Hussein, Saddam

Hussein, Saddam (b. 28 Apr. 1937). President of Iraq 1979–2003 Born in Tikrit, he joined the Ba'ath Socialist Party in 1957 and became involved in its underground activities. Imprisoned in 1956, he fled to Syria and Egypt following a coup against Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassem in 1959. He returned to Iraq in 1963, and became a leader of the Ba'ath party, advancing to the post of assistant General Secretary of its Iraqi section in 1966. He took part in the July 1968 revolution led by General Bakr, as a prominent member of its ‘civilian’ wing. In 1969, he became deputy chairman of the Revolution Command Council, the country's new ruling body. From that time onwards, he was the effective strong man in Iraqi politics, though he did not formally assume the presidency until 1979. In this he was helped by his total command of the party machinery, especially since his party purges of 1969–71.

Hussein's rule was marked by a singularly pragmatic ruthlessness. Never hesitant to have his opponents executed, he made peace with them when necessary (the Kurds in Kurdistan 1970, 1991; Iran 1975, 1990), and attacked them with singular brutality when expedient (the Kurds in 1974, 1988–91; Iran in 1980). He reinforced his hold on army, government, and party through nepotism, placing his family members in control of strategic posts. Finally, he strengthened his position through an intense personality cult, using themes of Arab nationalism, anti-Zionism, and Islamic rhetoric to elevate himself to a supreme position. In this way, he managed to survive his two great miscalculations: his unleashing of the Iran–Iraq War (1980–8), and the Gulf War (1990–1). Following the latter conflict, Hussein continued to attract the wrath of the United States and the UN, as he refused to allay fears that he was producing weapons of mass destruction. However, he complied only reluctantly with UN resolution 1441, which called for full Iraqi co-operation in UN-led weapons inspections. This did not improve his standing with George W. Bush, who had already identified Iraq as one country in an ‘Axis of Evil’. In the ensuing Iraq War, Hussein was toppled as he had lost control of Baghdad by 9 April 2003. Hussein escaped to his home region around Tikrit, where he was not captured until 13 December 2003. His sons, Uday and Qusay, had been killed by US soldiers in a raid on 22 July 2003.