Saddam Hussein and Iraq
Early Life and Career
• Saddam Hussein was born in a small village 100 miles from
Baghdad
• He lived in poor conditions and was abandoned by his dad
• Mom remarried and step-dad was cruel to Saddam
• At 10 years old, he moved to the city and lived with his uncle who
taught him hatred of Western ideas
• In 1979, he pushed his cousin out of the presidency and took over
• He arrested and killed his enemies including his friends
• Set-up security agencies to spy on his own people
• His pictures are every where and his birthday is a national holiday
• He led a war with Iran that lasted 8 years killing 200,000 Iraqi
soldiers
• He used (some say tested) biological and chemical weapons on his
own people…the Kurds
Saddam Hussein
Genocide of the Kurds
• The New York Times described in its obituary how Saddam
"murdered as many as a million of his people, many with poison
gas. He tortured, maimed and imprisoned countless more.
• Estimates as to the number of Iraqis executed by Saddam's
regime vary from 300,000–500,000, estimates as to the number
of Kurds he massacred vary from 70,000 to 300,000.
• Between 1986 and 1989, Saddam Hussein unleashed a
genocidal campaign against the Kurdish people of Northern Iraq.
He used ground offensives, aerial bombing, systematic
destruction of settlements, mass deportation, firing squads, and
chemical warfare. Saddam Hussein also captured Kurdish
populations and transported them to detention centers. After a
few days in these camps, the men accused of being enemies
were trucked off to be killed in mass executions.
Statistics
• According to the Human Rights Watch during
the genocidal campaign, the Iraqi government:
– Destroyed about 4,000 villages (out of 4,655) in Iraqi
Kurdistan. Between April 1987 and August 1988, 250
towns and villages were exposed to chemical
weapons;
– Destroyed 1,754 schools, 270 hospitals, 2,450
mosques, 27 churches;
– Wiped out around 90% of Kurdish villages in targeted
areas.
A cemetery in a Kurdish village in northern Iraq, holds the remains of nearly
70 people killed in a chemical attack by Saddam Hussein’s military forces
on March 22, 1988.
Khawar Mahmoud, 55, pictured with her husband, came to the village three
days after the attack and found animals and birds dead on the ground, and
her brother badly burned. Her brother lost his pregnant wife and six children
in the attack.
A part of Sewsenan that was not rebuilt. Ms. Mahmoud said that
after the attacks, doctors treated injured villagers in secret because
survivors discovered by Iraqi soldiers were taken away and never
seen again.
Archaeologists and physical anthropologists exhumed 114 victims of the
Kurdish genocide from a mass grave in the center of Iraq's Muthanna
province. Nine other mass graves nearby remain unexcavated.
Persian Gulf War
Countries involved in the war
Who vs. Who
• Iraq invades Kuwait for Oil
• US and UN coalition (34 other allied
nations) will support Kuwait.
Leaders
• Saddam Hussein Iraq
• President George Bush (Sr.)
Time Period
• 1990-1991
Location
• Iraq invades Kuwait, US and other UN
forces invade through the Persian Gulf
Causes of War
• Saddam Hussein claims to own oil rich
land in Kuwait. Uses this excuse to invade
Kuwait and claim his land.
Outcome of war
• UN and US force Iraqi
troops to withdrawal
from Kuwait- It took 100
hours for coalition to
WIN
• Iraq must get rid of
biological weapons and
remove ALL nuclear
producing facilities
• Freedom in Kuwait
• Trade embargo with Iraq
Video Clips
• George H. W. Bush’s Declaration (start at 3:20)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA2jitVn21Q
• Overview: 2:55
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIlGF948aDU
• Desert Storm- 1991 Overview: 1:45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJGs2BDKq5g&featur
e=related (1:45)
• ABC World News Tonight- Start of the Persian Gulf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOMRPia8NeM&featu
re=related (7:24)
What was it like???
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJGs2B
DKq5g&feature=related (1:45)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOMRP
ia8NeM&feature=related (7:24)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA2jitVn
21Q&feature=related (start at 3:16 to 5:54)
The IRAQ WAR
The Facts
What It Looks Like…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdY_00N1KL8&feature=results_
video&playnext=1&list=PL0F8F3FFA8097C061
(about 3 min long)
Countries involved
• WHO: The United
States vs. Iraq
Time Period
• WHEN: 2003 to 2011
Location
• WHERE: The Middle
East – Iraq
IRAQOperation Iraqi Freedom
WHO: The United States vs. Iraq
LEADERS:
Presidents
George W. Bush
& Barack Obama
vs.
Saddam Hussein
Specifics…
LEADERS
• WHO: President Bush Jr. vs.
Saddam Hussein
CAUSES
• WHY: WMDs or Weapons of
Mass Destruction in Iraq
– Some say it is over oil
– Some say it is Little Bush
getting back for his daddy not
killing Saddam during the
Persian Gulf War of the 1990s
– Some say to bring democracy
and freedom to the Iraqi
people
Remember…..
• After Persian Gulf War,
UN told Iraq and Hussein
to destroy WMDs
• Several times the UN
tried to visit Iraq to check
on this, but Hussein
wouldn’t allow it
• After 9/11, Pres. Bush
pushed UN to be more
forceful
• This goes back and forth
until late 2002
Final Warnings…
George W. Bush’s
Speech (13:29)
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=vr7OKqqTb_o
• In early 2003, Pres. Bush
and the UN finally get a
resolution to allow UN
officials to check Iraq for
WMDs – this was
withdrawn because
France and Germany
didn’t like it
• On March 17, 2003, Bush
gives Hussein an
ultimatum – leave Iraq in
48 hours or face military
action
• Within days, USA gets
information that Hussein
and his top officials are
hiding underground
War Begins…
•
•
•
•
•
On March 20, 2003 at 2:30am in
Iraq, USA sends 3 dozen
Tomahawk missiles with 1000lb
warheads into Baghdad (Iraq’s
capital)
Within hours more targets are hit
and the war, code named –
Operation Iraqi Freedom, has
started
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
TvaU3ZiBmGw&feature=related
(2:23 BBC Live at First Attack)
Taking over Baghdad took roughly
21 days
It was celebrated around the world
when Hussein’s statue was torn
down by his own people
FALL OF SADDAM
• Despite hiding out in bunkers and
underground (literally), Hussein
was captured
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=nd-1i0bFEv4 (4:51 Saddam’s
Last Stand-look at his hideout)
• He was put on trial for crimes
against humanity and sentenced
to death
• He was hanged on Dec. 30, 2006
OUTCOME
• 4,800 coalition forces
killed---4,500 USA
• Final troops came home
December 2011
• Democracy in Iraq
http://www.usatoday.com/news/
world/iraq/story/2011-12-15/Iraqwar/51945028/1 (1:31 taking
down flag and speeches)
• What do people think of this
war?