User:Kharbaan Ghaltaan/Presidency of Saddam Hussein !

Saddam Hussein (1937–2006)
Saddam Hussein 16 July 1979 – 9 April 2003
President	Saddam Hussein
Vice President	Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Taha Yassin Ramadan
Prime Minister	Sa'dun Hammadi Ahmad H.K. as-Samarrai Hamza Zubeidi
Cabinet	1979–2003
Party	Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction and Iraqi Regional Branch)
Election	1980 1984 1989 1996 2000 2002
Seat	Green Zone Rawdaniyah Complex Republican Palace
1965–1991 1991–2004

1979–2003
Leonid Brezhnev speaking at 18th Komsomol Congress opening (25 April 1978)
Location	Iraq (1968–2003)
Including	Cold War
Leader(s)	Leonid Brezhnev
Prime Minister(s)	Sa'dun Hammadi Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi
Key events	Islamic revolution Iran–Iraq War Invasion of Kuwait Gulf War 1991 Iraqi uprisings 1993 airstrikes 1996 attacks Iraqi Kurdish Civil War Fall of Saigon 1990 bombing 1999 uprisings 2003 invasion of Iraq (Iraq War)
Chronology History of the Soviet Union (1953–1964) History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991)

Saddam Hussein served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until his overthrow on 9 April 2003. Previously, he had been Iraq's vice president from 1968 to 1979 during the presidency of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. Saddam was a leading member of the Baghdad–based Iraqi Regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and its Iraqi dominated faction, which was the main ruling party, that ruled Iraq as a one-party state.

Upon taking office, Saddam consolidated power and purged the ruling party, by removing members who were seen as potential threats. Meanwhile, in neighboring Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his dynasty were overthrown by Ayatollah Khomeini during the Islamic revolution. Khomeini's influence among the Shia community was seen as a threat by Saddam and the rest of the Arab world. In September 1980, the Iraqi Army invaded Iran, starting the Iran–Iraq War. In the war, Saddam gained support from the United States, France and Sunni–led Arab countries. During the war, he also suppressed Kurdish rebellion in the name of the Anfal Campaign, recognized by Human Rights Watch as an act of genocide.

After the end of the war, tensions began between Iraq and Kuwait over debt and oil prices. After attempts of resolving the issue diplomatically, Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990, initiating the Gulf War. Iraq fought the war with a multinational alliance led by the United States. Iraq's army was devastated during the war. Shortly after it ended in 1991, Iraqi Kurds and Shia Muslims led uprisings against Saddam, which were violently suppressed. Relations between Iraq and the United States deteriorated, leading the U.S to adopt a policy of removing Saddam from power in 1998. Saddam also intervened in the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War (1994–1997). Another uprising by Shi'as was suppressed in 1999. As a result of the invasion of Kuwait, economic sanctions were imposed against Iraq, resulting in an economic decline. Saddam's government accepted the oil for food program, which allowed Iraq to export oil in exchange for humanitarian needs of ordinary Iraqi citizens, without fueling the power of the government.

Later Saddam tried to make improvements to Iraq's economy and infrastructure. Towards the end of the '90s, things began to look better. Saddam was sensing his end and he tried to make a few improvements in income and infrastructure. He even tried to introduce a controlled version of satellite TV and wireless cellphones. But alas, America struck again in 2003; this time with the intention of removing Saddam while not really trying to avoid civilian casualties. Another important distinction here is that Iraqis didn't care to defend their country anymore. They just sat back while the U.S. troops took over. martyr family

Appointments

• 
  Tariq Aziz — Deputy Prime Minister
• 
• 

Members and officials in the government of Saddam Hussein

Portifilo	Holder	Term
President
Prime MInister	Sa'dun Hammadi	1991 – 1991
	Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi	1991 – 1993
	Ahmad Husayn Khudayir as-Samarrai	1993 – 1994
Vice President	Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf	1974—2003
	Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
	Taha Yassin Ramadan
Deputy Prime Minister	Tariq Aziz (sole)	1979 – 2003
Speaker of the Parliament	Sa'dun Hammadi
	Sa'dun Hammadi	1996 – 2000 2000 – 2003
State Ministries
Minister of Defense	Adnan Khairallah	1977 – 1989
Trade Commissioner	Saleem Ashir	1979 – 2003

History

Post-war years

Shortly after the war ended in 1991, ethnic Kurds in north and conservative Shi'as in the south led several uprisings against Saddam's g

Domestic policies

Economy and Infrastructure

Development

Baghdad in 1995

Since Saddam came from a poor background and had difficulties in attaining proper education and good healthcare in his youth, he implemented, when he became vice president (then president), an ambitious project in providing universal free schooling up to the highest education levels and creating one of the most modernized public-health systems in the Middle East during the 1970s and 1980s. At the start of his presidency, Iraq became one of the highly developed countries in the Middle East. It is often said that Iraq had never experienced such rapid development before or since. However, this began long before the beginning of his presidency, when he was the vice president. Oil revenues were used for development.

The Economist explains: "During the 1970s, a relatively peaceful interlude when he exercised real control as second-in-command to a weak president, dozens of ambitious projects swiftly created a first-class infrastructure of expressways, power lines and social services. In neighboring countries, the oil boom generated garish consumption and commission billionaires. Iraqis could fairly claim that their national wealth had been used instead to create a broad, home-owning middle class." New Internationalist says: "Schools, roads, public housing and one of the best public-health systems in the Middle East followed. Real improvements in the lives of ordinary Iraqis during this brief period account for at least some of the support for Saddam today."

Water and Electricity were made available to nearly every city and village in Iraq. "Model Villages" were built to provide farmers with better services and overall living standards. At least one school and clinic were built in every village. Roads were paved and modern highways were constructed all over the country. Bridges and recreational villages were built in numerous locations. Work on the Mosul Dam, the fourth largest dam in the middle east, was started in 1980, a year after Saddam became president and was finished 6 years later. A number of other modern dams were built during the '70s and '80s, giving Iraq more control over its water resources, and providing them with electricity.

Al-Faw Palace in Baghdad was built by Saddam to commemorate soliders in retaking the Al-Faw Peninsula

Saddam pursued to beautify Iraq. He sponsored architectural competitions, attracted some of the world’s most celebrated architects. He planned to reestablish Baghdad as one of the world’s great architectural capitals. Baghdad emerged as a center for architecture. According to Shirin Sherzat, a local architect who participated in various competitions during Saddam’s reign. “Baghdad was a great laboratory for architecture.”

Economic growth

By the late 1970s, Iraq experienced significant economic growth, with a budget reserve surpassing US$35 billion. The value of 1 Iraqi dinar was worth more than $3, making it one of the most notable economic expansions in the region. Saddam nationalized the oil industry in 1972 and aimed to diversify the 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. Furthermore, light and heavy industries flourished in the '80s as a part of a policy to decrease dependency on oil that Saddam deputed. [15] Large factories were built all over the country and Iraq was making its own radios, televisions, heaters, air conditioners, fridges, and just about anything else you can think of. My family still has some house appliances around that were made in Iraq during the '80s. By the 1970s, women employment rate also increased.

Saddam implemented some agricultural policies to support farmers and enhance food production in Iraq. While Feudalism was prohibited in 1958 years before the Ba'ath party took charge, farmers were very much empowered by the government. They were given pieces of land, loans, modern machinery, discounted seeds and water supplies, and every other resource necessary for them to thrive and succeed. This also included the biggest land reclamation project in the history of Iraq, since large areas of land became inarable in the beginning of the century. Saddam river, also known as the third river, among other projects, was constructed to fight the issue, although that river was mainly constructed for the draining of the Hawizeh marshes to gain a tactical advantage over the Iranis during the Iran-Iraq war.

Regionally, Saddam also had a number of achievements. An example is providing work opportunities for Egyptian and Moroccan famers. In 1980, the number of Egyptian workers grew to 1.5 million in Iraq. Saddam provided them with free health insurance and social security coverage as well. This and other gestures towards neighboring Arab countries explain the outrage in the Arab world when Saddam was removed from power and later executed. Arabs viewed Iraqis as traitors since they only experienced the bright side of Saddam, and were spared the horrors that we suffered as his people. The situation began to change during war with Iran. In the first year of the war, oil production fell from 3.4 million barrels per day to just under a million. Oil revenues continued to drop off for the duration of the conflict—totaling $11 billion, less than half the pre-war amount, in 1988—while military spending remained high. The result was the increase of foreign debt to over $80 billion by 1988, the draining of foreign reserves and the abandonment of development projects. It also led to an increase in military industry. When the war ended, more than 20% of the labor force—over one million people—were employed in Iraq’s armed forces.

Improvement

Baghdad Tower, formerly known as International Saddam Tower, was built in 1994

Towards the end of the 1990s, the situation in Iraq started to show signs of slight improvement. After years of economic hardship caused by international sanctions and internal mismanagement, Saddam appeared to recognize that his grip on power was becoming increasingly fragile. In response, he attempted to implement a series of controlled reforms aimed at improving the country’s income levels and infrastructure.

One such effort included modest economic relief measures, such as increasing government salaries and allowing limited private-sector activity in certain industries. There were also new investments in infrastructure, with new roads, telecommunications, and public services receiving some attention, albeit under tight state control. During the years of sanctions and tensions, civil services were still good, as there was no issue in that.

Perhaps the most notable shift was Saddam's tentative embrace of modern technology, albeit in a highly restricted and monitored manner. He allowed the introduction of satellite television, but only through state-approved channels that broadcast regime-friendly content. Similarly, wireless cell phones were introduced in Iraq for the first time, though their usage was heavily regulated and closely monitored by the government to prevent any threats to his authority. A telecommunication tower, known as International Saddam Tower, was built in Baghdad in 1994. It consists of Iraq's first revolving restaurant and became a symbol of Baghdad.

Saddam launched plan to develop and organize Baghdad, due to the hardships Baghdad had gone through due to the international sanctions against Iraq and the decline of the street due to the sanctions. He ordered the restoration and reconstruction of several mosques, churches and synagogues in that area.

Education

Students posing for class photos in a school, 1980

Saddam made efforts to expand education, particularly at the primary and secondary levels. Education was made more widely accessible, leading to increased literacy rates in the country. According to the Human Rights Watch, "The government passed a compulsory education law mandating that both sexes attend school through the primary level. Although middle and upper class Iraqi women had been attending university since the 1920s, rural women and girls were largely uneducated until this time." Saddam used oil revenues to bring about changes in the schooling in Iraq and he was dedicated as second in command to Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr to the eradication of illiteracy in Iraq.

Baghdad College of Medicine, 2000

Education was made free to everyone in Iraq. This not only includes grade school, but also covers college and graduate level education.[2] It started in the early '70s and resulted, by the mid '80s, in an unprecedented 100% enrollment rates, and of course helped build a better educated middle class. Those years were called "The Golden Years" for the Iraqi Education System. [2][3] Furthermore, government scholarships were given every years for hundreds, if not thousands, of Iraqis to study abroad. This resulted in a solid education system that enjoyed a reputation that made it the destination for many Arab students in the area, whom were also given free education.[4]

Refusing to send your child to school at the age of six was a crime punished by law, usually by prison time, under Saddam's regime starting from the late '70s and up until he was removed from power, and yes, that did include girls. Saddam was actually very supportive of women in that regard. In 1976, Iraq hosted the "Baghdad Conference for the Eradication of Illiteracy". Shortly after, he initiated the "National Campaign for Eradication of Illiteracy". The results were very positive, so much that Iraq was awarded the UNESCO prize for eradicating illiteracy in 1982, just three years after Saddam became president.[1]

Iraq had more PhD per capita than the rest of the Arab world combined! The Iraqi people were the most educated population in the whole of the Arab world. Iraq had a higher University enrolment as a percentage of the total population than anywhere else in the Arab world. Universal schooling including school meals, pens, pencils, paper, and of course the education was free for all Iraqis up until the highest levels of university education.

Out of all the universities in Iraq, only about four were established before Saddam. The University of Baghdad, found in 1908 and the second largest Arab university after the University of Cairo, was only followed by ones in Mosul and Basrah, Iraq's other major cities, roughly 60 years later. Today every province in Iraq has a university of its own, if not more than one. Furthermore, a number of schools were built in every city, and at least one was built in every village in the country. Also, a pair of gifted schools were built and named after Saddam in every province, one for males, the other for females and others were coeducational.

Women's Rights

Saddam promoting women's education and literacy

Although Saddam's government did not specifically target women, it targeted anyone who questioned his authority and power. Indeed, he promoted women's rights. Saddam implemented policies aimed at advancing the rights and status of women in Iraq, such as increasing access to education and employment opportunities. He gave women's their basic rights In a speech on April 17 1971, Saddam proclaimed:

Women make up one half of society. Our society will remain backward and in chains unless its women are liberated, enlightened and educated.

A report by Human Rights Watch, "Historically, Iraqi women and girls have enjoyed relatively more rights than many of their counterparts in the Middle East." Iraq was fairly progressive concerning women's rights. During the 1970s and 1980s, Saddam Hussein urged women to fill men's places in schools, universities, hospitals, factories, the army, and the police. Women were given the right to vote in 1980 and to be elected to the National Assembly and local governing bodies, although the number of female representatives remained small. Around the same time, laws on divorce, polygamy, and inheritance still further expanded women’s rights.¬

He said that: "The most important thing about marriage is that the man must not let the woman feel downtrodden simply because she is a woman and he is a man." The Iraqi Bureau of Statistics reported that in 1976, women constituted approximately 38.5% of those in the education profession, 31% of the medical profession, 25% of lab technicians, 15% of accountants and 15% of civil servants.¹⁵ By the end of the 1970s women in Iraq formed 46% of all teachers, 29% of all doctors, 46% of all dentists and 70% of all pharmacists. According to the UNESCO, as a result of the national literacy campaign, as of 1987 approximately 75% of Iraqi women were literate.

Religion and sectarianism

Secularism

Saddam saw himself as a social revolutionary and a modernizer, following the model of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the former president of Egypt. To the consternation of Islamic conservatives, his government gave women added freedoms and offered them high-level government and industry jobs. Saddam also created a Western-style legal system, making Iraq the only country in the Gulf region not ruled according to traditional Islamic law (Sharia). Saddam abolished the Sharia law courts, except for personal injury claims.

Domestic conflict impeded Saddam's modernizing projects. Iraqi society is divided along lines of language, religion and ethnicity; Saddam's government rested on the support of the 20% minority of largely working-class, peasant, and lower middle class Sunni Muslims, continuing a pattern that dates back at least to the British mandate authority's reliance on them as administrators. Despite Saddam's official stance of secularism, sectarianism existed at the government level, though it was not as prominent socially. People were generally tolerant and often unaware of their neighbors' sectarian identities. A significant percentage of marriages in Iraq were mixed, and most neighborhoods, particularly in Baghdad, were ethnically and sectarian diverse. However, following the fall of Saddam's government, sectarian violence increased, and today, there are physical barriers separating Sunni and Shia neighborhoods.

Faith Campaign

The Faith Campaign was an Islamist campaign introduced in 1993. It was under the supervision of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri. Started during the reign of Saddam and intended to be the second largest mosque in Iraq, the al-Rahman mosque still stands uncompleted in Baghdad.

Minorities

Religious minorities enjoyed protection by Saddam.

Shias

Mizban Khadr al-Hadi

Shias (!)

Saddam praying at the Imam Reza Shrine, a Shi'a shrine in Mashhad, Iran – during his visit in 1976

Saddam did not recognize Shiite political identity separately from Arab nationalism. Government policies often sought to suppress Shiite religious and political movements, particularly those aligned with Iran. The regime carried out crackdowns on the Dawa Party, executed Shiite clerics such as Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, and suppressed the 1991 Shiite uprisings following the Gulf War. Despite Saddam's rule being associated with Sunni Arab dominance, Shiites held significant positions in the government. Several high-ranking officials, military officers, and technocrats in Saddam’s administration were of Shiite origin.

In the military, Lieutenant General Abdul Wahid Shannan al-Ribat became the first Shiite Chief of Staff of the Army, while Lieutenant General Saadi Taama al-Jubouri served as the commander of the Third Corps. Many other Shiite officers occupied key roles, including Major General Hamid al-Ward (commander of artillery), Major General Subaih Omran al-Tarfa (commander of the armored division), and Lieutenant General Ali al-Shalal, the commander of border forces). Additionally, over 60% of the general managers in the Military Industrialization Authority and 70% of the advanced engineering and technical staff in the military were Shiites. 40% of the National Assembly were Shiites and formed majority in Iraqi Armed Forces and Ba'ath Party governing body.

In the political sphere, two Shiites served as Prime Ministers of Iraq under Saddam: Saadoun Hammadi and Mohammed Hamza al-Zubaidi. Hammadi, a prominent Ba'athist figure, also held the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs and later served as the longest-running Speaker of the Iraqi National Council. Other key Shiite officials included Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, who served as Foreign Minister in the 1990s before becoming Minister of Information, and Nazim Kazar, the first Shiite to head the Public Security Directorate.

Shiite influence was also evident in Iraq’s economic and educational sectors. The longest-serving Governors of the Central Bank of Iraq, Abdul Hassan Zalzala and Tariq al-Takmeji, were both Shiites. In the oil industry, Fadhel Chalabi and Ramzi Salman held top positions in the Ministry of Oil and the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). Many university presidents, deans, and professors, especially in central and southern Iraq, were Shiites. Notably, over 60% of Iraq’s state administrators, scientists, and technical experts during Saddam’s rule were Shiites, including Jaafar Diaa Jaafar, a key figure in Iraq’s nuclear program.

Iraq’s diplomatic corps also included prominent Shiite figures. Four of Iraq’s ten permanent representatives to the United Nations during the Ba'ath era were Shiites, including Talib Shabib, Abdul Amir al-Anbari, Muhammad Sadiq al-Mashat, and Saeed al-Musawi. Additionally, Iraq’s representatives to UNESCO, Aziz Haj Qali and Abdul Amir al-Anbari, were both Shiites. Shiites were also active in Iraq’s cultural and media landscape. Saddam’s media advisor, Abdul Jabbar Mohsen, was a Shiite, as were many prominent journalists, including Sami Mahdi (editor-in-chief of Al-Thawra), Kamel al-Sharqi (editor-in-chief of Alif Baa magazine), and Saheb Hussein al-Samawi (editor-in-chief of Al-Jumhuriya). Many influential poets and writers under Saddam’s rule, such as Sajida al-Moussawi, Ali al-Yasiri, and Raad Bandar, were also Shiites.

Christians

n assistant professor at the medical college.

He worked with the German doctor Dr. Hans Hoff, one of Sigmund Freud's students, who specialized in mental and nervous diseases, and learned a lot from him. Dr. Jackie was distinguished by his scientific knowledge and his discovery of new methods and methods of treatment. He introduced electroshock therapy and was one of the first doctors in Iraq to open their own hospitals, as he founded the hospital (Dr. Jack Abboud Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases) located on the road leading to Rashid Camp.

At the time, a joke spread for anyone who quarrelled with another or was nervous, where they would say to him (You are crazy and you should go to Dr. Jackie Abboud)

. Dr. Salman Darwish in his book (Everything is Quiet in the Clinic) said that all Iraqi Jewish doctors left Iraq in various ways, some with a passport, some by revoking their citizenship, and some by fleeing to escape persecution, pursuit, and pressure on freedoms. The Iraqi government granted him a diplomatic passport in appreciation of his scientific status, and he left the country permanently in 1980 with official approval to London, where he worked as a doctor in the Brixton Prison Hospital until his death in 1981.

It is mentioned that in 1979, some policemen stopped him when he finished his work in his private clinic at noon, opposite the Central Bank on Rashid Street, and they stole his car and left him standing under the scorching sun in revenge for him because he was Jewish. When one of his student doctors stopped to take him after seeing him standing in the middle of the street, Dr. Jack refused so that his colleague would not get into trouble, and insisted on going by taxi and secluded himself in his house for months. His car was then returned to him after the matter reached Higher authorities forced him to leave the country to Britain, saying that he was (Iraqi) and would not immigrate to Israel!

He left Iraq for London and worked there as a doctor in the prison service. He died on July 18, 1981.

Jews

During the early years of the Ba'ath Party, a large number of Jews were arrested, detained and executed in accusation of spying for Israel. As a result, the Jewish population dwindled. The situation of Jews improved as Saddam assumed more power. Under Saddam, they were a privileged group. He lifted all discriminatory laws against Jews. Saddam sought to protect the remaining Jews of Iraq. He granted them protection and permission to practice their religion. An official guard was assigned to protect their synagogues.

Tawfiq Sofair, the caretaker of the Meir Taweig Synagogue, said that “Saddam has given Jews liberty to do business again, to become doctors, engineers. There is no problem for Jews in Iraq.” In the government and the military, some of the prominent doctors, engineers, scientists, lawyers, and officers were Jews. Many Jews served in the military during wars, such as Dr. Eliyahu. Some of them held high posts in public universities and government hospitals. Shaoul Sassoon, a Jewish engineer, was noted for his contributions to industries. For his inventions, he was awarded 5 million dinars and a letter of appreciation from Saddam in 1987. In 1988, a Jewish chemist from Basra, Salim Ashir, was sent on a trade mission to China by Saddam's government. Also Saddam's son Uday Hussein was once treated by a Jewish doctor. After which, Saddam gifted him with jewelry and invited him to a dinner.

According to Mordechai Ben-Porat, an Israeli politician of Iraqi descent, Saddam was fond of remaining Jews in Iraq. This is due to personal experiences. Saddam's mother has been quoted as saying that Baghdadi Jews were responsible for the safe, healthy delivery of the infant Saddam. She was sick during pregnancy, and her parents sent her to Baghdad for treatment, where she resided with a Jewish family for two months. Subsequently, Saddam’s stepfather had a successful business partnership with a Baghdadi Jew.

Ethnic policies

Kurds

Nechirvan Barzani with Saddam at Baghdad, 1991

Since its establishment, Iraq had to deal with Kurdish separatists in the north. The Ba'ath Party's pan-Arab ideology was disliked by nationalistic Kurds. He already signed a deal in 1970 to grant the Kurds autonomy, but Mustafa Barzani eventually disagreed with the deal, which incited the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War. The government's Arabization program in Mosul, Kirkuk and Khanaqin also fueled the tensions. On other hands, Feyli Kurds were persecuted by the government. It is estimated that around 150,000 Feyli Kurds were killed. During the 1980–1988 war, Iran supported Kurdish rebels against Saddam. In retaliation, Saddam ordered Anfal Campaign to repress Peshmerga forces. However, it resulted killing of 50,000 to 100,000 Kurds and is labelled as genocide.

Although his position on Kurdish politics has been debated, Saddam has allowed autonomy for Kurds to an extent. Kurds were allowed to speak Kurdish in schools, on television, and in newspapers, with textbooks being translated for the Kurdish regions. Kurds in Iraq were also able to elect a Kurdish representative to Baghdad with the Kurdistan Democratic Party being legitimized as a legal, progressive party in Iraq in the National Progressive Front. During the Kurdish Civil War, Saddam supported KDP.

He had already signed a deal in 1970 to grant the Kurds autonomy, but Mustafa Barzani eventually disagreed with the deal, which incited the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War. In Iraq, especially compared to other middle-eastern countries such as Iran, Turkey, and Syria, Iraqi Kurds were treated well under the regime of Saddam when compared to their conditions in the neighboring countries, with the Kurdish language being tolerated under Saddam's regime in education, and media, and spoken as a official language.

Saddam also had multiple Kurdish ministers and generals, with the highest ranking one being Taha Yassin Ramadan, an Iraqi Kurd —was appointed by Saddam, largely due to his loyalty, as one of Iraq's three Vice Presidents. He was also made Deputy Secretary of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Branch of the Ba'ath Party and commander of the People's Army. Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf, another Kurd, was one of the three vice presidents from 1974 to 2003 and served as ambassador to Italy, Malta, and Albania. He was also Minister of State and Acting Minister of Public Works. During the Gulf War, many Kurds served fought for Saddam and were stationed in Baghdad.

Saddam himself personally enjoyed Kurdish culture, often wearing traditional Kurdish clothing in state visits to northern Iraq.

Kurds

Nechirvan Barzani with Saddam at Baghdad, 1991

Saddam in traditional Kurdish clothing

With events like Anfal Campaign, persecution of Feyli Kurds and suppression of Kurdish uprisings, Saddam's position on Kurdish politics is debated. Kurds in Iraq, especially compared to other middle-eastern countries such as Iran, Turkey, and Syria, were treated well under Saddam when compared to their conditions in these neighboring countries, with the Kurdish language being tolerated under Saddam's government in education, and media, and spoken as a official language. Saddam himself personally enjoyed Kurdish culture, often wearing traditional Kurdish clothing in state visits to northern Iraq, raised the flag of Kurdistan, and had admiration of Kurds. He also commemorated Kurdish leader Salahuddin Ayyubi as an icon of Iraq.

Saddam and Mostafa Barzani meeting on 10 March 1970

Why to say words like "Our Beloved Kurdish Brothers". This are not good words. Instead say "Our Kurdish brothers", "Our Kurdish peoples".

“ The flag of Kurdistan will remain rise and our Kurdish population will increase ” — Saddam at council meeting

Saddam granted autonomy to Kurds to some extent, as Kurds in Iraq. As a result of the peace treaty signed between Saddam and Mustafa Barzani in 1970, Kurds were given autonomy. The Kurds were allowed to use Kurdish language in education, media and communication. Textbooks were translated in Kurdish for schools in Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Democratic Party was recognized as a legal progressive party in the National Progressive Front. During the Kurdish Civil War, Saddam supported KDP and eventually played both sides.

Saddam also had multiple Kurdish ministers and generals. Taha Yassin Ramadan, a Kurdish Shabaki military officer from Mosul, was one of Iraq's three Vice Presidents. He was also made Deputy Secretary of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Branch of the Ba'ath Party, the Minister of Industry and Minerals and commander of the People's Army. Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf served alongside Ramadan as vice president from 1974 to 2003. He also held position of Minister of State and Acting Minister of Public Works and ambassador to Italy, Malta, and Albania. Both Ramadan and Marouf represented Iraq on international meetings like Tariq Aziz, with Marouf being a top level diplomat and was known for his proficiency in multiple languages. Other well known Kurdish figures in the government were Munther Muzaffar al-Naqshbandi, Abdul Wahab Al-Atroshi, Aziz Aqrawi, Makram Talabani, Abdullah Ismail Ahmed Al-Aqrawi and Hashem Hassan Rashid Aqrawi. During the Gulf War, many Kurds served fought for Saddam and were stationed in Baghdad.

According to Saddam during his trial in 2006, two brigades were formed in the Republican Guard during the 2003 war, were composed entirely of Kurds, citing a proof that the government then did not discriminate against Kurds. Also In a televised interview, Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani stated that Saddam had privately acknowledged Kirkuk as a Kurdish city but opposed its use as a basis for an independent Kurdistan. According to Barzani, Saddam told him, "Kirkuk is a Kurdish city and that this would be the natural basis for establishing a Kurdish state, but this is what we do not agree with." Barzani also referenced the March 1970 Agreement between the government and Kurdish leadership, which included a provision for a referendum on the status of Kirkuk after four years. He criticized this clause, stating that the issue "should have been decided at that time and not after four years," suggesting that delaying the referendum contributed to future conflicts over Kirkuk's status.

Assyrians

Iraqi Christians are predominantly Assyrians in the northern Iraq. In the early 1970s, the government made attempts to improve the situation for Assyrians in Iraq, including the passage of a law in 1972 that granted Syriac language some degree of official recognition. The law allowed the language to be taught in schools where Assyrians were the majority, alongside Arabic. TV programs to be broadcasted and publication of newspapers and magazines. However, the recognition was superficial, as Assyrians were not formally acknowledged as an ethnic group, and Syriac was not granted official status as a language.

Despite these limited advancements, the broader context of the government was one of suppression. In the late 1970s, Saddam began a crackdown on all minorities, including Assyrians. The government implemented harsh policies that sought to eliminate the expression of minority identities, banning the use of native languages, such as Syriac, in public spaces and limiting the cultural rights of Assyrians. These policies intensified as Saddam sought to solidify his Arab nationalist agenda, and by the late 1970s, Assyrians were marginalized and forced to remain silent to survive under Saddam’s repressive rule. Assyrian communities faced a difficult and often oppressive environment. In 1982, Assyrian leaders from the Assyrian Democratic Movement – Youssef Toma, Yubert Benjamin, and Youkhana Isho, initiated an armed struggle from Assyrian Mountains against Saddam. Their goal was to demand “a free, democratic Iraq and recognition of Assyrian national existence.” However, their efforts were met with brutal repression. The three leaders were arrested and executed on February 3, 1985, in Abu Ghraib prison, marking a tragic moment for the Assyrian community.

However, for some Assyrians, there was a complex and fragile balance. According to Juliana Khamo, an Assyrian activist, many minorities, including Assyrians, found a degree of security under Saddam because of a “social contract”. As long as minorities refrained from sensitive political activism and expressions of ethnic identity, they were guaranteed a good standard of living. This allowed Assyrians to preserve their religious identity and language, albeit in a limited and constrained manner. The Assyrian community enjoyed broad religious rights and protection from Saddam. Like Christians, they had no political power but were valued as an educated minority. Assyrians were generally better educated and more productive than other Iraqi citizens, often serving as effective bureaucrats within the government. This made them an important part of Iraq's administrative structure, despite their lack of political influence.

Saddam with Kamel Hana Gegeo, 1987

This also worked as a part of Saddam's initiative of integrating different religious and ethnic groups in society. Tariq Aziz and Georges Sada were ethnically Assyrians. Numerous Assyrians were offered high positions such as mayoral positions and security in offices. Kamel Hana Gegeo was Saddam's bodyguard, food taster and chief of staff. Due to family disputes he was killed by Uday Hussein at a party, where Hosni Mubarak and his wife Suzanne Mubarak present. Gegeo was like a son to Saddam and upon hearing the his murder, Saddam responded angrily and sought to punish Uday. Later, at request of Sajidah, Uday was not executed but was exiled to Switzerland. Gegeo's parents were Saddam's housekeepers. His brother Malko was a solider, and Saddam assigned him to form Assyrian forces, which were later called the Assyrian Regiment.

Foreign affairs

During Iran–Iraq War

With the support of other Arab states, the United States, and Europe, and heavily financed by the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Saddam became "the defender of the Arab world" against a revolutionary, fundamentalist and Shia Islamist Iran. The only exception was the Soviet Union, which initially refused to supply Iraq on the basis of neutrality in the conflict, although in his memoirs, Mikhail Gorbachev claimed that Leonid Brezhnev refused to aid Saddam over infuriation of Saddam's treatment of Iraqi communists. During that time, communists in Iraq were repressed. Consequently, many viewed Iraq as "an agent of the civilized world."

In 1982, Saddam sent his deputy Tariq Aziz to meet then U.S president Ronald Reagan. Aziz was successful in winning Reagan's support for Iraq during the war. In a US bid to open full diplomatic relations with Iraq, the country was removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism in February 1982. Ostensibly, this was because of improvement in the regime's record, although former US 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 Hussein on 19–20 December 1983.

The Soviet Union, France, and China together accounted for over 90% of the value of Iraq's arms imports between 1980 and 1988. While the United States supplied Iraq with arms, dual-use technology and economic aid, it was also involved in a covert and illegal arms deal, providing sanctioned Iran with weaponry. This political scandal became known as the Iran–Contra affair. China was one of the biggest trade partners of Iraq. In 1988, Saddam sent Salim Ashir, a chemist on a trade mission to China.

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. Iraq successfully gained some military and financial aid, as well as diplomatic and moral support, from the Soviet Union, China, France, and the United States, which together feared the prospects of the expansion of revolutionary Iran's influence in the region. Chemical weapons were developed by Iraq from materials and technology supplied primarily by West German companies as well as using dual-use technology imported following the Reagan administration's lifting of export restrictions. 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."

During the Gulf War

Ali Abdullah Saleh

Foreign policies

Arab–Israeli conflict

A Fedayeen Saddam poster, that shows Saddam, his son Uday and the Dome of the Rock

Saddam was widely known for his pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel stance. He funded several Palestinian militant groups against Israel. For Palestinians living in Iraq, Saddam provided equal rights to them as Iraqis, unlike other countries where Palestinians live in typical refugee camps. He also provided financial and humanitarian support to families in Palestinian territories and victims of Israeli oppression. Earlier, Saddam made a trip to Egypt in 1972, where he pledged Iraq's support for war against Israel. Iraq participated against Israel in the Yom Kippur War, by sending its troops to support Egypt and Syria. In 1974, Saddam attended a summit in Morocco, that led to the recognition of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as the representative of Palestinian people by the international community. Saddam developed close relations with the PLO and several other Palestinian militant groups and hosted its leaders in Baghdad. He led the Arab opposition to the Camp David Accords.

Saddam's rising influence was considered as a threat by Israel. Then Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin took Saddam's anti-Zionist stance seriously and Israel sabotaged Saddam's nuclear ambitions, by destroying the Tammuz1 nuclear reactor in 1981. Numerous western countries, which had friendly relations with Israel, such as United States, the United Kingdom, and France, condemned the attack. Saddam planned to kidnap Begin from Tel Aviv and bring him to Baghdad. Saddam's attorney, Badie Aref, once heard from the Iraqi intelligence that Palestinian operatives were entrusted with the job of kidnapping Begin and bringing him to Baghdad. The plan was eventually called off after a western leader urged the former Saddam to give up on the plan. In a 1982 article from The New York Times, Israeli officials noted that Iran’s successes in the war had diminished Saddam Hussein's stature as an Arab leader, which Israel perceived as beneficial to its own security interests. The civil war in Lebanon and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 also played an important role in Saddam's position on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Israel-Palestine.

“ existence of an independent Palestinian state accepted by the Palestinians, and it is also necessary to have a state of security for the Israelis and No single Arab official includes in his policy now the so-called destruction of Israel or wiping it out of existence, but there is not one Arab who believes in coexistence with an aggressive and expansionist entity. ” — Saddam Hussein

During the Iran–Iraq War, Saddam reduced his anti-Israel stance, due to Israel's clandestine support to Iran. In the 1982 Arab League summit, regarding the Arab world's position on the Arab–Israeli conflict, a peace initiative of two-state solution with Jerusalem as a shared capital for Israel and Palestine was put forward. Saddam did not opposed the proposal. However, the Israeli leadership rejected the proposal. In 1983, Saddam hosted U.S congressmen Stephen Solarz and said that a future state is necessary for both Palestinians and Israel. According to a report by Commentary, prior to the Gulf war, he worked to win Israeli acquiescence in the laying of an Iraqi oil pipeline to the Jordanian port town of Aqaba, collaborated with Israel against Syrian interests in Lebanon to punish Assad for his support of Iran, and even attempted to acquire sophisticated Israeli military equipment.

During the First Intifada, PLO leader Yasser Arafat declared the

Nuclear program

Saddam started Iraq's nuclear program in the 1970s, with assistance from multiple western countries. In 1975, when Saddam traveled to Paris, he signed an agreement and France agreed to build a nuclear reactor for Iraq. The nuclear reactor was named as Osirak, later as Tammuz1.

South Asia

Saddam supported India's position on the Kashmir dispute against Pakistan

See also

• Boris Rotenberg (businessman)