Saddam Hussein's Rise to Power
- The Baath Party
- Hussein takes control of Iraq
- The war with Iran
- U.S.-Iraqi relations and Hussein's miscalculations
The main figure on the Iraqi side of the 1991 Persian Gulf War was Saddam Hussein (1937–; ruled 1979–2003). After becoming president of Iraq in 1979, Hussein involved his country in two major wars over the next dozen years. The story of Hussein's youth and his rise to power helps explain his aggressive behavior toward his neighbors in the Middle East.
Saddam Hussein, whose name means "he who confronts" in Arabic, was born in 1937. He grew up as a peasant near the Sunni Muslim village of Tikrit, which is located about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Baghdad along the Tigris River. After he came to power,...
[The entire page is 3878 words long]
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