Hussein, Saddam
From Encyclopædia
Image:Saddam Hussein.jpg
Saddam Hussein
| Encyclopædia | Main Page | About | Help | FAQ | Special pages | Log in |
Category: Encyclopædia Printable version | Disclaimers | Privacy policy |
Saddam Hussein, b. 1937, ruled Iraq jointly with Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr from 1968 to 1979, when he succeeded al-Bakr as president. He joined the BAATH PARTY in 1957 and played a prominent role in the 1968 Iraqi revolution. As president, Hussein moved to modernize the economy while ruthlessly crushing his opponents. He launched the [[Iran-Iraq war|Iran-Iraq war]] (1980-88) against non-Arab Iran and competed with Syria's Hafez al-ASSAD and Egypt's Hosni MUBARAK for influence in the Arab world. Despite his record of human rights abuses, Hussein was supported by most Western powers and moderate Arab states until 1990.During the war, the Hussein government used chemical weapons against the Iranian forces. In 1988, following a cease-fire in the war, the Iraqi government reportedly used chemical weapons against its own Kurdish minority in northeastern Iraq, and more than 70,000 Kurds fled to Turkey.By the end of the war, the Iraqi regime had amassed enormous debts on loans, much of which had been provided by oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Hussein government declared that these war debts should be cancelled, in part out of gratitude for Iraq's role in "protecting" its Arab neighbors against the threat of Iran. Hussein also charged that Kuwait and the UAE were driving Down the world price of oil by overproducing beyond the limits set by the Organization of petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In mid-July, 1990, the Hussein government claimed that Kuwait had "stolen" petroleum from the vast Rumaila oil field, most of which is in Iraq, but which extends somewhat across the disputed border into Kuwait. The Hussein government also made claims to two strategically located Kuwaiti islands in the Persian Gulf near the Kuwait-Iraq border.In August 1990, Hussein invaded and annexed Kuwait, an act condemned by the international community. When he did not withdraw by a UN-imposed deadline of Jan. 15, 1991, a U.S.-led multinational coalition launched the PERSIAN GULF WAR, and the Iraqi forces were swiftly defeated. After the war Hussein remained in power, putting Down revolts by Iraqi Kurds and Shites, sporadically defying the UN peace terms, and continuing to present himself as the region's only true Arab nationalist.bibliography: Karsh, E., and Rautsi, I., Saddam Hussein (1991); Miller, Judith, and Mylroie, Laurie, Saddam Hussein and the Crisis in the Gulf (1990).Picture Caption[s]Saddam Hussein (1937- ), the effective ruler of Iraq from 1976, succeeded General al-Bakr as president in July 1979. Anxious to expand Iraq's territories, Hussein ordered the invasion of Iran in 1980, precipitating the eight-year-long [[Iran-Iraq war|Iran-Iraq war]]. In 1990 his forces invaded Kuwait, an act that was universally condemned and which precipitated a full-scale Gulf War in 1991. (The Bettmann Archive)