international air corridor, the plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf by a missile fired from the US Navy guided-missile cruiser Vincennes, which was located in Iranian territorial waters.
On March 16–17, 1988, Iraqi aircraft subjected the Kurdish city of Halabja to chemical bombing using various toxic substances: mustard gas, sarin, tabun, VX gas. The number of victims, who belonged almost exclusively to the civilian population, amounted to up to 7 thousand people.
The attack was part of the so-called Al-Anfal plan against the Kurdish minority, which included other criminal activities between 1986 and 1989, including the chemical bombing of Kurdish villages in April 1987. The operation was directly supervised by Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, who after Halabja received the nickname Chemical Ali.
According to the CIA, the Iraqi army did use chemical weapons in the battle for Halabja, but they were not used against the civilian population of the city, but against the advancing Iranian army, and all strikes were carried out precisely against the positions of the enemy troops. Iran, in turn, carried out a retaliatory chemical attack, and the city's residents were simply caught in the crossfire and became the latest accidental victims of a ten-year war. Immediately after the disaster in Halabja, the CIA conducted an examination of samples of toxic substances collected in the region and prepared a classified report, which clearly summarized that the cause of the mass death of the Kurds was not Iraqi gas, but Iranian gas. Based on the nature of the damage, experts determined that the residents suffered from cyanide gas, which had previously been repeatedly used by Iran. In 1988, Saddam Hussein’s army did not have such reagents at its disposal; in the battle for the city, the Iraqi side used mustard gas and sarin.
From all of the above, we can conclude that in the person of Saddam, the Americans destroyed an important witness to their crimes.
Rice comes to report to Bush.
- Well, what's new?
– Two news, Mr. President, one is good, the other is bad.
- Eh... Which one is good?
– The war in Iraq is over!
- Wow! What about the bad one?
– Iran won.
At the press conference:
- Mr. Bush, do you have evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction?
- Yes, yes, we saved the receipts confirming the payment...
The hasty and fussy pre-holiday (December 30, 2006) execution of Saddam Hussein, entirely orchestrated by the Americans, elevated him to the rank of a national hero, fighter and martyr for the Muslim faith. Hussein was hanged minutes before the muezzins called Muslims to morning prayers, marking the end of the month of Ramadan and the beginning of the holiday of breaking the fast. Thus, formally, the religious custom was observed and the execution allegedly did not overshadow the Muslim holiday.
Bush, without hiding his joy - and what, another victory for the American "shit democracy" - called Saddam's execution "another step on Iraq's path to democracy." One cannot so joyfully savor the violent death of a person, especially if this person is defeated enemy!
By the way, according to the results of a recent sociological survey conducted in America, 40% of Americans put US President Bush first on the list of “main villains.” Here Bush was well ahead of "terrorist number one" Osama bin Laden and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Brief biographical information
Saddam Hussein (real name Al-Tikriti) [in translated from Arabic name "" means "one who opposes" (one of the meanings), or “dealing the first blow”] - comes from a Sunni peasant family, was born on April 28 (and according to some sources, on the 27th) April 1937 in Tikrit, located 160 km north of Baghdad on the right bank of the Tigris. Saddam's father died when the boy was only 9 months old. According to local custom, Saddam's uncle Al-Haj Ibrahim, an army officer who fought British rule in Iraq, married his brother's widow and took the orphan into his already large but very well-off financially secure family. According to the official biographers of Saddam Hussein, the Al-Tikriti clan goes back to the direct heirs of Imam Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.
Saddam's height was 186 cm, shoe size 45.
Saddam Hussein had 4 wives (the last of which, the daughter of the country's Minister of Defense Industry, he married in October 2002) and 3 daughters (, and). The sons of the ex-president - and - were killed in July 2004 in Mosul during a special operation by anti-Iraqi coalition troops.
Saddam loved many realities of American life: Sinatra songs, the film "The Godfather", cigars and Texas cowboy hats. But this did not save him from the “cowboy” Bush...
Arrest and trial
Saddam's personality and his role in the history of the world and Iraq can be treated differently. But what no one can deny him is dignity and courage. Saddam's honorable behavior during his arrest on December 14, 2003 (when he was arrested, Saddam, although he was armed to the teeth, did not offer any resistance, and he simply said: “My name is Saddam Hussein!”), trial and execution freely - or involuntarily! - inspires respect for him.
The US military proudly relished the capture of Saddam. The whole world saw footage of a doctor wearing rubber gloves feeling the head of an overgrown, aged, overthrown dictator and counting his teeth. Later, when the trial began, Saddam was transformed. During the sanitization, his beard was forcibly shaved off, but in prison he let it go again. Instead of a famous man in a famous military uniform, in a famous beret and with a famous mustache, a majestic, imposing old man in a snow-white shirt with a turn-down collar suddenly appeared before the public in the courtroom, proudly - without fear or reproach! - looked at his judges through the prison bars, and in response to their questions - he abundantly sprinkled aphorisms and quotations from the Koran.
On June 30, 2004, Saddam Hussein, along with 11 members of the Baathist regime (including former Prime Minister Aziz and Defense Minister Hashimi), was handed over to the Iraqi authorities, and on July 1, the first court hearing in the case of the ex-president, who was charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes. Among the latter, in particular, are the extermination of about 5 thousand Kurds - representatives of the Barzani tribe in 1983, the use of chemical weapons against the inhabitants of Halabaja in 1988 (which also led to the death of about 5 thousand people), the implementation of the military operation "Al- Anfal" in 1988 (destruction of approximately 80 Kurdish villages), outbreak of war with Iran in 1980 - 1988. and aggression against Kuwait in 1990. By the way, while Saddam was fighting with Iran, America supported him. But when he attacked Kuwait, “big brother” did not forgive him for this...
The trial of Saddam, according to the most authoritative international human rights organizations, took place with numerous violations. The defense was not shown the documents that the prosecution cited as evidence; the defendant was continually kicked out of the courtroom for his particularly witty statements addressed to his accusers and judges. Hussein's first team of lawyers was disbanded even before the trial began; the new lawyers first questioned the legitimacy of the trial, and then they and defense witnesses began to be kidnapped and killed. Unknown persons attacked Saddam several times in the courtroom with their fists. In February, Saddam went on a hunger strike to protest his mistreatment.
Execution
Hussein's trial took place in Baghdad on the territory of the US military base "Camp Victory", located in a closed area of the international airport. On November 5, 2006, Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging on charges of massacre of 148 Shiites, committed in 1982 in Ed-Dujail (in addition, a few days later another trial of the ex-president was initiated - in the case of genocide of the Kurds in the late 1980s). The lawyers filed an appeal, which was subsequently rejected by the country's judicial authorities. On December 26, 2006, the Iraqi Court of Appeal upheld the sentence and ordered it to be carried out within 30 days, and on December 29 it published an official execution order.
Saddam syndrome
Before Saddam's execution, his farewell letter was made public, in which he called on the people of Iraq and all people to “forget about hatred, because it leaves no opportunity for justice, it blinds and deprives one of reason.” The execution of Saddam (by the way, the Americans did not allow him to live 4 months before his 70th birthday) did not leave anyone indifferent. In the Muslim world, it caused not only riots and massacres, but also a wave of suicides - especially among teenagers! - as a sign of solidarity. This phenomenon has already been called the “Saddam syndrome.”
The terrorist attacks that followed the execution of the former dictator made December 2006 the worst month for Americans in Iraq in two years. When, within 24 hours of Hussein's execution, the number of American soldiers killed in terrorist attacks exceeded 80, Bush responded by declaring that "there will be new challenges, and American sacrifice continues to be required for the progress of Iraq's young democracy."
The year of the departure of four dictators
When necessary, the West appears in the guise of a defender of human rights, a categorical opponent of the death penalty. But when it comes to the interests of Western powers, then “humanistic fairy tales” are instantly forgotten. You can enjoy the brutal murder of the elderly Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and send unwanted politicians from all over the world to rot in prison, allegedly by the verdict of an international tribunal, and not pay attention to mass public executions in oil-bearing allied countries.
On December 30, 2006, exactly ten years ago, Saddam Hussein, one of the most famous Middle Eastern politicians of the twentieth century who dared to enter into a direct war with the United States of America, was executed in Iraq. Now we will not go into tendentious assessments of his domestic and foreign policies - like every ruler, Saddam had “black” and “white” sides. But at least during his reign there was no chaos and bloodshed that began on Iraqi soil after his overthrow and death.
As you know, on March 20, 2003, the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain began aggression against sovereign Iraq. Baghdad and other Iraqi cities were bombed. Although Western propaganda stubbornly asserted that attacks were being carried out exclusively on military and administrative targets, in reality they bombed everything. Thousands of civilians became victims of air raids. During the fighting, the American command repeatedly reported the death of Saddam Hussein. But these rumors were not true - the Iraqi president remained in Baghdad until the last. Even in early April, when it became clear that Baghdad was about to fall, Saddam Hussein called on his fellow citizens not to lose courage and continue to resist American-British aggression. Although American troops entered Baghdad on April 9, it was on this day that Saddam Hussein's last videotaped speech to his compatriots was dated. On April 17, 2003, the remnants of one of the elite formations of the Iraqi army, the Medina Division, capitulated. In fact, this date is considered to be the official end of the Saddam Hussein regime’s resistance to American aggression, although in fact the war against the Americans simply turned into a phase of terrorist activity.
But even after the surrender of the Medina division, Saddam Hussein could not be found for a long time. It was even suggested that he was killed during air raids or shelling. It was only at the end of the year, on December 13, that Saddam Hussein was discovered. He was hiding in the village of Ad-Daur, 15 kilometers from his hometown of Tikrit. Saddam's hideout was the basement of an ordinary village house, about two meters deep. Saddam was found with two Kalashnikov assault rifles, a pistol and $750,000. Saddayl was arrested around 21.15 local time. But, by the way, these circumstances of the detention of the former Iraqi president were questioned by some sources. Thus, the second version presents Saddam’s detention in a more favorable light for him - that he fired back from the second floor of the house, killing an American soldier, and only then was captured.
Saddam Hussein spent almost two years in prison while the investigation was underway. It was obvious that he was going to be executed. Initially, the occupation authorities abolished the death penalty in Iraq, but then it was restored for a short time - specifically to deal with Saddam. The trial of the Iraqi leader began on October 19, 2005. He was charged with a very large list of war crimes, including: the massacre of civilians in the village of al-Dujail, populated by Iraqi Shiites, in 1982; the mass execution of more than 8,000 people from the Kurdish Barzan tribe in 1983; the genocide of the Kurdish population of Iraq during Operation Anfal in 1987-1988; the use of mortars during artillery shelling of Kirkuk; the use of chemicals against Kurdish rebels in Halabaja in 1988; the Iraqi army's invasion of Kuwait in 1990; the brutal suppression of an Iraqi Shiite uprising in 1991; the expulsion of several thousand Shiite Kurds to Iran; numerous political repressions against opposition political figures, objectionable officials, religious authorities, public organizations and citizens of the country who are simply objectionable for any reason; organization of construction work on the construction of dams, canals and dams in the south of Iraq, as a result of which the famous Mesopotamian swamps, which had long been the historical habitat of the so-called. "Marsh Arabs" Of course, all these actions actually took place in the political life of Iraq. Kurds and Shiites had every reason to hate Saddam Hussein as their main enemy, who carried out massive repression against the Kurdish people and the Shiite religious community for decades. However, the occupation authorities clearly did not act out of concern for the well-being of the Kurdish and Shia population of Iraq.
The entire time the investigation was ongoing, Saddam Hussein was in captivity under the guard of American troops. He was placed in a tiny solitary cell measuring 2 x 2.5 meters. The cell contained only concrete bunks and a toilet. Apparently, such a small camera was chosen by the American military command specifically - to humiliate the Iraqi leader. After all, it would have cost nothing to provide Saddam with more humane conditions of imprisonment. If you believe the American military personnel who guarded him, Saddam Hussein was fed well, given cigars, and allowed to go for a walk. True, in the cell where Saddam was kept, a portrait of George Bush was hung - again, to inflict moral suffering on the defeated Iraqi president. But, in turn, they satisfied Saddam’s request to allow him to have in his cell portraits of his sons who died in battle with the Americans - Uday and Qusay.
Because the American leadership needed to create the appearance that Hussein would be tried by the Iraqi people and not by the occupation authorities, the former president appeared before the Iraqi Supreme Criminal Tribunal. On November 5, 2006, the Iraqi High Criminal Tribunal found Saddam Hussein guilty of organizing the murder of 148 Iraqi Shiites and sentenced the former president to capital punishment - death by hanging. On December 26, 2006, the tribunal's verdict was upheld by the Iraqi Court of Appeal. The appellate court also decided to carry out the death sentence within 30 days. On December 29, 2006, the execution order was published. Saddam Hussein, who had been imprisoned for three years, was now in a hurry to remove him as quickly as possible. Opponents of Saddam Hussein insisted that the former Iraqi dictator should have been executed in public. They were eager to see how Hussein would be hanged in the central square of Baghdad and demanded that Saddam's execution be broadcast live on television. Many Iraqis from among the relatives of people killed during the reign of Saddam Hussein appealed to the court with a request to appoint them as executioners of the former president. However, the court, which was under the influence of the American leadership, still did not dare to carry out such an execution. In the end, it was decided to carry out the execution of Saddam Hussein in the presence of a special delegation of representatives, and the process of hanging the former Iraqi president to be filmed.
According to the testimony of people who communicated with Saddam Hussein after the death sentence was passed, the Iraqi president took it quite dignified, if not stoically. US Marine Major General Doug Stone, who was responsible for military prison issues in the US military administration, emphasized that Saddam Hussein never showed any concern about his future fate. In the last months of his life, he often remembered his daughter and asked her to tell her that his conscience before God was clear, and he was just a soldier sacrificing himself for the Iraqi people.
On the night of December 30, 2006, security guards came for Saddam Hussein. He was taken to execution. The former president of Iraq, a once all-powerful dictator who exerted enormous influence not only on the life of his country, but also on all Middle Eastern politics, was hanged between approximately 2.30 and 3.00 a.m. on December 30, 2006. As the Al-Arabiya news agency then reported, Saddam Hussein was hanged at the headquarters of Iraqi military intelligence, which at that time was located in the Baghdad quarter of Al-Haderniyya - the traditional place of residence of Baghdad Shiites. Directly during the execution of Saddam, representatives of the American military command, the Iraqi government, the Iraqi criminal tribunal, the Islamic clergy, a doctor and a videographer were present. Before his execution, Saddam Hussein said that he was glad to accept death and become a martyr, and not rot in prison forever.
At the same time, other evidence has been preserved about the last minutes of Saddam Hussein’s life. According to unofficial video footage published in the media, before ascending the scaffold, the former Iraqi president recited the Shahada, the holy symbol of faith for Muslims, and uttered a phrase that was supposed to become the quintessence of his views: “God is great, the Islamic community will win, and Palestine is an Arab land." In response, representatives of the new Iraqi administration present at the execution shouted curses and slogans at Saddam Hussein in memory of the executed Shiite leader Muhammad Baker al-Sadr. When one of the judges present at the execution demanded that his colleagues calm down, Saddam Hussein shouted curses at the Americans and Iran. Then he read the Shahada again and when he began to read it for the third time, the platform of the scaffold lowered. A few minutes later, a physician present at the execution pronounced the death of the man who had been the all-powerful head of the Iraqi state for 24 years.
There is another very interesting evidence about the death of Saddam Hussein. It belongs to a soldier who served as chief of security at Saddam's grave. He claimed that six stab wounds were found on the body of the former Iraqi president after his execution. But whether this is so is unknown - the official version does not confirm these words.
After the execution and confirmation of the death of Saddam Hussein, his body was placed in a coffin, which in the evening of the same day was handed over to representatives of the Arab tribe “Abu Nasir”, to which Saddam Hussein belonged. Tribesmen took Saddam Hussein's body in an American helicopter to his hometown of Tikrit. The commemoration of the former president was held in the main mosque of Tikrit Auji, where numerous representatives of the tribe to which the Iraqi leader belonged gathered. Early the next morning, Saddam Hussein was buried in his native village three kilometers from Tikrit - next to his sons Uday and Qusay and grandson Mustafa, who died three years earlier. To protest the execution of Saddam Hussein, his supporters staged a terrorist attack in the Shiite quarter of Baghdad. During this explosion, 30 people were killed, and about 40 more people were injured of varying degrees of severity.
By the way, it is interesting that Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death for the first time 44 years before his execution. Back in 1959, the young Iraqi revolutionary Saddam Hussein, then only 22 years old, participated in a conspiracy against the then leader of Iraq, General Abdel Kerim Qassem. Young Saddam was not part of the main group of conspirators, which was supposed to deal with the general. His functions included covering up the assassination attempt. But when Abdel Kerim Qassem's car appeared, Saddam could not stand it and began to shoot at the car himself. Thus, he actually thwarted the assassination attempt on the then head of state. Qasem's guards opened fire on Saddam, but the wounded revolutionary was able to escape. According to the official biography of Saddam, which tends to glorify the exploits of the Iraqi president, Hussein rode a horse for four nights, then performed an operation on himself, pulled out a bullet stuck in his shin with a knife, swam across the Tigris River and walked on foot to his native village of al-Auja, where he hid from persecution. Saddam Hussein was then sentenced to death in absentia. But he managed to leave Iraq and move to Egypt, where Hussein studied for two years at the Faculty of Law at Cairo University, and returned to his homeland in 1963, when the regime of General Qassem was nevertheless overthrown by Saddam’s fellow party members in the BAath Party (Arab Socialist Renaissance Party).
The overthrow and death of Saddam Hussein became an epoch-making event for modern Iraq. Despite the fact that Hussein was a brutal dictator, and many people died during his reign, American military aggression and the subsequent civil war in the country brought great casualties and destruction to Iraq. In fact, Iraq, which was a single state under Saddam Hussein, was disorganized into territories practically independent of each other. The ambiguity of Saddam Hussein as a political figure is also recognized by many of his opponents. The years of his reign will go down in the history of Iraq not only as a brutal dictatorship and a time of bloody war with neighboring Iran, but also as an era of tremendous economic and social modernization of the country, the development of science and education, culture and technology, healthcare and social protection of the population. For example, Iraqi historians and archaeologists claim that during the reign of Saddam Hussein, huge funds were allocated by the Iraqi government to preserve the memory of the country’s historical heritage and to restore numerous unique architectural monuments of the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian eras in the history of Mesopotamia. Then these monuments were destroyed by religious extremists, whose activation on Iraqi soil was also a direct result of American military aggression and the overthrow of the regime of Saddam Hussein.
At 6 o'clock in the morning in the suburbs of Baghdad.
The execution took place shortly before morning prayers, marking the beginning of the Muslim festival of sacrifice. She was filmed and now national Iraqi television is broadcasting this recording on all channels.
Representatives of the Iraqi authorities present
reported that Hussein behaved with dignity and did not ask for mercy. He stated that he was "glad to accept death from his enemies and become a martyr" rather than vegetate in prison for the rest of his days.
Talks about the life and death of the overthrown dictator NTV correspondent Pavel Matveev.
Saddam Hussein should have been executed 46 years ago. An Iraqi military tribunal sentenced him to death in absentia for participating in a failed assassination attempt on the then prime minister, and four years later Saddam was arrested for preparing to overthrow a new regime.
But he escaped from prison, and the paths of life raised the future dictator not to the scaffold, but to the very pinnacle of power - to power and wealth that other rulers of the Middle Ages had never dreamed of.
Saddam Hussein Abdalmajid Al-Tikriti was born in 1937 into a poor Sunni family from Tikrit. At the age of 19, he joined the growing Baath Party, and at 31, after the Baathist revolution, he became the second person in the country.
Hussein headed the Ba'athist counterintelligence. At the same time, he was in charge of social and economic reforms, including the fight against illiteracy, thanks to which the proportion of literate Iraqis increased from 30 to 70 percent.
Saddam gradually pushed fellow Tikritians into leadership positions. They became his reliable support when Hussein became head of state in 1970.
The first thing he did in office was to destroy almost all political opponents within the country. A year later, he denounced the Algerian agreement with Iran - something like a peace treaty, which led to an 8-year Iran-Iraq war with a colossal number of casualties.
Saddam's best friend in this war and in general during that period was the United States, which, among other things, helped Iraq create chemical weapons. Saddam used it both against the Iranians and against his own rebels. He still remembers the gas attack on the Kurdish village of Halabzhi.
Internal rebellions were generally punished harshly. In 1982, 140 people were killed in a Shiite village in response to a failed assassination attempt on Saddam. It was for this episode that Hussein was now executed. Of all his sins, this was the easiest to prove.
The war with Iran has depleted the Iraqi economy. Money was needed, and in 1990 Saddam attacked the small but fabulously rich Kuwait. From that moment on, the general line of US relations towards him changed dramatically.
From a friend, he overnight turned into a fierce enemy. The line of his life also rapidly changed - the invasion of Kuwait and the famous American “Desert Storm”.
Hussein's long and painful fall began from those heights from which one always falls to death. George Bush Sr. did not begin to eliminate Saddam then. He only applied sanctions and forced the destruction of weapons of mass destruction.
His father's work was completed by his son, George W. Bush. In 2003, he dreamed that Hussein had that same weapon. Despite protests from almost the entire world, based on false intelligence, the forces of the international coalition entered Iraq, where they were stuck for a long time.
Chemical and bacteriological weapons, or at least traces of them, were never found. But Saddam himself, six months later, is in an underground shelter. The trial of him and his associates began a year and a half ago.
It turned into a tragic farce. The ex-dictator churned out catchphrases, three of Saddam’s lawyers at different times were resigning from the hands of unknown persons, and two judges were resigning. On November 5, Saddam and two other defendants were sentenced to hanging.
Within a matter of weeks, after Pinochet, the second ex-dictator of the century and ex-protégé of the United States left the world. But if, albeit with frayed nerves from old age, he left on his own, then a shameful and violent death awaited Saddam. The quarrel with Washington cost him too much.
During his lifetime, Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti held various high-ranking government posts in Iraq, but he went down in history as a tough politician, President of the Iraqi State (1979-2003), who achieved the highest level of development of his native country among the territories of the Middle East .
Known for large-scale reforms, military actions with Iran, and the use of chemical weapons by its army during the war. In 2003, when world leaders represented by the coalition (USA, UK) invaded Iraq, Hussein was overthrown and subsequently punished by death by hanging.
An interesting fact is the meaning of the politician’s name - Saddam, which in Arabic means “opposing”. This is exactly how one can characterize the hero of this biography. From the point of view of the European understanding, the former President of Iraq did not have a surname. The word Hussein is the name of his own father, who did not possess wealth or power during his lifetime, but was a simple landless peasant.
Saddam was born on April 28, 1937 in the city of Tikrit, or rather in the neighboring village of Al-Auja. Shortly before his birth, Hussein’s father died, went missing, or, according to one version, abandoned his family. There is also an opinion that the politician was born outside the family, but these are only rumors.
Before the birth of the future ruler, Saddam's mother had another son, who died of cancer at the age of 12 during a period when the woman was in an interesting position. The terrible tragedy led to deep depression. The mother did not even want to look at the newborn Hussein. The little boy was raised for several years by his maternal uncle, but after he was imprisoned as a participant in the anti-British uprising, Hussein was forced to return to his mother.
According to the traditions of the Arab people, if the deceased husband has a brother, the widow becomes his wife. This is what happened with Saddam’s mother, who was taken as wife by the brother of the deceased Hussein, Ibrahim al-Hasan. It’s difficult to call my stepfather a kind and bright person; he raised his stepson with cruelty and strict discipline: he beat him and forced him to work hard. This marriage produced five more children (triplets boys and two girls).
Hussein's childhood was spent in extreme poverty, in a state of constant hunger. It is known that the stepfather even forced the young man to steal cattle for further sale at the market. Everyday abuse of the boy left a corresponding imprint on his character, but Saddam did not close himself off from society. He had many friends and acquaintances among people of different age categories.
The inquisitive Hussein had a thirst for knowledge and asked his stepfather to send him to school, but he resisted, not wanting to part with an extra pair of working hands. Then the boy decided to run away to the city to his uncle - a devout Muslim, nationalist and fan, who by that time had left prison. It was the uncle who helped his nephew become what he was in his adult years.
In Tikrit, Saddam went to school. Education was not easy for him, because at the age of 10, Hussein did not even know how to read or write. For humorous, daring pranks with peers and teachers, and violation of discipline, the future ruler was expelled from the educational institution.
At the age of 15, the young man experienced serious stress - the death of a horse that was his faithful friend. This led to paralysis of the boy's arm. Afterwards I had to treat Hussein for several months. From the memories of the already adult Saddam, it was said that then he cried for the last time in his life.
When Uncle Khairallah moved to Baghdad, his nephew decided to follow him and enter the military academy (1953), but without success. The following year, Hussein enters the al-Karkh school, where he finally completes his secondary education.
The beginning of Saddam Hussein's political activity was closely intertwined with his further education. The young activist graduated from Khark College and later received a law degree from Cairo University.
In 1952, the Egyptian revolution began, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. This man was an idol for Hussein, an example to follow. Revolutionary actions led the head of the movement to the post of President of Egypt.
Gamal Abdel Nasser - idol of Saddam Hussein In 1956, the future ruler of Iraq joined the army against King Faisal II, but the coup was unsuccessful. A year later, Hussein became a member of the Baath Party, and already in 1958, during another uprising, the king was overthrown.
At the age of 21, Saddam was imprisoned as a suspect in the murder of a high-ranking district administration official. There is an opinion that the politician’s uncle gave his nephew the task of killing his opponent, which he “worthily” completed. At the scene of the incident, the local police did not find a single piece of evidence, so after 6 months Hussein was released and subsequently took part in a special operation against General Kassem.
While studying at Cairo University (1961-1963), Saddam showed himself as an active political figure, gaining fame in relevant circles. In 1963, the Baath Party defeated the Qassem regime, Hussein returned to his native Iraq and received a post as a member of the Central Peasant Bureau. According to the young activist, the main representatives of the Baath Party recklessly performed the functions assigned to them, and Hussein did not hesitate to talk about this at general Arab meetings. Soon the Baathists were removed from power, and Saddam began forming his own association.
In 1964, a new party leadership (5 people) appeared, and Hussein joined it. The leaders decided to capture Baghdad, but the attempt was a failure. One of the main instigators, Saddam, was imprisoned, but in 1966 the politician escaped, and a few months later became deputy secretary general of the Baath Party. His responsibilities included operations related to highly sensitive intelligence.
In 1968, another coup began in Iraq, and in 1970, Saddam Hussein became Vice President of the country. With significant influence, he carried out a number of reorganizations in the special services segment. Hussein's tough character, formed in childhood, was reflected in his working methods.
Anyone who opposed the current government was severely punished: prisoners in prisons were abused by using electric shock, acid, hanging, blinding, sexual violence, and also forcing unwanted ones to watch their relatives being tortured. Today, these techniques in Iraq, fortunately, have been abolished, although some of them still remain in use by local authorities.
Having the status of the second man in the country, Hussein paid due attention to such issues as:
Saddam became a popular and promising figure in the country, gaining respect among the common people and achieving a real economic boom in Iraq.
In 1976, Hussein eliminated all his party competitors and created a strong army with the “correct” ideology. Soon, all significant structures of the state apparatus, including ministries and the armed forces, reported to a strict politician.
In 1979, the President of Iraq resigned, and his position was taken by his successor, the famous Saddam Hussein. From the first days of his reign, he began to build lofty plans for his native state, wanting to see him among world leaders. Thanks to the natural resources (oil) of Iraqi territory, it became possible to conclude agreements with various countries and reach a new level of further development.
But Saddam was a warrior by nature; he wanted to own and rule. The wars with Iran, initiated by Hussein, subsequently led the Iraqi economy into decline.
Since 1991 (post-war period), the previously prosperous country has turned into a den of devastation and hunger. There was a shortage of food and water in the cities, and various intestinal diseases “reigned.” Many Iraqis have fled their homes in search of a better life outside the country. The UN put pressure on Hussein, and the President was forced to make concessions on issues of oil exports.
The period of Saddam's reign is associated differently among different people. Some proudly claim that he was a great ruler who provided security to his people, while others, on the contrary, criticize the President for cruelty, and still others simply idolize him.
In 2003, the United States formed a coalition with world leaders to overthrow Saddam Hussein's rule in Iraq. A military operation was organized that lasted for several years (2003-2011).
The reasons for the invasion of the American army into Iraqi territories are as follows:
The Iraqi President was forced to flee and hide every three hours in different places, but in 2004 he was found in his hometown of Tikrit and arrested. At court hearings in Baghdad in the zone where the US armed forces were located, Hussein was charged with many charges: inhumane methods of government, war crimes, the murder of 148 Shiites, etc.
Personal life
Saddam Hussein was married four times. His first chosen one was a girl named Sajida, who was the ruler’s cousin. She gave birth to Hussein's marriage of five children: two sons (Uday and Qusay) and three daughters (Raghad, Hala and Rana). This union was organized by the couple's parents when Hussein was only five years old. The fate of all the children and grandson of the former President of Iraq was tragic (execution).
The announcer's second marriage took place in 1988. A powerful and accomplished man fell in love with the wife of an airline director. He invited his beloved husband to divorce his wife peacefully. And so it happened.
In 1990, Hussein married for the third time. A woman named Nidal al-Hamdani became his muse, but she was unable to keep her free personality in the family haven.
In 2002, the “father of the people” married again. This time his love was the 27-year-old daughter of the minister, Iman Huveish. During this period, hostilities on the part of the United States began, so the lovers did not celebrate the wedding loudly and widely. The ceremony took place in a quiet, friendly circle.
There are legends about the love affairs of the Iraqi ruler. They say that girls who refused intimacy with the ex-president were raped and killed. In the personal life history of a controversial personality, a woman named Mansia Khazer is noted. She claimed that their civil marriage lasted for 17 years, but Hussein asked to keep their relationship secret. There are also other ladies who have stated that they have children from Saddam, but it is now difficult to prove this.
Hussein's associates always considered his legal wife only Sajida, despite the constant hobbies and “imaginary marriages” of their comrade.
In 2006, the former ruler of Iraq was sentenced to death by hanging. On December 30, he was taken to the scene of the massacre. Before his death, Hussein was subjected to various insults and even spitting from Shiite guards. Saddam tried to object, insisting that he wanted to save the country, but in the last minutes he became quiet and began to pray.
Hussein did not suffer for long; his death was instantaneous. One of the guards managed to film the horrific spectacle from their phone (there is also a photo), so the whole world saw the execution of a prominent historical figure. The media turned the Iraqi president into a despot, a brutal dictator, the embodiment of evil that needed to be fought.
After his death, rumors appeared that there was supposedly no execution, and Saddam was alive. It was also said that Hussein died back in 1999, and in his place a double ruled the country, who could not adequately lead the country out of the crisis and defeat the war. On this topic, based on the book by Latif Yahia, a former Iraqi battalion commander, director Lee Tamahori made a film in 2011 called “The Devil’s Double.”
