Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al - Majid al - Tikriti ( Arabic : " " ; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006 ) was the fifth President of Iraq , serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003 . A leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba ' ath Party , and later , the Baghdad - based Ba ' ath Party and its regional organisation Ba ' ath Party – Iraq Region — which espoused ba ' athism , a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism — Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup ( later referred to as the 17 July Revolution ) that brought the party to power in Iraq . As vice president under the ailing General Ahmed Hassan al - Bakr , and at a time when many groups were considered capable of overthrowing the government , Saddam created security forces through which he tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces . In the early 1970s , Saddam nationalized oil and other industries . The state - owned banks were put under his control , leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran – Iraq War , the Gulf War , and UN sanctions . Through the 1970s , Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraq ' s economy to grow at a rapid pace . Positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunnis , a minority that made up only a fifth of the population . Saddam formally rose to power in 1979 , although he had been the " de facto " head of Iraq for several years prior . He suppressed several movements , particularly Shi ' a and Kurdish movements seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence , and maintained power during the Iran – Iraq War and the Gulf War . Whereas some venerated Saddam for his opposition to Israel — which included the use of military force — he was widely condemned in the west for the brutality of his dictatorship . In 2003 , a coalition led by the U . S . and U . K . invaded Iraq to depose Saddam , in which U . S . President George W . Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused him of possessing weapons of mass destruction and having ties to al - Qaeda . Saddam ' s Ba ' ath party was disbanded and elections were held . Following his capture on 13 December 2003 , the trial of Saddam took place under the Iraqi interim government . On 5 November 2006 , Saddam was convicted of charges related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shi ' ites and was sentenced to death by hanging . His execution was carried out on 30 December 2006 . Youth . Saddam Hussein Abd al - Majid al - Tikriti was born in the town of Al - Awja , 13 km ( 8 mi ) from the Iraqi town of Tikrit , to a family of shepherds from the al - Begat tribal group , a sub - group of the Al - Bu Nasir ( البو ناصر ) tribe . His mother , Subha Tulfah al - Mussallat , named her newborn son " Saddam " , which in Arabic means " One who confronts " . He is always referred to by this personal name , which may be followed by the patronymic and other elements . He never knew his father , Hussein ' Abid al - Majid , who disappeared six months before Saddam was born . Shortly afterward , Saddam ' s 13 - year - old brother died of cancer . The infant Saddam was sent to the family of his maternal uncle Khairallah Talfah until he was three . His mother remarried , and Saddam gained three half - brothers through this marriage . His stepfather , Ibrahim al - Hassan , treated Saddam harshly after his return . At about age 10 , Saddam fled the family and returned to live in Baghdad with his uncle Kharaillah Tulfah . Tulfah , the father of Saddam ' s future wife , was a devout Sunni Muslim and a veteran from the 1941 Anglo - Iraqi War between Iraqi nationalists and the United Kingdom , which remained a major colonial power in the region . Later in his life relatives from his native Tikrit became some of his closest advisors and supporters . Under the guidance of his uncle he attended a nationalistic high school in Baghdad . After secondary school Saddam studied at an Iraqi law school for three years , dropping out in 1957 at the age of 20 to join the revolutionary pan - Arab Ba ' ath Party , of which his uncle was a supporter . During this time , Saddam apparently supported himself as a secondary school teacher . Revolutionary sentiment was characteristic of the era in Iraq and throughout the Middle East . In Iraq progressives and socialists assailed traditional political elites ( colonial era bureaucrats and landowners , wealthy merchants and tribal chiefs , monarchists ) . Moreover , the pan - Arab nationalism of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt profoundly influenced young Ba ' athists like Saddam . The rise of Nasser foreshadowed a wave of revolutions throughout the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s , with the collapse of the monarchies of Iraq , Egypt , and Libya . Nasser inspired nationalists throughout the Middle East by fighting the British and the French during the Suez Crisis of 1956 , modernizing Egypt , and uniting the Arab world politically . In 1958 , a year after Saddam had joined the Ba ' ath party , army officers led by General Abd al - Karim Qasim overthrew Faisal II of Iraq in the 14 July Revolution . Rise to power . Of the 16 members of Qasim ' s cabinet , 12 were Ba ' ath Party members ; however , the party turned against Qasim due to his refusal to join Gamal Abdel Nasser ' s United Arab Republic . To strengthen his own position within the government , Qasim created an alliance with the Iraqi Communist Party , which was opposed to any notion of pan - Arabism . Later that year , the Ba ' ath Party leadership was planning to assassinate Qasim . Saddam was a leading member of the operation . At the time , the Ba ' ath Party was more of an ideological experiment than a strong anti - government fighting machine . The majority of its members were either educated professionals or students , and Saddam fit the bill . The choice of Saddam was , according to historian Con Coughlin , " hardly surprising " . The idea of assassinating Qasim may have been Nasser ' s , and there is speculation that some of those who participated in the operation received training in Damascus , which was then part of the UAR . The assassins planned to ambush Qasim at Al - Rashid Street on 7 October 1959 : one man was to kill those sitting at the back of the car , the rest killing those in front . During the ambush it is claimed that Saddam began shooting prematurely , which disorganised the whole operation . Qasim ' s chauffeur was killed , and Qasim was hit in the arm and shoulder . The assassins believed they had killed him and quickly retreated to their headquarters , but Qasim survived . At the time of the attack the Ba ' ath Party had less than 1 , 000 members . Some of the plotters quickly managed to leave the country for Syria , the spiritual home of Ba ' athist ideology . There Saddam was given full - membership in the party by Michel Aflaq . Some members of the operation were arrested and taken into custody by the Iraqi government . At the show trial , six of the defendants were given the death sentence ; for unknown reasons the sentences were not carried out . Aflaq , the leader of the Ba ' athist movement , organised the expulsion of leading Iraqi Ba ' athist members , such as Fuad al - Rikabi , on the grounds that the party should not have initiated the attempt on Qasim ' s life . At the same time , Aflaq managed to secure seats in the Iraqi Ba ' ath leadership for his supporters , one them being Saddam . Saddam fled to Egypt in 1959 , and he continued to live there until 1963 . Many foreign countries opposed Qasim , particularly after he threatened to invade Kuwait . In February 1960 , the CIA created an unrelated plan to oust Qasim by giving him a poisoned handkerchief , although it may have been aborted . Army officers with ties to the Ba ' ath Party overthrew Qasim in the Ramadan Revolution coup of 1963 . Ba ' athist leaders were appointed to the cabinet and Abdul Salam Arif became president . The governments of the United States and United Kingdom were complicit in the coup . Arif dismissed and arrested the Ba ' athist leaders later that year in the November 1963 Iraqi coup d ' état . Arif died in a plane crash in 1966 , in what may have been an act of sabotage by Ba ' athist elements in the Iraqi military . Abd ar - Rahman al - Bazzaz became acting president for three days , and a power struggle for the presidency occurred . In the first meeting of the Defense Council and cabinet to elect a president , Al - Bazzaz needed a two - thirds majority to win the presidency . Al - Bazzaz was unsuccessful , and Abdul Rahman Arif was elected president . He was viewed by army officers as weaker and easier to manipulate than his brother . Saddam returned to Iraq , but was imprisoned in 1964 . In 1966 , Ahmed Hassan al - Bakr appointed him Deputy Secretary of the Regional Command . Saddam escaped from prison in 1967 . Saddam , who would prove to be a skilled organiser , revitalised the party . He was elected to the Regional Command , as the story goes , with help from Michel Aflaq — the founder of Ba ' athist thought . In 1968 , Saddam participated in a bloodless coup led by Ahmed Hassan al - Bakr that overthrew Abdul Rahman Arif . Saddam and Salah Omar al - Ali contacted Ba ' athists in the military and helped lead them on the ground . Arif was given refuge in London and then Istanbul . Al - Bakr was named president and Saddam was named his deputy , and deputy chairman of the Ba ' athist Revolutionary Command Council . According to biographers , Saddam never forgot the tensions within the first Ba ' athist government , which formed the basis for his measures to promote Ba ' ath party unity as well as his resolve to maintain power and programs to ensure social stability . Although Saddam was al - Bakr ' s deputy , he was a strong behind - the - scenes party politician . Al - Bakr was the older and more prestigious of the two , but by 1969 Hussein clearly had become the moving force behind the party . Political program . In the late 1960s and early 1970s , as vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council , formally the al - Bakr ' s second - in - command , Saddam built a reputation as a progressive , effective politician . At this time , Saddam moved up the ranks in the new government by aiding attempts to strengthen and unify the Ba ' ath party and taking a leading role in addressing the country ' s major domestic problems and expanding the party ' s following . After the Ba ' athists took power in 1968 , Saddam focused on attaining stability in a nation riddled with profound tensions . Long before Saddam , Iraq had been split along social , ethnic , religious , and economic fault lines : Sunni versus Shi ' ite , Arab versus Kurd , tribal chief versus urban merchant , nomad versus peasant . The desire for stable rule in a country rife with factionalism led Saddam to pursue both massive repression and the improvement of living standards . Saddam actively fostered the modernization of the Iraqi economy along with the creation of a strong security apparatus to prevent coups within the power structure and insurrections apart from it . Ever concerned with broadening his base of support among the diverse elements of Iraqi society and mobilizing mass support , he closely followed the administration of state welfare and development programs . At the center of this strategy was Iraq ' s oil . On 1 June 1972 , Saddam oversaw the seizure of international oil interests , which , at the time , dominated the country ' s oil sector . A year later , world oil prices rose dramatically as a result of the 1973 energy crisis , and skyrocketing revenues enabled Saddam to expand his agenda . Within just a few years , Iraq was providing social services that were unprecedented among Middle Eastern countries . Saddam established and controlled the " National Campaign for the Eradication of Illiteracy " and the campaign for " Compulsory Free Education in Iraq , " and largely under his auspices , the government established universal free schooling up to the highest education levels ; hundreds of thousands learned to read in the years following the initiation of the program . The government also supported families of soldiers , granted free hospitalization to everyone , and gave subsidies to farmers . Iraq created one of the most modernized public - health systems in the Middle East , earning Saddam an award from the United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) . With the help of increasing oil revenues , Saddam diversified the largely oil - based Iraqi economy . Saddam implemented a national infrastructure campaign that made great progress in building roads , promoting mining , and developing other industries . The campaign helped Iraq ' s energy industries . Electricity was brought to nearly every city in Iraq , and many outlying areas . Before the 1970s , most of Iraq ' s people lived in the countryside and roughly two - thirds were peasants . This number would decrease quickly during the 1970s as global oil prices helped revenues to rise from less than a half billion dollars to tens of billions of dollars and the country invested into industrial expansion . The oil revenue benefitted Saddam politically . According to " The Economist " , " Much as Adolf Hitler won early praise for galvanising German industry , ending mass unemployment and building autobahns , Saddam earned admiration abroad for his deeds . He had a good instinct for what the " Arab street " demanded , following the decline in Egyptian leadership brought about by the trauma of Israel ' s six - day victory in the 1967 war , the death of the pan - Arabist hero , Gamal Abdul Nasser , in 1970 , and the " traitorous " drive by his successor , Anwar Sadat , to sue for peace with the Jewish state . Saddam ' s self - aggrandising propaganda , with himself posing as the defender of Arabism against Jewish or Persian intruders , was heavy - handed , but consistent as a drumbeat . It helped , of course , that his mukhabarat ( secret police ) put dozens of Arab news editors , writers and artists on the payroll . " In 1972 , Saddam signed a 15 - year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union . According to historian Charles R . H . Tripp , the Ba ' athist coup of 1968 upset " the US - sponsored security system established as part of the Cold War in the Middle East . It appeared that any enemy of the Baghdad regime was a potential ally of the United States . " From 1973 - 5 , the CIA colluded with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran to finance and arm Kurdish rebels in the Second Kurdish – Iraqi War in an attempt to weaken al - Bakr . When Iran and Iraq signed the Algiers Agreement in 1975 , the support ceased . Saddam focused on fostering loyalty to the Ba ' athists in the rural areas . After nationalizing foreign oil interests , Saddam supervised the modernization of the countryside , mechanizing agriculture on a large scale , and distributing land to peasant farmers . The Ba ' athists established farm cooperatives and the government also doubled expenditures for agricultural development in 1974 – 1975 . Saddam ' s welfare programs were part of a combination of " carrot and stick " tactics to enhance support for Saddam . The state - owned banks were put under his thumb . Lending was based on cronyism . Development went forward at such a fevered pitch that two million people from other Arab countries and even Yugoslavia worked in Iraq to meet the growing demand for labor . Succession . In 1976 , Saddam rose to the position of general in the Iraqi armed forces , and rapidly became the strongman of the government . As the ailing , elderly al - Bakr became unable to execute his duties , Saddam took on an increasingly prominent role as the face of the government both internally and externally . He soon became the architect of Iraq ' s foreign policy and represented the nation in all diplomatic situations . He was the " de facto " leader of Iraq some years before he formally came to power in 1979 . He slowly began to consolidate his power over Iraq ' s government and the Ba ' ath party . Relationships with fellow party members were carefully cultivated , and Saddam soon accumulated a powerful circle of support within the party . In 1979 al - Bakr started to make treaties with Syria , also under Ba ' athist leadership , that would lead to unification between the two countries . Syrian President Hafez al - Assad would become deputy leader in a union , and this would drive Saddam to obscurity . Saddam acted to secure his grip on power . He forced the ailing al - Bakr to resign on 16 July 1979 , and formally assumed the presidency . Shortly afterwards , he convened an assembly of Ba ' ath party leaders on 22 July 1979 . During the assembly , which he ordered videotaped , Saddam claimed to have found a fifth column within the Ba ' ath Party and directed Muhyi Abdel - Hussein to read out a confession and the names of 68 alleged co - conspirators . These members were labelled " disloyal " and were removed from the room one by one and taken into custody . After the list was read , Saddam congratulated those still seated in the room for their past and future loyalty . The 68 people arrested at the meeting were subsequently tried together and found guilty of treason . 22 were sentenced to execution . Other high - ranking members of the party formed the firing squad . By 1 August 1979 , hundreds of high - ranking Ba ' ath party members had been executed . Al - Anfal Campaign . The Al - Anfal Campaign was a campaign against the Kurdish people ( and many others ) in Kurdish regions of Iraq led by the government of Saddam Hussein and headed by Ali Hassan al - Majid . The campaign takes its name from Sura t al - Anfal in the Qur ' an , which was used as a code name by the former Iraqi Ba ' ath ist administration for a series of attacks against the " peshmerga " rebels and the mostly Kurdish civilian population of rural Northern Iraq , conducted between 1986 and 1989 culminating in 1988 . This campaign also targeted Shabaks and Yazidi s , Assyrians , Turkoman people and Mandeans and many villages belonging to these ethnic groups were also destroyed . Human Rights Watch estimates that between 50 , 000 and 100 , 000 people were killed . Some Kurdish sources put the number higher , estimating 182 , 000 Kurds were killed . Paramilitary and police organizations . Iraqi society is divided along lines of language , religion and ethnicity ; Saddam ' s government rested on the support of the 20 % minority of Sunnis . The Ba ' ath Party was increasingly concerned about potential Shi ' a Islamist influence following the Iranian Revolution of 1979 . The Kurds of northern Iraq ( who are Sunni , but not Arabs ) were also permanently hostile to the Ba ' athist party ' s pan - Arabism . To maintain power Saddam tended either to provide them with benefits so as to co - opt them into the regime , or to take repressive measures against them . The major instruments for accomplishing this control were the paramilitary and police organizations . Beginning in 1974 , Taha Yassin Ramadan ( himself a Kurdish Ba ' athist ) , a close associate of Saddam , commanded the People ' s Army , which was responsible for internal security . As the Ba ' ath Party ' s paramilitary , the People ' s Army acted as a counterweight against any coup attempts by the regular armed forces . In addition to the People ' s Army , the Department of General Intelligence ( Mukhabarat ) was the most notorious arm of the state security system , feared for its use of torture and assassination . It was commanded by Barzan Ibrahim al - Tikriti , Saddam ' s younger half - brother . Since 1982 , foreign observers believed that this department operated both at home and abroad in their mission to seek out and eliminate Saddam ' s perceived opponents . Saddam was notable for terror against his own people . " The Economist " described Saddam as " one of the last of the 20th century ' s great dictators , but not the least in terms of egotism , or cruelty , or morbid will to power " . Saddam ' s regime was responsible for the deaths of at least 250 , 000 Iraqis and committed war crime s in Iran , Kuwait , and Saudi Arabia . Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued regular reports of widespread imprisonment and torture . Political and cultural image . As a sign of his consolidation of power , Saddam ' s personality cult pervaded Iraqi society . He had thousands of portraits , posters , statues and murals erected in his honor all over Iraq . His face could be seen on the sides of office buildings , schools , airports , and shops , as well as on Iraqi currency . Saddam ' s personality cult reflected his efforts to appeal to the various elements in Iraqi society . This was seen in his variety of apparel : he appeared in the costumes of the Bedouin , the traditional clothes of the Iraqi peasant ( which he essentially wore during his childhood ) , and even Kurdish clothing , but also appeared in Western suits fitted by his favorite tailor , projecting the image of an urbane and modern leader . Sometimes he would also be portrayed as a devout Muslim , wearing full headdress and robe , praying toward Mecca . He also conducted two show election s , in 1995 and 2002 . In the 1995 referendum , conducted on 15 October , he reportedly received 99 . 96 % of the votes in a 99 . 47 % turnout , getting only 3052 negative votes among an electorate of 8 . 4 million . In the October 15 , 2002 referendum he officially achieved 100 % of approval votes and 100 % turnout , as the electoral commission reported the next day that every one of the 11 , 445 , 638 eligible voters cast a " Yes " vote for the president . He erected statues around the country , which Iraqis toppled after his fall . Foreign affairs . Iraq ' s relations with the Arab world have been extremely varied . Relations between Iraq and Egypt violently ruptured in 1977 , when the two nations broke relations with each other following Iraq ' s criticism of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat ' s peace initiatives with Israel . In 1978 , Baghdad hosted an Arab League summit that condemned and ostracized Egypt for accepting the Camp David Accords . However , Egypt ' s strong material and diplomatic support for Iraq in the war with Iran led to warmer relations and numerous contacts between senior officials , despite the continued absence of ambassadorial - level representation . Since 1983 , Iraq has repeatedly called for restoration of Egypt ' s " natural role " among Arab countries . Saddam developed a reputation for liking expensive goods , such as his diamond - coated Rolex wristwatch , and sent copies of them to his friends around the world . To his ally Kenneth Kaunda Saddam once sent a Boeing 747 full of presents — rugs , televisions , ornaments . Kaunda sent back his own personal magician . Saddam enjoyed a close relationship with Russian intelligence agent Yevgeny Primakov that dated back to the 1960s ; Primakov may have helped Saddam to stay in power in 1991 . Saddam ' s only visit to a Western country took place in September 1975 when he met with his friend , Prime Minister Jacques Chirac in Paris , France . Several Iraqi leaders , Lebanese arms merchant Sarkis Soghanalian and others have told that Saddam financed Chirac ' s party . In 1991 Saddam threatened to expose those who had taken largesse from him : " From Mr . Chirac to Mr . Chevènement , politicians and economic leaders were in open competition to spend time with us and flatter us . We have now grasped the reality of the situation . If the trickery continues , we will be forced to unmask them , all of them , before the French public . " France armed Saddam and it was Iraq ' s largest trade partner throughout Saddam ' s rule . Seized documents show how French officials and businessmen close to Chirac , including Charles Pasqua , his former interior minister , personally benefitted from the deals with Saddam . Because Saddam Hussein rarely left Iraq , Tariq Aziz , one of Saddam ' s aides , traveled abroad extensively and represented Iraq at many diplomatic meetings . In foreign affairs , Saddam sought to have Iraq play a leading role in the Middle East . Iraq signed an aid pact with the Soviet Union in 1972 , and arms were sent along with several thousand advisers . However , the 1978 crackdown on Iraqi Communists and a shift of trade toward the West strained Iraqi relations with the Soviet Union ; Iraq then took on a more Western orientation until the Gulf War in 1991 . After the oil crisis of 1973 , France had changed to a more pro - Arab policy and was accordingly rewarded by Saddam with closer ties . He made a state visit to France in 1975 , cementing close ties with some French business and ruling political circles . In 1975 Saddam negotiated an accord with Iran that contained Iraqi concessions on border disputes . In return , Iran agreed to stop supporting opposition Kurds in Iraq . Saddam led Arab opposition to the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel ( 1979 ) . Saddam initiated Iraq ' s nuclear enrichment project in the 1980s , with French assistance . The first Iraqi nuclear reactor was named by the French " Osirak " . Osirak was destroyed on 7 June 1981 by an Israeli air strike ( Operation Opera ) . Nearly from its founding as a modern state in 1920 , Iraq has had to deal with Kurdish separatists in the northern part of the country . Saddam did negotiate an agreement in 1970 with separatist Kurdish leaders , giving them autonomy , but the agreement broke down . The result was brutal fighting between the government and Kurdish groups and even Iraqi bombing of Kurdish villages in Iran , which caused Iraqi relations with Iran to deteriorate . However , after Saddam had negotiated the 1975 treaty with Iran , the Shah withdrew support for the Kurds , who suffered a total defeat . Iran – Iraq War . In early 1979 , Iran ' s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution , thus giving way to an Islamic republic led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini . The influence of revolutionary Shi ' ite Islam grew apace in the region , particularly in countries with large Shi ' ite populations , especially Iraq . Saddam feared that radical Islamic ideas — hostile to his secular rule — were rapidly spreading inside his country among the majority Shi ' ite population . There had also been bitter enmity between Saddam and Khomeini since the 1970s . Khomeini , having been exiled from Iran in 1964 , took up residence in Iraq , at the Shi ' ite holy city of An Najaf . There he involved himself with Iraqi Shi ' ites and developed a strong , worldwide religious and political following against the Iranian Government , whom Saddam tolerated . However , when Khomeini began to urge the Shi ' ites there to overthrow Saddam and under pressure from the Shah , who had agreed to a rapprochement between Iraq and Iran in 1975 , Saddam agreed to expel Khomeini in 1978 to France . However this turned out to be an imminent failure and a political catalyst , for Khomeini had access to more media connections and also collaborated with a much larger Iranian community under his support whom he used to his advantage . After Khomeini gained power , skirmishes between Iraq and revolutionary Iran occurred for ten months over the sovereignty of the disputed Shatt al - Arab waterway , which divides the two countries . During this period , Saddam Hussein publicly maintained that it was in Iraq ' s interest not to engage with Iran , and that it was in the interests of both nations to maintain peaceful relations . However , in a private meeting with Salah Omar al - Ali , Iraq ' s permanent ambassador to the United Nations , he revealed that he intended to invade and occupy a large part of Iran within months . Later ( probably to appeal for support from the United States and most Western nations ) , he would make toppling the Islamic government one of his intentions as well . Iraq invaded Iran , first attacking Mehrabad Airport of Tehran and then entering the oil - rich Iranian land of Khuzestan , which also has a sizable Arab minority , on 22 September 1980 and declared it a new province of Iraq . With the support of the Arab states , the United States , and Europe , and heavily financed by the Arab states of the Persian Gulf , Saddam Hussein had become " the defender of the Arab world " against a revolutionary Iran . The only exception was the Soviet Union , who initially refused to supply Iraq on the basis of neutrality in the conflict , although in his memoirs , Mikhail Gorbachev claimed that Leonid Brezhnev refused to aid Saddam over infuriation of Saddam ' s treatment of Iraqi communists . Consequently , many viewed Iraq as " an agent of the civilized world " . The blatant disregard of international law and violations of international borders were ignored . Instead Iraq received economic and military support from its allies , who conveniently overlooked Saddam ' s use of chemical warfare against the Kurds and the Iranians and Iraq ' s efforts to develop nuclear weapons . In the first days of the war , there was heavy ground fighting around strategic ports as Iraq launched an attack on Khuzestan . After making some initial gains , Iraq ' s troops began to suffer losses from human wave attack s by Iran . By 1982 , Iraq was on the defensive and looking for ways to end the war . At this point , Saddam asked his ministers for candid advice . Health Minister Dr . Riyadh Ibrahim suggested that Saddam temporarily step down to promote peace negotiations . Initially , Saddam Hussein appeared to take in this opinion as part of his cabinet democracy . A few weeks later , Dr . Ibrahim was sacked when held responsible for a fatal incident in an Iraqi hospital where a patient died from intravenous administration of the wrong concentration of potassium supplement . Dr . Ibrahim was arrested a few days after he started his new life as a sacked Minister . He was known to have publicly declared before that arrest that he was " glad that he got away alive . " Pieces of Ibrahim ' s dismembered body were delivered to his wife the next day . Iraq quickly found itself bogged down in one of the longest and most destructive wars of attrition of the 20th century . During the war , Iraq used chemical weapon s against Iranian forces fighting on the southern front and Kurdish separatists who were attempting to open up a northern front in Iraq with the help of Iran . These chemical weapons were developed by Iraq from materials and technology supplied primarily by West German companies as well as the Reagan administration of the United States which also supplied Iraq with " satellite photos showing Iranian deployments " and advised Hussein to bomb civilian targets in Tehran and other Iranian cities . In a US bid to open full diplomatic relations with Iraq , the country was removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism . Ostensibly , this was because of improvement in the regime ’ s record , although former United States Assistant Secretary of Defense Noel Koch later stated , " No one had any doubts about [ the Iraqis ' ] continued involvement in terrorism . . . The real reason was to help them succeed in the war against Iran . " France sold 25 billion dollars worth arms to Saddam . Saddam reached out to other Arab governments for cash and political support during the war , particularly after Iraq ' s oil industry severely suffered at the hands of the Iranian navy in the Persian Gulf . Iraq successfully gained some military and financial aid , as well as diplomatic and moral support , from the Soviet Union , China , France , and the United States , which together feared the prospects of the expansion of revolutionary Iran ' s influence in the region . The Iranians , demanding that the international community should force Iraq to pay war reparations to Iran , refused any suggestions for a cease - fire . Despite several calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council , hostilities continued until 20 August 1988 . On 16 March 1988 , the Kurdish town of Halabja was attacked with a mix of mustard gas and nerve agent s , killing 5 , 000 civilians , and maiming , disfiguring , or seriously debilitating 10 , 000 more . ( " see Halabja poison gas attack " ) The attack occurred in conjunction with the 1988 al - Anfal Campaign designed to reassert central control of the mostly Kurdish population of areas of northern Iraq and defeat the Kurdish peshmerga rebel forces . The United States now maintains that Saddam ordered the attack to terrorize the Kurdish population in northern Iraq , but Saddam ' s regime claimed at the time that Iran was responsible for the attack which some including the U . S . supported until several years later . The bloody eight - year war ended in a stalemate . There were hundreds of thousands of casualties with estimates of up to one million dead . Neither side had achieved what they had originally desired and at the borders were left nearly unchanged . The southern , oil rich and prosperous Khuzestan and Basra area ( the main focus of the war , and the primary source of their economies ) were almost completely destroyed and were left at the pre 1979 border , while Iran managed to make some small gains on its borders in the Northern Kurdish area . Both economies , previously healthy and expanding , were left in ruins . Saddam borrowed tens of billions of dollars from other Arab states and a few billions from elsewhere during the 1980s to fight Iran , mainly to prevent the expansion of Shiite radicalism . However , this had proven to completely backfire both on Iraq and on the part of the Arab states , for Khomeini was widely perceived as a hero for managing to defend Iran and maintain the war with little foreign support against the heavily backed Iraq and only managed to boost Islamic radicalism not only within the Arab states , but within Iraq itself , creating new tensions between the Sunni Ba ' ath Party and the majority Shiite population . Faced with rebuilding Iraq ' s infrastructure and internal resistance , Saddam desperately sought out cash once again , this time for postwar reconstruction . Tensions with Kuwait . The end of the war with Iran served to deepen latent tensions between Iraq and its wealthy neighbor Kuwait . Saddam urged the Kuwaitis to forgive the Iraqi debt accumulated in the war , some $ 30 billion , but they refused . Saddam pushed oil - exporting countries to raise oil prices by cutting back production ; Kuwait refused , however . In addition to refusing the request , Kuwait spearheaded the opposition in OPEC to the cuts that Saddam had requested . Kuwait was pumping large amounts of oil , and thus keeping prices low , when Iraq needed to sell high - priced oil from its wells to pay off a huge debt . Saddam had always argued that Kuwait was historically an integral part of Iraq , and that Kuwait had only come into being through the maneuverings of British imperialism ; this echoed a belief that Iraqi nationalists had voiced for the past 50 years . This belief was one of the few articles of faith uniting the political scene in a nation rife with sharp social , ethnic , religious , and ideological divides . The extent of Kuwaiti oil reserves also intensified tensions in the region . The oil reserves of Kuwait ( with a population of 2 million next to Iraq ' s 25 ) were roughly equal to those of Iraq . Taken together , Iraq and Kuwait sat on top of some 20 percent of the world ' s known oil reserves ; as an article of comparison , Saudi Arabia holds 25 percent . Saddam complained to the U . S . State Department that Kuwait had slant drilled oil out of wells that Iraq considered to be within its disputed border with Kuwait . Saddam still had an experienced and well - equipped army , which he used to influence regional affairs . He later ordered troops to the Iraq – Kuwait border . As Iraq - Kuwait relations rapidly deteriorated , Saddam was receiving conflicting information about how the U . S . would respond to the prospects of an invasion . For one , Washington had been taking measures to cultivate a constructive relationship with Iraq for roughly a decade . The Reagan administration gave Iraq roughly $ 4 billion in agricultural credits to bolster it against Iran . Saddam ' s Iraq became " the third - largest recipient of U . S . assistance " . Reacting to Western criticism in April 1990 Saddam threatened to annihilate half of Israel with chemical weapons if it moved against Iraq . In May 1990 he criticized U . S . support for Israel warning that " the United States cannot maintain such a policy while professing friendship towards the Arabs . " In July 1990 he threatened force against Kuwait and the U . A . E . saying " The policies of some Arab rulers are American . . . They are inspired by America to undermine Arab interests and security . " The U . S . sent aerial planes and combat ships to the Persian Gulf in response to these threats . U . S . ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie met with Saddam in an emergency meeting on 25 July 1990 , where the Iraqi leader attacked American policy with regards to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates : Glaspie replied : Saddam stated that he would attempt last - ditch negotiations with the Kuwaitis but Iraq " would not accept death " . U . S . officials attempted to maintain a conciliatory line with Iraq , indicating that while George H . W . Bush and James Baker did not want force used , they would not take any position on the Iraq – Kuwait boundary dispute and did not want to become involved . Later , Iraq and Kuwait met for a final negotiation session , which failed . Saddam then sent his troops into Kuwait . As tensions between Washington and Saddam began to escalate , the Soviet Union , under Mikhail Gorbachev , strengthened its military relationship with the Iraqi leader , providing him military advisers , arms and aid . Gulf War . On 2 August 1990 , Saddam invaded Kuwait , initially claiming assistance to " Kuwaiti revolutionaries , " thus sparking an international crisis . On 4 August an Iraqi - backed " Provisional Government of Free Kuwait " was proclaimed , but a total lack of legitimacy and support for it led to an 8 August announcement of a " merger " of the two countries . On 28 August Kuwait formally became the 19th Governorate of Iraq . Just two years after the 1988 Iraq and Iran truce , " Saddam Hussein did what his Gulf patrons had earlier paid him to prevent . " Having removed the threat of Iranian fundamentalism he " overran Kuwait and confronted his Gulf neighbors in the name of Arab nationalism and Islam . " When later asked why he invaded Kuwait , Saddam first claimed that it was because Kuwait was rightfully Iraq ' s 19th province and then said " When I get something into my head I act . That ' s just the way I am . " After Saddam ' s seizure of Kuwait in August 1990 , a UN coalition led by the United States drove Iraq ' s troops from Kuwait in February 1991 . The ability for Saddam Hussein to pursue such military aggression was from a " military machine paid for in large part by the tens of billions of dollars Kuwait and the Gulf states had poured into Iraq and the weapons and technology provided by the Soviet Union , Germany , and France . " Shortly before he invaded Kuwait , he shipped 100 new Mercedes 200 Series cars to top editors in Egypt and Jordan . Two days before the first attacks , Saddam reportedly offered Egypt ' s Hosni Mubarak 50 million dollars in cash , " ostensibly for grain " . U . S . President George H . W . Bush responded cautiously for the first several days . On one hand , Kuwait , prior to this point , had been a virulent enemy of Israel and was the Persian Gulf monarchy that had had the most friendly relations with the Soviets . On the other hand , Washington foreign policymakers , along with Middle East experts , military critics , and firms heavily invested in the region , were extremely concerned with stability in this region . The invasion immediately triggered fears that the world ' s price of oil , and therefore control of the world economy , was at stake . Britain profited heavily from billions of dollars of Kuwaiti investments and bank deposits . Bush was perhaps swayed while meeting with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher , who happened to be in the U . S . at the time . Cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union made possible the passage of resolutions in the United Nations Security Council giving Iraq a deadline to leave Kuwait and approving the use of force if Saddam did not comply with the timetable . U . S . officials feared Iraqi retaliation against oil - rich Saudi Arabia , since the 1940s a close ally of Washington , for the Saudis ' opposition to the invasion of Kuwait . Accordingly , the U . S . and a group of allies , including countries as diverse as Egypt , Syria and Czechoslovakia , deployed a massive amount of troops along the Saudi border with Kuwait and Iraq in order to encircle the Iraqi army , the largest in the Middle East . Saddam ' s officers looted Kuwait , stripping even the marble from its palaces to move it to Saddam ' s own palace . During the period of negotiations and threats following the invasion , Saddam focused renewed attention on the Palestinian problem by promising to withdraw his forces from Kuwait if Israel would relinquish the occupied territories in the West Bank , the Golan Heights , and the Gaza Strip . Saddam ' s proposal further split the Arab world , pitting U . S . - and Western - supported Arab states against the Palestinians . The allies ultimately rejected any linkage between the Kuwait crisis and Palestinian issues . Saddam ignored the Security Council deadline . Backed by the Security Council , a U . S . - led coalition launched round - the - clock missile and aerial attacks on Iraq , beginning 16 January 1991 . Israel , though subjected to attack by Iraqi missiles , refrained from retaliating in order not to provoke Arab states into leaving the coalition . A ground force consisting largely of U . S . and British armoured and infantry divisions ejected Saddam ' s army from Kuwait in February 1991 and occupied the southern portion of Iraq as far as the Euphrates . On 6 March 1991 , Bush announced : In the end , the over - manned and under - equipped Iraqi army proved unable to compete on the battlefield with the highly mobile coalition land forces and their overpowering air support . Some 175 , 000 Iraqis were taken prisoner and casualties were estimated at over 85 , 000 . As part of the cease - fire agreement , Iraq agreed to scrap all poison gas and germ weapons and allow UN observers to inspect the sites . UN trade sanctions would remain in effect until Iraq complied with all terms . Saddam publicly claimed victory at the end of the war . Postwar period . Iraq ' s ethnic and religious divisions , together with the brutality of the conflict that this had engendered , laid the groundwork for postwar rebellions . In the aftermath of the fighting , social and ethnic unrest among Shi ' ite Muslims , Kurds , and dissident military units threatened the stability of Saddam ' s government . Uprisings erupted in the Kurdish north and Shi ' a southern and central parts of Iraq , but were ruthlessly repressed . The United States , which had urged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam , did nothing to assist the rebellions . The Iranians , despite the widespread Shi ' ite rebellions , had no interest in provoking another war , while Turkey opposed any prospect of Kurdish independence , and the Saudis and other conservative Arab states feared an Iran - style Shi ' ite revolution . Saddam , having survived the immediate crisis in the wake of defeat , was left firmly in control of Iraq , although the country never recovered either economically or militarily from the Gulf War . Saddam routinely cited his survival as " proof " that Iraq had in fact won the war against the U . S . This message earned Saddam a great deal of popularity in many sectors of the Arab world . John Esposito , however , claims that " Arabs and Muslims were pulled in two directions . That they rallied not so much to Saddam Hussein as to the bipolar nature of the confrontation ( the West versus the Arab Muslim world ) and the issues that Saddam proclaimed : Arab unity , self - sufficiency , and social justice . " As a result , Saddam Hussein appealed to many people for the same reasons that attracted more and more followers to Islamic revivalism and also for the same reasons that fueled anti - Western feelings . " As one U . S . Muslim observer noted : People forgot about Saddam ' s record and concentrated on America . . . Saddam Hussein might be wrong , but it is not America who should correct him . " A shift was , therefore , clearly visible among many Islamic movements in the post war period " from an initial Islamic ideological rejection of Saddam Hussein , the secular persecutor of Islamic movements , and his invasion of Kuwait to a more populist Arab nationalist , anti - imperialist support for Saddam ( or more precisely those issues he represented or championed ) and the condemnation of foreign intervention and occupation . " Saddam , therefore , increasingly portrayed himself as a devout Muslim , in an effort to co - opt the conservative religious segments of society . Some elements of Sharia law were re - introduced , and the ritual phrase " Allahu Akbar " ( " God is great " ) , in Saddam ' s handwriting , was added to the national flag . Saddam also commissioned the production of a " Blood Qur ' an " , written using 27 litres of his own blood , to thank God for saving him from various dangers and conspiracies . Relations between the United States and Iraq remained tense following the Gulf War . The U . S . launched a missile attack aimed at Iraq ' s intelligence headquarters in Baghdad 26 June 1993 , citing evidence of repeated Iraqi violations of the " no fly zones " imposed after the Gulf War and for incursions into Kuwait . The United Nations sanctions placed upon Iraq when it invaded Kuwait were not lifted , blocking Iraqi oil exports . During the late 1990s , the U . N . considered relaxing the sanctions imposed because of the hardships suffered by ordinary Iraqis . Studies dispute the number of people who died in south and central Iraq during the years of the sanctions . On 9 December 1996 , Saddam ' s government finally accepted the Oil - for - Food Programme that the UN had first offered in 1992 . U . S . officials continued to accuse Saddam of violating the terms of the Gulf War ' s cease fire , by developing weapons of mass destruction and other banned weaponry , and violating the UN - imposed sanctions . Also during the 1990s , President Bill Clinton maintained sanctions and ordered air strikes in the " Iraqi no - fly zones " ( Operation Desert Fox ) , in the hope that Saddam would be overthrown by political enemies inside Iraq . Western charges of Iraqi resistance to UN access to suspected weapons were the pretext for crises between 1997 and 1998 , culminating in intensive U . S . and British missile strikes on Iraq , 16 – 19 December 1998 . After two years of intermittent activity , U . S . and British warplanes struck harder at sites near Baghdad in February 2001 . Saddam ' s support base of Tikriti tribesmen , family members , and other supporters was divided after the war , and in the following years , contributing to the government ' s increasingly repressive and arbitrary nature . Domestic repression inside Iraq grew worse , and Saddam ' s sons , Uday and Qusay Hussein , became increasingly powerful and carried out a private reign of terror . Iraqi co - operation with UN weapons inspection teams was intermittent throughout the 1990s . Saddam continued involvement in politics abroad . Video tapes retrieved after show his intelligence chiefs meeting with Arab journalists , including a meeting with the former managing director of Al - Jazeera , Mohammed Jassem al - Ali , in 2000 . In the video Saddam ' s son Uday advised al - Ali about hires in Al - Jazeera : " During your last visit here along with your colleagues we talked about a number of issues , and it does appear that you indeed were listening to what I was saying since changes took place and new faces came on board such as that lad , Mansour . " He was later sacked by Al - Jazeera . In 2002 , Austrian prosecutors investigated Saddam government ' s transactions with Fritz Edlinger that possibly violated Austrian money laundering and embargo regulations . Fritz Edlinger , president of the " General Secretary of the Society for Austro - Arab relations " ( GÖAB ) and a former member of Socialist International ' s Middle East Committee , was an outspoken supporter of Saddam Hussein . In 2005 , an Austrian journalist revealed that Fritz Edlinger ' s GÖAB had received $ 100 , 000 from an Iraqi front company as well as donations from Austrian companies soliciting business in Iraq . In 2002 , a resolution sponsored by the European Union was adopted by the Commission for Human Rights , which stated that there had been no improvement in the human rights crisis in Iraq . The statement condemned President Saddam Hussein ' s government for its " systematic , widespread and extremely grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law " . The resolution demanded that Iraq immediately put an end to its " summary and arbitrary executions . . . the use of rape as a political tool and all enforced and involuntary disappearances " . Oil vouchers . In the United Nations Oil - for - Food Programme , Saddam was supposed to trade oil for food . In practice , the program benefitted political parties , politicians , journalists , companies , and individuals around the world . The Russian state was the largest beneficiary . Invasion of Iraq in 2003 . The international community , especially the U . S . , continued to view Saddam as a bellicose tyrant who was a threat to the stability of the region . After the September 11 attacks , Vladimir Putin began to tell the United States that Iraq was preparing terrorist attacks against the United States . In his January 2002 state of the union address to Congress , President George W . Bush spoke of an " axis of evil " consisting of Iran , North Korea , and Iraq . Moreover , Bush announced that he would possibly take action to topple the Iraqi government , because of the threat of its weapons of mass destruction . Bush stated that " The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax , and nerve gas , and nuclear weapon s for over a decade . . . Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror . " After the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 , which demanded that Iraq give " immediate , unconditional and active cooperation " with UN and IAEA inspections , Hussein allowed U . N . weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix to return to Iraq . During the renewed inspections beginning in November 2002 , Blix found no stockpiles of WMD and noted " proactive " but not always the " immediate " Iraqi cooperation as called for by UN Security Council Resolution 1441 . With war still looming on 24 February 2003 , Saddam Hussein took part in an interview with CBS News reporter Dan Rather . Talking for more than three hours , he denied possessing any weapons of mass destruction , or any other weapons prohibited by U . N . guidelines . He also expressed a wish to have a live televised debate with George W . Bush , which was declined . It was his first interview with a U . S . reporter in over a decade . CBS aired the taped interview later that week . Saddam Hussein later told an FBI interviewer that he once left open the possibility that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in order to appear strong against Iran . The Iraqi government and military collapsed within three weeks of the beginning of the U . S . - led 2003 invasion of Iraq on 20 March . By the beginning of April , U . S . - led forces occupied much of Iraq . The resistance of the much - weakened Iraqi Army either crumbled or shifted to guerrilla tactics , and it appeared that Saddam had lost control of Iraq . He was last seen in a video which purported to show him in the Baghdad suburbs surrounded by supporters . When Baghdad fell to U . S - led forces on 9 April , marked symbolically by the toppling of his statue by iconoclasts , Saddam was nowhere to be found . Incarceration and trial . Capture and incarceration . In April 2003 , Saddam ' s whereabouts remained in question during the weeks following the fall of Baghdad and the conclusion of the major fighting of the war . Various sightings of Saddam were reported in the weeks following the war , but none was authenticated . At various times Saddam released audio tapes promoting popular resistance to his ousting . Saddam was placed at the top of the " U . S . list of most - wanted Iraqis " . In July 2003 , his sons Uday and Qusay and 14 - year - old grandson Mustapha were killed in a three - hour gunfight with U . S . forces . On 13 December 2003 , Saddam Hussein was captured by American forces at a farmhouse in ad - Dawr near Tikrit in a hole in Operation Red Dawn . Following his capture on 13 December Saddam was transported to a U . S . base near Tikrit , and later taken to the American base near Baghdad . The day after his capture he was reportedly visited by longtime opponents such as Ahmed Chalabi . On 14 December 2003 , U . S . administrator in Iraq L . Paul Bremer confirmed that Saddam Hussein had indeed been captured at a farmhouse in ad - Dawr near Tikrit . Bremer presented video footage of Saddam in custody . Saddam was shown with a full beard and hair longer than his familiar appearance . He was described by U . S . officials as being in good health . Bremer reported plans to put Saddam on trial , but claimed that the details of such a trial had not yet been determined . Iraqis and Americans who spoke with Saddam after his capture generally reported that he remained self - assured , describing himself as a " firm , but just leader . " British tabloid newspaper " The Sun " posted a picture of Saddam wearing white briefs on the front cover of a newspaper . Other photographs inside the paper show Saddam washing his trousers , shuffling , and sleeping . The United States government stated that it considers the release of the pictures a violation of the Geneva Convention , and that it would investigate the photographs . During this period Hussein was interrogated by FBI agent George Piro . The guards at the Baghdad detention facility called their prisoner " Vic , " and let him plant a little garden near his cell . The nickname and the garden are among the details about the former Iraqi leader that emerged during a 27 March 2008 tour of prison of the Baghdad cell where Saddam slept , bathed , and kept a journal in the final days before his execution . Trial . On 30 June 2004 , Saddam Hussein , held in custody by U . S . forces at the U . S . base " Camp Cropper " , along with 11 other senior Ba ' athist leaders , were handed over legally ( though not physically ) to the interim Iraqi government to stand trial for crimes against humanity and other offences . A few weeks later , he was charged by the Iraqi Special Tribunal with crimes committed against residents of Dujail in 1982 , following a failed assassination attempt against him . Specific charges included the murder of 148 people , torture of women and children and the illegal arrest of 399 others . Among the many challenges of the trial were : On 5 November 2006 , Saddam Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging . Saddam ' s half brother , Barzan Ibrahim , and Awad Hamed al - Bandar , head of Iraq ' s Revolutionary Court in 1982 , were convicted of similar charges . The verdict and sentencing were both appealed , but subsequently affirmed by Iraq ' s Supreme Court of Appeals . On 30 December 2006 , Saddam was hanged . Execution . Saddam was hanged on the first day of Eid ul - Adha , 30 December 2006 , despite his wish to be shot ( which he felt would be more dignified ) . The execution was carried out at Camp Justice , an Iraqi army base in Kadhimiya , a neighborhood of northeast Baghdad . Video of the execution was recorded on a mobile phone and his captors could be heard insulting Saddam . The video was leaked to electronic media and posted on the Internet within hours , becoming the subject of global controversy . It was later claimed by the head guard at the tomb where his body remains that Saddam ' s body was stabbed six times after the execution . Not long before the execution , Saddam ' s lawyers released his last letter . The following includes several excerpts : A second unofficial video , apparently showing Saddam ' s body on a trolley , emerged several days later . It sparked speculation that the execution was carried out incorrectly as Saddam Hussein had a gaping hole in his neck . Saddam was buried at his birthplace of Al - Awja in Tikrit , Iraq , 3 km ( 2 mi ) from his sons Uday and Qusay Hussein , on 31 December 2006 . Marriage and family relationships . In August 1995 , Raghad and her husband Hussein Kamel al - Majid and Rana and her husband , Saddam Kamel al - Majid , defected to Jordan , taking their children with them . They returned to Iraq when they received assurances that Saddam would pardon them . Within three days of their return in February 1996 , both of the Kamel brothers were attacked and killed in a gunfight with other clan members who considered them traitors . In August 2003 , Saddam ' s daughters Raghad and Rana received sanctuary in Amman , Jordan , where they are currently staying with their nine children . That month , they spoke with CNN and the Arab satellite station Al - Arabiya in Amman . When asked about her father , Raghad told CNN , " He was a very good father , loving , has a big heart . " Asked if she wanted to give a message to her father , she said : " I love you and I miss you . " Her sister Rana also remarked , " He had so many feelings and he was very tender with all of us . "