Saddam Hussein and his life history

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein was president and allegedly dictator of Iraq for more than two decades.

Family of Saddam Hussein:

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti , in short Saddam Hussein, was born on April 28, 1937, in Tikrit, Iraq. His father was a shepherd who disappeared during his childhood and never came back. Saddam Hussein was the fifth President of Iraq who served from 1979 to 2003, he was widely condemned for the brutality of his dictatorship.

Rise to power: At age 20, Saddam joined the Ba'ath Party, whose ultimate ideological aim was the unity of Arab states in the Middle East. In 1963, when Qasim's government was overthrown in the so-called Ramadan Revolution, Saddam started politics. The coup resulted in the government of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and Saddam, his deputy. On July 16, 1979, Saddam became president of Iraq. 

Saddam Hussein Attack on Kuwait:

Saddam invaded Kuwait, Iraq's tiny, oil-rich neighbor, on August 2, 1990, resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. Kuwait's defense forces were rapidly overwhelmed, and thus retreated to Saudi Arabia. The emir of Kuwait, his family, and other government leaders fled to Saudi Arabia, and within hours Kuwait City had been captured and provincial government was established. 

The United Nations Security Council demanded Iraq’s immediate withdrawal from Kuwait. Hussein refused to withdraw his forces from Kuwait. On January 16, 1991, Operation Desert Storm was launched against Iraq from Saudi Arabia and off U.S. and British aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.

Operation Desert Storm was conducted by an international coalition under the supreme command of U.S. with 32 nations including Britain, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. After less than four days, Kuwait was liberated, and the majority of Iraq's armed forces had either surrendered, retreated to Iraq, or been destroyed. On February 28, U.S. President George W. Bush declared a cease-fire through the U.N. Security Council Resolution 687.

Saddam's Fall: The Bush administration had suspected that the Hussein government had a relationship with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization, and claimed that the country was developing weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism.

On March 20, 2003, under the pretense that Iraq did, in fact, have a covert weapons program, a U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq. Within weeks, the government, and military had been toppled, and on April 9, 2003, Baghdad fell. Saddam, however, managed to elude capture. In the following months, an intensive search for Saddam began. Finally, on December 13, 2003, Saddam was found hiding in a small underground bunker near a farmhouse near Tikrit. 

Saddam Hussein was hiding in a small underground bunker near a farmhouse near Tikrit. 

On November 5, 2006, Saddam was found guilty and sentenced to death, after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraq Special Tribunal.

Saddam Hussein being convicted

The hanging of Saddam Hussain: On December 30, 2006, at Camp Justice, an Iraqi base in Baghdad, Saddam was hanged, despite his request to be shot. He was buried in Al-Awja, his birthplace, on December 31, 2006. During his death, his age was 69 years (1937–2006).

Saddam was hanged on December 30, 2006

Grave of Saddam Hussein

Last words of Saddam Hussain: His last words were equally defiant. “Down with the traitors, the Americans, the spies, and the Persians.” -The New York Times, DEC 31, 2006.

Family of Saddam Hussein: Saddam had two wives, Nidal Al-Hamdani and Samira Shahbandar, and five children- two sons, Uday Hussein, Quay Hussein, and three daughters, Raghad Hussein, Rana Hussein, Hala Hussein.

Family of Saddam Hussein

Former CIA agent John Nixon who interrogated Saddam, after 10 years of his assassination, made the statement “US was wrong about him.

Tony Blair, who supported Bush also, repented for backing up US against Saddam and asked for sorry in one of the press conferences.

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