Saddam Hussein
- Category : Politics-Heads-of-state
- Type : ME
- Profile : 6/2 - Role Model / Hermit
- Definition : Split - Small (49)
- Incarnation Cross : LAX Alignment 1
Biography
Iraqi politician, President of Iraq 7/16/1979. He invaded Iran on 9/22/1980 and tried to withdraw two years later but Khomeini kept it going. On 8/01/1990 the Iraqi army made a blitzkrieg takeover of neighboring Kuwait. The U.N. Security Council ordered a world-wide embargo on trade with Iraq to punish the Arab oil and military power for its invasion.
Hussein's origins were disastrous. His dad died before he was born, his mom was unable to care for him and he was raised by an uncle who beat him. He grew up with faith in nothing outside of his own control and a few trusted relatives - and even they have been in danger of their lives when his paranoia took over. Like Ivan the Terrible, he has taken vengeance on his own people in a path of total destruction.
Years after the Persian Gulf wars, he kept testing U.S. limits, being coy about weapons and nibbling at borders. In early September 1996 he had a military buildup along demarcation lines but backed off when the U.S. White House issued a warning.
The U.S., under George W. Bush's leadership, along with the British, under Tony Blair, attacked Iraq without United Nations approval on March 20, 2003. Rumors of Hussein's death in the first bombing proved false. During the course of the war, the U.S. had no idea of Saddam's whereabouts and in July 2003 issued a $25 million reward for his capture. On July 23, 2003, in a raid on a house in Mosul, Iraq that began around 10 AM Baghdad time,, both of Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed.
The Iraqi dictator was captured by U.S. soldiers in Ad Dwar about 15 KM south of Tikrit on December 13, 2003 at about 8:30 PM BAT. Hussein had been hiding in an underground bunker in a farm area near the Tigris River.
After two years of legal proceedings, wrangling and trials in which a few lawyers, witnesses and a judge were killed by Hussein supporters, he was sentenced on November 5, 2006 to die by hanging for his 1982 role in a brutal attack on the town of Dujail. The former Iraqi dictator was hanged shortly after 6 AM local time in Baghdad on December 30, 2006
