SADDAM HUSAYN

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06739054
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: July 12, 2019
• Case Number: F-2018-01137
• Publication Date: September 1, 2017

Saddam Husayn - Intellipedia
Approved for Release: 2019/05/30 C06739054
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(U) Saddam Husayn
TOIECkET
From Intellipedia
Saddam Husayn (April 28, 1937 - December 30,
2006) (Arabic: - also transliterated Saddam
Hussein) --Former Iraqi President; Chairman,
Revolutionary Command Council; Commander in Chief of
the Armed Forces; Secretary General, Arab Socialist Ba'th
Party (since 1979); Prime Minister (since 1994) was a
controlling, intimidating, and unmerciful ruler who used any
means necessary�including imprisonment, torture,
assassination, and mass murder�to impose his authority
and to overcome resistance. Saddam bribed and
manipulated tribal leaders to ensure their loyalty, shuffled
military and civilian personnel to prevent challenges, and
filled top government posts almost exclusively with
members of his Tikriti clan. Moreover, he often reversed
short-term tactics to exploit his opponents' disunity and to
advance his long-term goal of establishing Iraq as the
dominant state in the Persian Gulf region.
(U) Saddam was captured by Coalition Forces on 13
December 2003, and his capture was announced the
following day. He was tried for his crimes against humanity
in al-Dujal, and was executed by hanging on 30 December
2006.
Contents
� 1 Ideology as a Leadership Tool
� 2 Populist Autocrat, High-Stakes Risk Taker !
� 3 A Turbulent Path to Power (U)
� 4 Saddam's Capture
� 5 Tried and Executed for War Crimes
� 6 References
Ideology as a Leadership Tool
Saddam emphasized several ideological themes to
fortify his power and to fashion a national identity out of Iraq's
cultural melange:
Former Iraqi President Saddam Husayn
stands in the docket after being
. sentenced to death during his trial.
moan
Lm= Iraq Portal 1
Intelligence History Portal
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� The cult of personality. Saddam used state propaganda organs to link his political fortunes to
the national destiny. Tributes to Saddam�in books, television broadcasts, portraits, murals,
songs, and clothing, for example�were found throughout Baghdad.
� Pan-Arabism and Arab Nationalism. Saddam often publicly stressed his political and ideological
roots in the Bath Party, which propounds an Arab renaissance, cultural unity, and socialism. He
grew up at a time when Iraq's leaders were wresting independence from Great Britain and,
according to official Iraqi accounts, he drew inspiration from nationalist intellectuals.
� The Babylonian mystique. Saddam revived a consciousness of Iraq's historical and mythic
greatness by identifying himself with Tamuzz, a Mesopotamian deity, and rulers such as
Hammurabi, Nebuchadnezzar, and Sargon.
� Islamic brotherhood. Despite his secular past, Saddam invoked Islamic values to woo Iraq's
Muslims. He made pilgrimages to Mecca and to holy sites in Iraq, rebuilt shrines and sponsored
revivals, decreed Islamic legal penalties for crimes, closed bars and discos, and concocted a
bogus genealogy to show his lineage to the prophet Muhammad.
In contrast to Saddam's evident grasp of Arab�and especially Iraqi�culture, his
perspective toward the West appears shallow, parochial, and suspicious. He had not traveled to a
Western country since the late 1970s and often expressed contempt for the effects of Western
colonialism on the Arab world. Saddam claimed that Western powers were scheming to subjugate
Iraq and to eradicate its technological and cultural achievements.
Populist Autocrat, High-Stakes Risk Taker
Saddam made all key policy decisions in Iraq. He usually
acted quickly and decisively�but not impulsively�with little input
from the highly centralized bureaucracy or the Ba'th Party's showcase
Revolutionary Command Council. Saddam demonstrated his
willingness to test limits and to take high risks, as well as his capacity
to miscalculate�most egregiously when he ordered invasions of Iran
in 1980 (Iran-Iraq War) and Kuwait in 1990 (Persian Gulf War).
Officials who have dealt with Saddam say that he regarded diplomacy
as a way to extract concessions, not to reach compromises.
A Turbulent Path to Power (U)
addam lived most of his life amid instability, danger, and
vio ence. Saddam�which can mean "the one who confronts" in
Arabic�was born in 1937 in a village near Tikrit. His childhood was reportedly harsh and abusive,
and he reputedly committed his first murder by the age of 12. He then fell under the sway of his uncle,
Khayrallah Tilfa�a businessman, petty criminal, and Anglophobic anti-imperialist�and spent his
adolescence in the Tikrit area as a bandit and street peddler.
n 1955, Saddam moved to Baghdad, where he became acquainted with the ideas of Ba'th
Party founder Michel Aflaq and two years later joined the small, conspiratorial Ba'th organization. In
1959 he was a gunman in the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Prime Minister Qasim. Saddam
reportedly went to prison for two years and into exile twice in the late 1950s and early 1960s for that
incident and other illegal party activities. In the early 1960s, he headed the underground Ba'th cell in
Cairo, Egypt,�where he was smitten with Nasserism�and the Iraqi Ba'th apparatus in Damascus,
Syria.
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Saddam returned to Baghdad after the Ba'thist coup in early 1963. He soon became a party
leader and helped his Tikriti clan take over the organization. Following another Ba'thist revolt in 1968,
he became vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. Saddam began to build Iraq's
security services and soon developed a reputation for ruthlessness. During the relatively stable
1970s, he further consolidated his power base.in the Bath Party, the military, and the security
services. In July 1979 he became leader of Iraq after persuading the ailing President to resign.
Saddam completed his secondary education and began legal studies in Egypt in the early
1960s; he received a degree from the Baghdad College of Law in 1970. He understands English well
but prefers to speak Arabic with foreigners. Observers have described his Arabic as having a "rural"
accent and his speeches as dull and monotone.
Saddam's Capture
� SADDAM CAPTURE TIMELINE.doc
� SADDAM CAPTURE LINK CHART.ppt
� Operation RED DAWN (Saddam Capttire).ppt
Tried and Executed for War Crimes
Main article: Iraq War Crime Case and Trial � al-Dujayl
Main article: Execution of Saddam Husayn
Saddam ruled primarily by fear, using extensive and
overlapping military, security and intelligence services and widespread
connections with prominent members of his Tikriti clan who occupied
key leadership positions. Saddam used his positions as Chairman of
Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) and commander in chief of
the Armed Forces to bolster his control of the Iraqi population.
� As chairman of the RCC, Saddam was responsible for the
various decrees issued, such as RCC decree
number 59 in 1994 that imposed amputation and
execution as punishment for cases of robbery and
theft.
� As commander in chief, Saddam was ultimately
responsible for all military operations, including
the decision to use chemical or biological
weapons (CBW) against coalition forces during
the Gulf War.
With the support of the US Regime Crimes
Liaison Office (RCLO), the Iraqi government is pursuing prosecutions and trials of Saddam and
several other former regime officials with several major war crimes committed over the past quarter-
century. These include the following events or cases: Marsh Arabs (1979-), al-Dujayl (1982), the Anfal
Campaign and Halabja (1987-88), the Kuwait Invasion (1990), the Intifada (1991), and the Merchants
Case (1992).
[--)-he Iraqi Special Tribunal (now the Iraqi Higher Criminal Court) charged Saddam and seven
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co-defendants for the crimes in al-Dujayl--the first to be tried by the court. Proceedings began on 19
October 2005. On 15 May 2006, it was confirmed that Saddam and his co-defendants would face
formal charges of crimes against humanity for their role in this event. Saddam was also charged and
is now being tried for his crimes involving the Anfal Campaign.
(U) On 5 November 2006, the 1ST sentenced Saddam
and two other defendants in the al-Dujayl war crimes
case to death by hanging.
(U) Saddam Husayn was executed at 10:05pm EST
(December 30th 2006 6:05am Baghdad) at a former
military headquarters in a Shia neighborhood of
Baghdad, according to press reports. Prime Minister
Nun i al-Maliki did not attend the execution, but the Iraqi
Government provided official witnesses, a medical
doctor, and a cleric to prepare the body.
See also War Crimes Prosecutions and Trials - Iraq
News footage of Saddam's final moments.
References
� Tales Of The Tyrant by Mark Bowden, The Atlantic Monthly, pg. 35, May 2002
Retrieved from/
Categories: Historic photos I History of Intelligence I Political Parties (Iraq) ' Iraqi personalities
Prime Ministers of Iraq Terrorism personalities 11937 births I Operation Iraqi Freedom
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