User:Kharbaan Ghaltaan/Presidency of Saddam Hussein: Difference between revisions

Saddam Hussein 1979–2003
President	Saddam Hussein
President‑elect	1979
Vice President	Taha Yassin Ramadan Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Premier	*Himself Sa'adun Hammadi
Party	Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)
← Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Jalal Talabani →

Saddam Hussein officially assumed presidency on 19 July 1979, after the resignation of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. A leading member of the Ba'ath Party, he was in power for 24 years until his overthrow in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, during the Iraq War.

His position as president remained until he was overthrown in 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States.

Shortly after assuming the Presidency of Iraq in July 1979, Saddam convened a gathering of his Ba'ath Party leaders and publicly had 68 of them removed for alleged treason. Twenty-two of them were subsequently sentenced to death by firing squad.

Key figures and party affiliated appointments

Name		Position(s)
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri (1930–2017)		Secretary General of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party Regional Secretary of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party Deputy Secretary of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch Member of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch
Uday Saddam Hussein (1964–2003)		Member of the National Assembly Commander of the Fedayeen Saddam Head of the Iraqi Olympic Commission Head of the Iraq Football Association Head of the Iraqi Students Union
Qusay Hussein		Head of the Special Security Organization Head of the Special Republican Guard Supervisor of Republican Guard Commander of the Fedayeen Saddam
Adil Abdullah Mahdi Al-Douri		Member of the Iraqi National Council. Secretary of the leadership of the Fallujah Branch
Ghazi Hamoud Al-Obaidi		Member of the Regional Leadership Governor of Basra Governor of Mayasan
Hussein Al-Awadi		Governor of Al Anbar Governorate Governor of Najaf
Mizban Khadr al-Hadi		Advisor on Shi'ite affairs Governor of Najaf Commander of the Central Euphrates Region
Naji Eli		Liaison to the government Jewish Representative

Saddam Hussein
Cabinet of Iraq
Date formed	16 July 1979
Date dissolved	9 April 2003
People and organisations
President	Saddam Hussein
Vice President	Taha Marouf, 1974—2003 Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, 1979—2003 Taha Yassin Ramadan, 1991—2003
Prime Minister	Himself (1979–1991) Sa'dun Hammadi (1991) Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi (1991–1993) Ahmad Husayn Khudayir as-Samarrai (1993–1994) Himself (1994–2003)
Deputy Prime Minister	Tariq Aziz
Ministers removed	68 dismissed
Member party	Ba'ath Party

Name	Portfilo	Name	Portfilo

During his presidency, Saddam initiated and fought various wars. This includes the major Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s and the Gulf War from 1990 to 1991, which began when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Other minor conflicts includes repression of uprisings against the government by Shi'ite Muslims and Iraqi Kurds in 1991 and 1999 and intervention in the Iraqi-Kurdish Civil War and 2001–2003 Kurdish–Islamist conflict.

Shortly after the end of the Gulf War in 1991, Shi'ite Muslims and Iraqi Kurds in southern and northern Iraq led several uprisings against the government of Saddam. These were repressed and an estimated 100,000 people were killed. Qusay Hussein, Saddam's younger son led the Republican Guard that confronted the rebels in Baghdad. After the uprisings were repressed, Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei was forced to meet Saddam and was placed in house arrest.

At the start of his presidency, Iraq was one of the most 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. Saddam nationalized oil industry in 1972 and began diversifying the economy. In 1980, Iraq was considered one of the most advance economies of the Middle East.^[1] It was considered one of the highly developed countries in the 1970s and the 1980s. The currency of Iraq—Iraqi Dinar was strong and valuable.^[2]

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 dollars, making it one of the most notable economic expansions in the region. Saddam Hussein's regime aimed to diversify the Iraqi economy beyond oil. The government invested in various industries, including petrochemicals, fertilizer production, and textile manufacturing, to reduce dependence on oil revenues and promote economic self-sufficiency. By the 1970s, women employment rate also increased.

The situation began to change during war with Iran.^[1] In the first year of the war, oil production fell from 3.4 million barrels per day to just under a million.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.^[1] It also led to an increase in military industry.^[1] When the war ended, more than 20% of the labor force—over one million people—were employed in Iraq’s armed forces.^[1]

Following the invasion of Kuwait, the international community placed sanctions on Iraq. As a result of sanctions, Iraq's oil sector crippled. General Motors was in process of establishing a factory. However, the plan was ceased when sanctions were imposed. By 1995, GDP of Iraq dropped to US$9 billion from US$44.36 billion in 1990. Iraq had lost around US$170 billion of oil revenues. In 1995, Bill Clinton introduced Oil-for-Food Programme. It's objective was to allow Iraq sell oil in exchange for humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing Iraqi government to boost its military capabilities.

After accepting the Oil-for-Food Programme in 1996, Iraq resumed exporting oil to other countries in exchange of humanitarian supplies for normal citizens. By the end of the 1990s, Saddam tried to make a few improvements in income and infrastructure.^[3] He even tried to introduce a controlled version of satellite TV and wireless cellphones. By 2000, the economy of Iraq began improving. Trade relations with countries such as China and Syria resumed. Syria even ignored the sanctions and imported oil from Iraq. Its GDP increased to U$23.73 billion by 2000.

The government spent revenue generated from the sale of oil in construction of infrastructure. In the 1970s and 1980s, Iraq

Saddam pursued to beautify Iraq. He sponsored architectural competitions, attracted some of the world’s most celebrated architects. His plan was 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,” he said, “was a great laboratory for architecture.”

Baghdad International Airport

Baghdad Metro

With an Arab–Muslim majority, Iraq is home to a diverse ethnic, religious, and sectarian population. Contrary to popular belief, Saddam was not inherently sectarian. It can be seen as a consequence of his overthrow, where Iraq's religious and ethnic groups faced hardships. He did place people from his own Sunni community on key positions. Despite this, people from other religion, sect or ethnicity held post in the government.

During Saddam's rule, more than 1 million Christians lived in Iraq. Iraqi Christians are predominantly native Assyrians in Northern Iraq while others are Armenians and Arab Christians. Saddam had close connections with Assyrians and many were highly ranked. Tariq Aziz, an Iraqi Assyrian and Chaldean Christian, was appointed by Saddam as the Deputy Prime Minister and a member of the Revolutionary Command Council. He was the sole Christian to hold such a high post in the government. He also offered an Assyrian overseeing his entire personal security at the palace, while another was offered a mayoral position. The Armenian community in Iraq flourished as a result of Saddam's modernization efforts. When Kurds fled Zakho to avoid military service, Armenians fought for Saddam. They also fought in the Gulf War for Iraq. Saddam's security personnel, homemakers and secretaries were Armenians.

During the time of Saddam, many Afro-Iraqis lived in the south of Iraq, principally in Basra. During his time the rights of the Afro-Iraqi people had greatly increased, with Saddam allowing Afro-Iraqis into government jobs. This was the only time in Iraq's history Afro-Iraqis had any form of representation, with many Afro-Iraqis reporting they feel greatly unrepresented in the post-2003 Iraq. Saddam also granted equal rights to Palestinians in Iraq, by providing them civil jobs.

During the Iran–Iraq War, Saddam sought to gain from Shi'ite Muslims.^[4] Shi'ite Muslims constitute 40% of the National Assembly and 80% of the Iraqi Armed Forces.^[4] They chosen Iraq over Iran and fought for Saddam. Saadun Hammadi, a Shi'ite Muslim from Karbala, was appointed as prime minister in 1991 and later he became Speaker for the National Assembly in 1996 and remained in position till 2003. He was also foreign minister since Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr's presidency. Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf was Saddam's foreign minister from 1991 to 2001 and then as Minister of Information from 2001 to 2003, when the ministry was abolished. Taha Yassin Ramadan, the Kurdish vice-president of Iraq, was from Shabak community— a quasi Shi'ite sect.

Until 2003, Iraq retained a substantial Jewish community. At that time around 15,000 Jews remained in Iraq. The Jews were protected and treated well by Saddam. He also gave opportunities to the remaining Jews of Iraq. The Jews held posts as civil servants such as lawyers, worked in government hospitals and public universities and served in the army as doctors and engineers, as well as solider. Salim Asheer, a Jewish chemist from Basra was sent by Saddam on a trade mission to China in 1988 and was an important diplomat and attaché. Saddam also helped in preservation and protection of Jewish sites, including the Meir Taweig Synagogue and Baghdad Jewish Cemetery.

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.^[5] Kurds in Iraq were also able to elect a Kurdish representative to Baghdad with the KDP being legitimized as a legal, progressive party in Iraq.^[5][6] During the Kurdish Civil War, Saddam supported KDP.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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.^[10] 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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12] Saddam himself personally enjoyed Kurdish culture, often wearing traditional Kurdish clothing in state visits to northern Iraq.^[13]

In the 1990s, Saddam started talking more about religions. It is deeply rooted since the death of Michel Aflaq. Saddam claimed that Aflaq converted to Islam on his deathbed.

Saddam University for Islamic Studies was opened in 1995.^[14]

Saddam promoted his own doctrine, which is the Arab Charter.

Saddam was widely known for his pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli stance. He even threatened to burn Israel. However, his official position was that the relations of Iraq with Israel will determined by the solutions accepted by the Palestinians. During the Iran–Iraq War, Saddam reduced his hostile stance against Israel, since it was supporting Iran during the war. He said in to a visiting U.S congressman that a future state is needed for both Israelis and Palestinians. Iraq's relationship with Egypt deteriorated when it signed a peace treaty with Israel. Baghdad hosted an Arab League summit in 1978, that condemned Egypt.

In 1981, Israel destroyed the nuclear reactor of Iraq under the orders of Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. Saddam plotted to kidnap Begin and bring him to Baghdad. However, the plan was dropped.

In May 2000, Saddam held secret meetings with the Israeli government, regarding the issues of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Iraq.

The Second Intifada began in September 2000. Following to October riots, a summit was held in Cairo and Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was sent as representative by Saddam. In 2002, Arab League summit was held in Beirut and again al-Douri was representative from Iraq. Arab Peace Initiative was proposed. Al-Douri did not opposed the plan. In the summit also rejected any attack on Iraq. Saddam supported the Palestinian uprisings against the Israeli occupation. He also sent a remarkable amount of oil revenues to support Palestinian uprising and victims affected by Israeli aggression.

He formed a volunteer force in support of Palestinians, known as the Jerusalem Army. On every occasion, it used to organize rallies across Baghdad and other cities. Saddam provided financial aid to the victims and families of Palestinian militants during the Second Intifada. Around 20% of Iraq's oil revenue, by the oil-for-food program was for donating Palestinians. Contrary to the claims of the United States and the Israelis, not all the money was sent to support suicide bombing. Saddam donated €1 billion to Palestinians, supporting them in the uprisings. He also stopped supplying oil to the western countries, to force Israel, abandoning its offensive in the Palestinian territories, a move supported by Iran and Libya.

After the Gulf War, hostilities increased between Saddam and the United States. It is alleged that the Iraqi Intelligence attempted to assassinate George H.W Bush, during his visit to Kuwait in 1994.