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The birth of Saddam Hussein
on the twenty eighth of April 1937, at Tikrit, marked a turning point
in one of the most historical countries in the world.
Up until then, Iraq had been fought and ruled over by a succession of
what can be termed the worst collection of cut throats in history. In
586 B.C. possibly the worlds first Nazi, King Nebuchadnezzar had conquered
Jerusalem, destroying Solomon's Temple and enslaving 15,000 of the Jewish
nation back to Babylon. His son, Nebuchadnezzar II, built the seventh
wonder The Hanging Gardens
Next came Genghis Khan in the thirteenth century with his Mongol hordes
that destroyed all in his path. Followed by the The Ottoman Empire from the sixteenth century.
World War One saw the British Empire as the next invader, due to its interests
in Iraq's oil. They developed a constitutional monarchy, in their own
image. Led by the Hashemite family of Emir Faisal ibn Hussain in 1921,
creating alongside the new Iraqi Petroleum Company (British Petroleum
or BP) allowing the country of Iraq to be recognised in 1932 by the League
of Nations. Nationalism of Iraq cultured a vehement opposition to Imperialism,
with King Ghazi 1 attempting a Pan-Arab non aggression pact in 1936. World
War Two followed with Hitler on the one hand and the old enemy of Britain
on the other (1939-45) Iraq:
History and Culture
Meanwhile back in Tikrit, the young Saddam was raised by a step-father;
Ibrahim al Hussain, whom Sweeney describes as a "brute of a man," and
a favourite uncle Khairallah Tulfah (later Baghdad Governor) who Sweeney
describes as a "Nazi," by the age of ten, Saddam then saw the creation
of Israel by the imperialist Britain and America in 1948. (Sweeney:1993:19)
The late 1950's saw bitter fighting for power from the British supported
monarchy against Communists. Ba'athists fought them in the streets, later
trying to assassinate President Abdel-Karum Qassem in 1959, Saddam was
wounded. By 1963, the Ba'athists succeeded in obtaining power with Saddam's
coup in 1968 enforcing the de facto ruler into position as head of the secret police
and military.
The brutal dictatorship and police state that followed can be read about
in "Republic of Fear" by Samir al-Khalil (1990).
After internal items had been dealt with, external matters took precedent
with the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) "war
of the cities" taking
place and chemical attacks on civilians on 5,000 Kurds at Halabja. Amnesty International - Library - Denmark/Iraq:
International Justice for the victims of Halabja the use of which was banned by the International
Convention at the Hague Convention 1889 and Geneva Accord 1925.
Biological, Chemical and Nuclear (BCN) weapons of mass destruction components
had been sold to Iraq by a combination of countries from; UK, Germany,
France, Russia, Italy and America (Sweeney:1993:30) Riegle Report - Chapter One, Part Two
later involving Sir Richard Scott's "Report
of the Inquiry into the export of Defence Equipment and Dual-Use Goods
to Iraq" in the UK, (15 Feb 1995) CAAT and Henry Gonzalez's Congressional Reports
in the U.S. on Iran Contra. (Sweeney:1993:48).
The unabated violence continued with the assassination of former Iraqi
premier Abdul Razzaq al-Nayef in London by the Iraq secret service: Estikhbarat.
(Sweeney:1993:30) while TI Matrix Churchill, Ordtec et al was
supplying arms making equipment from the U.K to Iraq. (Norton Taylor R, Lloyd M, Cook S:1996)
Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft was hanged on the 15th March 1990, for
alledgedly spying for Israel in Iraq, the weapons trail continued until
the "Supergun" warning made these countries realise that they might be
in range. Saddam then made the 'mistake' of over confidence and attacked
Kuwait, allowing U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1991
to remove the aggressor, which was conducted later by The Gulf War Saddam's hatred for Israel was exposed by raining
SCUD missiles in their direction, although many of these faltered.
Saddam Hussein typically survived the Gulf War, much to the annoyance
and embarrassment of the Americans and British and continued to harness
BCN's much to the fear of Israel. In order to stay within the UN legalities
of country sovereignty being respected rules, sanctions were born onto
the Iraqi's.
Later to become the UN's Iraq
Programme Oil for Food
The UN sanctions retained some 70% of the countries Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) but the Iraqi people suffered immensely as a result. The SECURITY COUNCIL APPROVES LIST OF REVISED SANCTIONS
ON IRAQ, EXTENDS OIL-FOR-FOOD in recognition, of the dire humanitarian cost
highlighted by U.N.I.C.E.F (1999) Newsline revealing that an additional 500,000 children
under 5 had died since sanctions were introduced.
Post Gulf War activities by the United Nations (UNSCOM) to remove BCN's
now called weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were completed by 1997 according
to former weapons inspector at UNSCOM: Scott Ritter in Is Iraq a True Threat to the US?
and the U.S / U.K. established a "No Fly Zone" in Southern Iraq Timeline of Iraq Chris Toensing Sarah Graham-Brown
- openDemocracy
Today, on the anniversary of the Halabja chemical massacre of the Kurds,
the unknown fear of WMD's, combined with the knowledge of having armed
a truly world class despot haunts the West The UNSC & IAEA Report on Iraq's Nuclear
Program to the point
of bitter exchanges at the UN Security Council, whereupon the U.K. and
U.S. support military action immediately Comd: 5769 - H of C Hansard Debates for 26 Feb
2003 (pt 5) and the
German, French, Chinese and Russian members of the UNSC support UNSCOM's
successor UNMOVIC to disarm Hussein.
Summary
Saddam
Hussein was raised by a brutal family, during arguably the World's bloodiest
period. It is little surprise that Hussein learned at an early age that
violence was a way all people conducted their lives. The history of Iraq
adding further credence, by King Nebuchadnezzar, Genghis Khan, Ottoman
and British Empires to name but a few that sailed in Iraqi waters.
Historical archives clearly point to why he would want a pan-arab accord,
with the destruction of Israel, and effectively control of the world's
most dependant commodity - oil. His own country owning the second largest
reserve in the world, and having proximity to the NEW oil reserves estimated
at 1/4 of the earth's total reserves in Kazakhstan, Azeirbaijan, Uzbekistan,
Georgia etc. Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Oil money
threatens to make killing field
Equally, one can understand the more recent concerns of the West in not
wanting Saddam Hussein to develop WMD's and expose their deception in
supplying and vulnerability to attack.
What is not clear, is how anyone, following the chemical genocide at Halabja,
or torture identified by Amnesty International and the UN, and ritualistic
crimes against humanity have gone unchecked by the international community
for at least fifteen years.
On the eighteenth of February 2003, the Peaceplangroup stated;
"We propose an International Court Warrant for
Hussein's arrest"
PPG : Policy Solutions | Persuasive Solutions
for Iraq
By the twenty seventh of February 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives
determined to;
"Calling for the establishment of an international
criminal tribunal for the purpose of indicting, prosecuting, and imprisoning
Saddam Hussein amd other Iraqi officials for crimes against humanity,
genocide, and other criminal violations of international law."
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
HRES 118 IH
Copyright S Coleman 2003 16 March 2003
| Amnesty International - Library - Denmark/Iraq: International Justice
for the victims of Halabja CAAT Comd: 5769 - H of C Hansard Debates for 26 Feb 2003 (pt 5) Guardian Unlimited| Special Reports| Oil money threatens to make killing field Iraq: History and Culture Iraq Programme Oil for Food Is Iraq a True Threat to the US? Newsline Norton Taylor R, Lloyd M, Cook S (1996) "Knee Deep In Dishonour" Cassell Group, London Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives Riegle Report - Chapter One, Part Two Samir al-Khalil (1990)"Republic of Fear" "Republic of Fear" by Samir al-Khalil SECURITY COUNCIL APPROVES LIST OF REVISED SANCTIONS ON IRAQ, EXTENDS OIL-FOR-FOOD Sweeney J (1993) "Trading With The Enemy" Pan MacMillan, London The Gulf War The UNSC & IAEA Report on Iraq's Nuclear Program Timeline of Iraq Chris Toensing Sarah Graham-Brown- Open democracy U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1991 |
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