Hussein, Saddam

(1937-2006)

   Long the strong man in Baghdad, Saddam Hussein officially became president of Iraq on 16 July 1979, when he succeeded Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr. He reached this position by employing ruthless, Stalin-like tactics against his associates in the Baath Party and Iraq. Later, of course, he demonstrated these characteristics against the Kurds and others when he attacked Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990.

   At first, however, Saddam Hussein seemed more reasonable toward the Kurds by negotiating the March (1970) Manifesto with Mulla Mustafa Barzani. Saddam Hussein's main purpose, however, was to secure his own power base. He was also alarmed by the Iraqi Kurds' international connections, which seemed to threaten Iraq's territorial integrity. In 1975, Saddam Hussein negotiated the Algiers Agreement with Iran that allowed Iraq to launch a successful assault against the Kurds. During the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons and the genocidal Anfal campaign in attempts to punish and defeat the Kurds for their support of Iran.

   Because of his egregious human rights abuses perpetuated against the Kurds, many Kurds (especially those living in Iraq) considered Saddam Hussein to be their most deadly enemy. Therefore, most Iraqi Kurds gave strong support to the United States when it removed Saddam Hussein from power on 9 April 2003 in the second Gulf War. Saddam Hussein was eventually captured on 13 December 2003, tried, and convicted of crimes against humanity over the killing of 148 people in the mainly Shiite town of Dujail following an assassination attempt against him in 1982. He was hanged on 30 December 2006.