Why was Saddam Hussein executed
October 19 2005, the trial of Saddam Hussein began. Especially for him, the death penalty was restored in Iraq, which had been abolished by the American occupation authorities. The main point of the prosecution was the massacre of the locals of al-Dujail. The event occurred on July 8, 1982, was the second year of the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam visited this city with a mixed population, where most of the inhabitants were Shiites. After the rally, the president’s motorcade headed for Baghdad and was on the way attacked by conspirators. The attempt failed. In retaliation, the Saddam Guard conducted a punitive action. About 1,5 thousand inhabitants of this settlement were imprisoned, 148 were shot, 250 - were missing.The court did not take into account that an attempt was made on the head of state during the period when martial law was in force. In addition to the ex-dictator before the tribunal on this episode appeared: the former vice-president Taha Yasin Ramadan, the half-brother of Saddam Hussein, who previously headed one of the special services Barzan al-Tikriti, the former aide to the head of the government Awad Ahmed al-Bandar and four BAAS functionaries.
ED DUJALE
Iraqi Shiite communities had close ties with Iran. Shiite clergy studied in Iranian madrassa. Since the beginning of the Iran-Iraq confrontation, two Iraqi Shiite underground organizations have acted against the regime of Saddam Hussein, who proclaimed as their goal the overthrow of the dictator.
One of them was “Daua”, and the second - “High Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq”. During the war, these groups took part in the fighting on the side of Iran. Dowa made two assassinations of Saddam Hussein in 1982 and 1987.
In March, 1980, Saddam sent 30 to more than a thousand Shiites to Iran and banned the Shiite religious organization "Al-Dawa al-Islamia" ("Islamic appeal"). He ordered the ideologists of Shiism to be executed. Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir al-Sadr, no less popular among Shiites than Khomeini, was arrested in June 1979, 8 in April 1980, he was hanged with his sister. The new Shiite spiritual leader Bakir al-Hakim, who replaced Bakir al-Sadr, was soon forced to flee to Iran. Attacks against Saddam Hussein were revenge by the Shiites for repression.
The prosecution claimed that it considered the alleged attempt on Saddam Hussein to have been committed by a group of Shiites in 1982 in the village of Al-Dujail, north of Baghdad, but could not prove it.
The defense during the consideration of the case insisted that the attempt was indeed made and the actions of Saddam’s security forces were justified, since “the law requires punishing those responsible for attacking the head of state”. Saddam admitted that he had at one time authorized the arrest of 148 Shiites on charges of attempted murder, but did not order them to be executed.
Despite the fact that the court failed to prove the personal involvement of Saddam Hussein in the massacre of the residents of Al Dujail, it was for this episode that he was sentenced to death by hanging.
ATTEMPT ON THE DICTATOR
Over the 21 year of his reign, Saddam no less than 10 had once been subjected to attempts on his life, more than once he found himself on the verge of death, but the conduct spared him. During the September 1989 parade, the conspirators managed to fool the security service. This time the perpetrators of the attempt were to shoot Saddam from a tank gun. This happened during the parade, the tank T-72 without tail number, managed by the conspirators, successfully joined the parade convoy of armored vehicles not far from the ascent to the main square of Baghdad.
On a par with the platform on which the dictator was located, the tank turned sharply and directed his gun towards Saddam, made a short stop to make a volley, but for some inexplicable reason the shot did not sound. Then the tank rushed forward to the podium, in order to crush the dictator, but he was soon stopped. It can be assumed that at first the gun refused or the loader was unable to perform the actions necessary for the shot, perhaps his nerves lost, then the crew seemed to decide to ram the platform, but at the entrance to it the engine tank stalled. After investigative actions on charges of conspiracy, 19 officers were arrested and executed.
The most expensive attempt occurred in 1996 year, when he was President of the United States, Bill Clinton. Then the CIA took up the business for the first time, the budget of the operation exceeded 120 million. He was headed by Deutsch John Mark, a Belgian by birth, a chemist by training (doctor), he also had a bachelor's degree in stories. American specialists elected the Iraqi National Accord anti-government organization as a contractor. 120 million - a rather big sum. For this money, the conspirators were taken not only to eliminate Hussein, but also to organize a coup in Baghdad. But the plot was uncovered even at the level of preparation, the organization “Iraqi National Accord” underwent total liquidation, those of its members who managed to carry away their legs considered themselves lucky, because the failure of the operation occurred suddenly. Those unlucky were executed. Perhaps the failure remains entirely on the conscience of the incompetent leadership of the CIA. This time, Saddam and his intelligence services managed to replay the most powerful intelligence of the world. And such gentlemen from Langley do not forgive anyone.The next attempt to send Saddam to the forefathers was decided not to postpone for a long time - it came on 1997 year. The work was seething and arguing, the conspirators were already anticipating victory, everything was going according to plan, and Saddam, it seemed, himself was already in their hands. Just one day before the date of the assassination attempt, one of its organizers was driving to the next minor meeting. He was late and drove the car in all its might. At high speed, the car had one wheel burst, the driver lost control, the car rolled over and remained lying on the side of the road with the wheels up. The police who arrived at the scene of the accident found strange documents in the car, which were sent “where it should be”. And that's all. It would seem a trifle, but the deeply conspiratorial operation failed, 14 people were convicted and executed.
In one of the attempts, the conspirators led by the commander of the second brigade of the Republican Guard, General Abdelkerim Ad-Duleimi, were going to ambush the route of the president’s motorcade for the festive ceremony on the occasion of the Iraqi Army Day. On this day, Hussein was supposed to present awards to a group of military personnel. However, the plot was discovered long before the date of the attempt. All of its participants, 38 people, were executed in one of the military camps near Baghdad.
In 2002, the pilot of the MiG-23 Air Force of Iraq turned out to be the conspirator and perpetrator of the assassination attempt. He tried to attack from the air on his fighter the palace of the dictator with the symbolic name "Tar Tar", but was shot down (this happened shortly before the beginning of the 2003 war of the year, that is, America’s hand can be seen here).
SADDAMA BIOGRAPHY
The full name of the dictator sounds like this - Saddam ibn Hussein Abd al-Majid At-Tikriti. According to the Iraqi folk tradition, the man’s full name is formed as follows: first comes his own name - Saddam, which can be translated from Arabic as “smashing”, followed by the name of the father with the prefix “ben” or “ibn” (which means “son”) - Hussein . "Abd al-Majid" means belonging to a particular family, a clan, whose name is taken on behalf of its founder, the progenitor in some kind of tribe. At-Tikriti means that Saddam comes from the city of Tikrit.
According to official figures, the future dictator was born on April 28 of the year 1937. The native village of Saddam, Al-Auja, is located in the province (Arab governorate) of Salah Ed Din on the west bank of the Tigris River in 13 km south of the city of Tikrit. Little Saddam did not even know his father Hussein Abd al-Majid. The full name of Saddam’s mother is Sabha Tulfan Al-Mussalat.
Soon the eldest son of Hussein died, and Sabha, heartbroken, tried to get rid of the unborn child. But for reasons beyond her control, an abortion was not possible for her. After the birth of Saddam, she did not even want to look at her newborn child and refused to feed him. The baby was threatened with death, it was saved by the brother of mother Heyrallah, who took Saddam’s nursing son into his family and took care of him.
Heyrallah Tulfan Al-Mussalat was an army officer and nationalist ideology, in 1941 he participated in an uprising against the British authorities (Iraq was under the protectorate of London at the time), was arrested and thrown into prison. After the arrest of his uncle, little Saddam returned to his mother, who by that moment had married her first husband's sibling, from whom Sabha had three sons and two daughters. His stepfather's name was Ibrahim, he abused the boy, did not care about his upbringing and education. By 8, Saddam was illiterate, but his strength of character was already apparent at an early age. He spoke boldly with his stepfather, and once he told him harshly: “Give me to school, father”.
Saddam was born to a Sunni Muslim family, and for a divorce from his wife, it’s enough just to say it loudly three times in a mosque. Saddam's mother married the first husband's sibling, which means that the husband has definitely died while being legally married to her. Only in this case, according to Sharia law, does the brother take the widow of his deceased sibling as a wife in order to continue his seed.
Apparently, the negative attitude towards his father was built by Saddam on the image of his stepfather, that is, his brother, with whom he never reconciled. And as soon as Uncle Hayrallah got out of prison in 1947, Saddam left his stepfather's house and fled to Tikrit, to his uncle. There, the future dictator went to school, from which he was soon expelled for hooliganism. In 13 years old, Saddam showed a harsh attitude towards people, but he reacted very painfully to the death of his beloved horse, he even had a temporary hand paralysis from his feelings.
In 1953, Saddam ended up in Baghdad, where, following the influence of his uncle, he tried to enter the military academy, but failed the exam. And only in 1954, the young man entered the Baghdad school of Al-Qarh, where he joined pan-Arabism.
Saddam's first wife, Sajid, the daughter of his uncle Heyrallah, was two years older than her husband, and her date of birth is known for certain - 24 June 1937 of the year. So it turns out that Saddam was actually born not in 1937, but in 1939. He was credited with two years. In those days, not only in the Middle East, boys were often attributed to extra years, in order to quickly push them into adulthood.
Under the influence of his uncle, Saddam joined the Arab Socialist Revival of the Ba'ath Party in 1957, a year earlier he received a baptism of fire, for the first time participated in an armed rebellion against the then ruling Hashimite dynasty in Iraq. In the next year, 1958, army conspirator officers led by Brigadier General (then Colonel) Abdel Kerim Kasem overthrew King Faisal II. Almost the entire royal family and the monarch himself were shot without trial. Abdel Karim Kasem became president, after which Iraq broke off relations with the United States and Britain.
The Ba'ath Party opposed Kasem. Saddam was at that time in Tikrit and participated in the murder of the local leader of the new government, was arrested, but released after six months of detention. In 1959, Saddam took part in the attempted assassination of Iraq’s head Abdel Kasem, for which he was sentenced in absentia to death. After an unsuccessful attempt on his life, Saddam hid in his home town of Al-Auji for some time, then he was forced to flee to Damascus, and later on 21 in February 1960, he arrived in Cairo. In Egypt, Saddam continued his studies, first at the school of Qasr An-Nil, then he entered the law faculty of Cairo University. In Egypt, he became a prominent figure in the regional branch of the Baath Party.
RISE OF SADDAM
8 February 1963, the Baath Party in collusion with General Aref led a military coup d'état in Iraq. February 9 Qasem and his two comrades surrendered to the coup, were sentenced to death (the trial lasted 40 minutes) and were shot at the radio station on the air. 18 November 1963 Aref committed another military coup against the Ba'ath Party. Before the coup, Saddam returned to Iraq and was elected a member of the Central Peasant Bureau. After the events of November 18, Saddam, working underground, got into the inner circle of one of the Ba'ath leaders Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr. In February, 1964, Ibn Hussein was arrested, and in 1966, he escaped. Subsequently, at the extraordinary regional congress, held in exceptional secrecy, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was elected party secretary, and Saddam Hussein was elected his deputy.
It was then that Saddam created and headed "Jihaz Khanin" - a special secret party apparatus, consisting of the most dedicated cadres and dealing with intelligence and counterintelligence issues.
After the Arab-Israeli war 1967 of the year, known as the Six-Day War, Baghdad again went to the aggravation with the United States. Washington, at that time, considered the underground Baath party as its ally in the Iraq problem. The overthrow of the regime in Baghdad occurred a year later. 17 July 1968, the Ba'ath Party has made another coup in the country. Aref was deprived of power, the former president was killed in a helicopter crash in the area of Kurna. Al-Bakr, who heads the Ba'ath Party, became the state’s first person; in addition to Al-Bakr and Saddam, there were two other strong independent leaders: the head of intelligence, Abdul Razak al-Nayef, and the head of the Republican Guard, Ibrahim al-Daud. 30 July 1968, the plan previously outlined by Saddam to eliminate them was put into action. After this action, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr became president of Iraq and headed the Revolutionary Command Council, Saddam was with him in the role of the gray cardinal.
In 1969, Saddam studied at the University of Baghdad "Muntaseria" and received a law degree, then 1971 – 1973, and in 1976 – 1978 he studied at the Military Academy.
From the beginning of 1970, Al-Bakr formally remained president, but was practically removed from affairs, the de facto country was led by Saddam.
In July, 1970, on the initiative of Saddam Ibn Hussein, a provisional Constitution was introduced, in accordance with which Iraq became a sovereign people's democratic republic. The supreme body of power was proclaimed by the Revolutionary Command Council (SRC), whose chairman was Saddam Hussein. In 1975, Saddam Hussein signed two significant international friendship treaties for cooperation with Iraq: the first with the USSR, the Soviet side signed the document with Alexey Kosygin, the second with the Shah of Iran R. Pahlavi.
Having subdued the security services of Iraq, Saddam Hussein in the 1975 year, in fact, came to the sole authority. He promoted relatives to key positions in business and the state. By the end of the 70-s, almost all high-ranking officials (from secretaries of regional party organizations to ministers) reported directly to Hussein. And on July 16 1979, President Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr resigned for health reasons. Saddam - the son of an unknown fellah Hussein - became president of the Iraqi Republic (in Arabic, Cumhuriyat al-Iraq).
According to Western experts, Iraq ranks third in the world in hydrocarbon reserves, second only to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. Proved reserves, again according to Western estimates, amount to 112,5 billion bbl, and according to forecasts they can reach 215 billion bbl.
Iran and Iraq at the end of World War II were under British control. These oil pearls that adorned the British crown attracted the attention of American oil magnates, especially since the sun of the British Empire was already setting, and the new world ruler of the United States confidently stepped into the forefront of history. The overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy was not without the efforts of Washington. But at the crucial moment, when it seemed to the Americans that Iraqi oil was already in their pocket, the Soviet Union intervened in the Middle East game. From here and this intense leapfrog with numerous military coups. One after another, the protégés of the United States sought friendship with Moscow, which pointed the way for Iraqi dictators to nationalize the country's main wealth — oil.
In Iraq, the nationalization of oil production began on December 12 of the year 1961. Then the Iraqi government passed the law 80 on the transfer of 99,5% of oil production sites owned by the Anglo-Franco-American consortium "Iraq Petroleum" (IPC) under state control without compensation. 1 June 1972, all IPC operations were handed over to the Iraqi National Oil Company. The year 1975 was marked for Iraq by the end of the process of nationalization of the oil industry.
The end of 70-s was a period of rapid growth of the Iraqi economy, the country broke into the forefront among the states of the Middle East in all respects. The government actively invested national petrodollars in the development of industry, irrigation, energy, road infrastructure and agriculture.
In the struggle for one-party rule in the country, Saddam Hussein delivered the first blow to the Communist Party of Iraq. This was negatively perceived by Moscow and welcomed in Washington. Saddam Hussein organized the United States in many ways, he was a person of the people, Sunni and, according to the Americans, needed their support in order to maintain power in a country where the majority of the population are Shiites (60%). West was allowed to Saddam to strengthen his sole power with the help of repression. The dictator effectively fought against radicalism; during his rule there was not a single jihadist organization on the territory of Iraq.
In 1976, Iraq signed an agreement on military-technical cooperation with France to create a national nuclear industry. Only one French reactor would allow Iraq to produce up to 10 kg of weapons-grade plutonium per year, and by 1985 Baghdad could create five medium-sized atomic bombs. The French manufactured three reactors, but in Iraq they were able to mount only one of them - Osirak, the rest were destroyed by Israeli Mossad intelligence while loading onto a ship in the port of Sien-sur-la-Mer near Toulon. And the one that they managed to build, - June 6, 1881 Israeli bombed aviation during the operation "Opera".
The technology needed to implement the chemical weapons program was supplied to Iraq by Western countries. The American company Phillips Petroleum Company of Bartlesville, Ohio, through the Belgian company Phillips sold Iraq 500 t complex chemical thiodiglycol, it is known that in combination with hydrochloric acid thiodiglycol forms mustard gas. Germany, Holland and the United Kingdom also sold technology and raw materials to Iraq for the production of chemical weapons.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, relations between the United States and the entire Western world with Iran steadily deteriorated. The situation was aggravated by the seizure of American diplomats by the Persians in Tehran on November 4 1979. And when the attempt of the American special forces failed to release them, Washington was ready to go to great lengths, just to take revenge on Iran for humiliation.
Saddam Hussein also thirsted for war with Iran, primarily for the oil-bearing areas on the eastern bank of the Shatt al-Arab River. Tehran, moreover, soon after the revolution, began to bring a lot of trouble to the Iraqi authorities: either it supported the Kurdish demonstration, it began to raise discontent among the Shiite population of Iraq. Saddam rushed into battle and felt easy prey, because the Shah’s army had already collapsed, and Iran did not have time to create a new army.
America needed Saddam, and Saddam needed America. They simply sought to embrace each other. Saddam at the time condemned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and became close with Saudi Arabia. He had personal contacts with the CIA. Saddam Hussein believed that the Americans recognized the role of Iraq as an antagonist to a radical, fundamentalist Iran. He also hoped that with the help of Washington he would be able to occupy a special leading position in the Arab world.
IRANO-IRAQI WAR
Iraqi ground forces launched an invasion of Iran’s 22 borders on September 1980, while at the same time Saddam flew the country's air force, which made air strikes on major cities of Iran within the operational depth, and Tehran was bombed.
The main hostilities unfolded on the southern sector of the front, the total length of which was about 700 km. Here the Iraqi forces managed to create a fivefold superiority of forces and achieve some success. Iraqi forces captured the cities of Qasr-Shirin, Nefshs, Mehran, Bostan and Khorramshahr, and also blocked Abadan, occupied the main oil-bearing areas on the eastern bank of the Shatt al-Arab. But Saddam Hussein did not lead the war decisively; the strategist turned out to be unimportant. The blitzkrieg, which he was about to complete in one month, dragged on, and the war went into the winter. Saddam announced the transition of the army to defense. Meanwhile, Tehran was able to mobilize and organize the supply of arms from abroad.
At the beginning of 1981, Iran launched a counter-offensive. At first it had a very indecisive character, but little by little the Persians got a taste and by the fall had already achieved some success.
In the spring of 1982, Iraqi troops already suffered heavy losses, and in the middle of summer the Persians began the invasion of Iraq. The direction of the main attack was the port city of Basra, with a predominantly Shiite population. The Iranian command did not spare the people, the poorly trained militia in droves, wave after wave they threw into battle, the losses were enormous.
Despite the incredible efforts of the Persians for a long time could not break the defense of the Iraqis. And only by February 1986, they managed to take control of the Faw Peninsula, which was held almost until the end of the war.
As soon as the military fortune came over to the side of Iran, President Ronald Reagan took urgent steps to help Iraq. He signed the US National Security Directive No. 4 / 82. Personal Representative of the President of America Donald Rumsfeld was sent to Baghdad for contacts with Saddam Hussein. The White House restored diplomatic relations with Baghdad. To ease arms shipments, Iraq was excluded from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, and American intelligence officers went to Baghdad to help interpret satellite information. The United States actively supported the Iraqi military economy, supplying the Iraqis with billions of dollars in loans, carrying out American military intelligence and consultations, carefully monitoring the sale of weapons to third countries in Iraq, to ensure that the Iraqi military machine is provided with everything necessary. The United States also conducted training for Iraqi troops. The CIA, including Director Casey and Deputy Director Gates, knew, endorsed and promoted the sale of non-US weapons, ammunition and equipment to Iraq.
According to the memories of retired Colonel Walter Patrick Lang, a senior Pentagon intelligence officer at the time, Iraqi use of chemical weapons on the battlefield was not a matter of serious concern for Reagan and his entourage, it was extremely important for them to make sure that Iraq would not lose this war. According to Roque Gonzalez, a former special forces officer, the elite units of Saddam were instructed by unconventional methods of warfare in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The United States organized the delivery of spare parts and repair kits to Iraq (they were called "bear parts") for Soviet-made military equipment, purchasing it from manufacturers through intermediaries. The United States itself supplied to Iraq materials produced in the States, which were later used to produce chemical weapons and their means of delivery. The decision on these shipments was approved at the highest level and confirmed by licenses from the US Department of Commerce. One of the largest arms suppliers to Iraq was Sarkis Sohanelian, who collaborated with the CIA. With his mediation, Iraq received military hardware worth tens of billions of dollars in the 80's. Sohanelian reported his operations to Washington officials. Nearly 150 foreign companies supported Saddam Hussein’s WMD program. Among them were 24 American firms involved in the export of inventory items to Baghdad.
At the beginning of 1984, Baghdad and Tehran launched a “tanker war” in the Persian Gulf, which continued in the active phase until December of 1987 and ended with the end of the Iran-Iraq armed confrontation.
The Iranian attacks against Kuwaiti tankers reached their highest level on November 1 1986, forcing Kuwait to appeal to foreign powers to protect its shipping.
At the start of 1984, Iraq attacked Iranian tankers and an oil terminal on Kharg Island. In response, Iran fired on ships with Iraqi oil coming from the ports of Kuwait. The fact is that Kuwait assisted Iraq. After that, any tanker of the Persian Gulf countries supporting Iraq was under threat. 13 May 1984, an Iranian military pennant attempted to flood a Kuwaiti tanker off the coast of Bahrain. And on May 16, an Arabian tanker was shelled in the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia. 7 March 1987, the US 5 fleet was ordered to protect ships that were chartered by American companies, the escort operation was called “Earnest Will”, which can be translated as “fair intentions”. At the same time, the Pentagon carried out a “Prime Chance” operation in the Persian Gulf aimed at fighting Iranian saboteurs.
CHEMICAL WEAPON
Saddam Hussein and his army, not having shown the masterpieces of military art on the battlefield, well learned one vile truth: that in war all means are good. Already in 1984, the UN received the first information about the combat use of chemical weapons by the army of Iraq. Mustard, herd and sarin were massively used during the war with Iran, which led to the death of more than 20 thousand Iranians.
Iraq produced a large number of delivery vehicles for chemical and biological weapons, including over 16 thousands of free-fall bombs and over 110 thousands of artillery shells, it possessed ballistic missiles: 50 units with chemical warheads and 25 warheads with biological weapons.
HORRORS UNDER THE CURTAIN OF WAR
3 July 1988 Iran Air Airlines Airbus A300B2-203 operated a commercial IR655 passenger flight between Tehran (Iran) and Dubai (UAE) with a stopover in Bandar Abbas (Iran). Despite the fact that the flight took place within the international air corridor 35-kilometer-wide, the aircraft was shot down over the Persian Gulf by a rocket fired from the Vincennes missile cruiser of the US Navy, which was located in the territorial waters of Iran.
16 – 17 March 1988, Iraq’s aviation bombarded the Kurdish city of Halabja with various toxic agents: mustard gas, sarin, herd, VX gas. The number of victims, belonging almost exclusively to the civilian population, amounted to 7 thousand people.
This attack was part of the so-called Al-Anfal plan against the Kurdish minority, in which other criminal activities were carried out in 1986 – 1989, including the chemical bombardment of Kurdish villages in April 1987. Saddam Hussein’s cousin Ali Hasan al-Majid, who was nicknamed Chemical Ali after Halabja, directly supervised the operation.
According to the CIA, the Iraqi army did use chemical weapons in the battle for Halabja, but it was not used against the peaceful population of the city, but against the advancing Iranian army, and all the blows were dealt precisely with the positions of the enemy troops. Iran, in turn, carried out a reciprocal chemical attack, and the residents of the city simply came under crossfire and became the next random victims of a decade-long war. Immediately after the disaster in Halabja, the CIA conducted an examination of samples of poisonous substances collected in the region and prepared a classified report, which unequivocally summarized that it was not Iraqi gas that caused the Kurds to die, but Iranian gas. According to the nature of the defeat, the specialists found that the residents suffered from gas from the group of cyanides, previously used repeatedly by Iran. In 1988, Saddam Hussein’s army did not have such reagents at its disposal; the Iraqi side used mustard and sarin in the battle for the city.
From the above, we can conclude that in the person of Saddam the Americans killed an important witness of their crimes.
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