Painting by amadeo modigliani

SADDAM HUSSEIN
IRAQ: DICTATOR WHO FACED THS UPER POWERS
BORN: 1937

Saddam in Arabic means a bellicose or ‘ever ready to fight’. Saddam Hussein of Iraq has always proved true to his name. His life has been a story of struggle to establish independent identity for his mother country. Asddam Hussein was born to a peasant family at AL Oja (Iraq) on April 8,1937. His mother fed him stories regarding his family’s role in the independence struggle against the British colonialism. From his childhood, he developed some revolutionary tendencies. He studied law at Baghdad and Cairo universities. He became an activist of Baath Party and Revolutionary Council during his student days. He was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to seize power in 1964. He became Vice-President of Iraq in 1968 and later became its President in 1979. He is married to Sajida and is reported to be a loving but strict father.

Saddam Hussein has played a very important role in moulding his country and making it a liberal, developed and prosperous nation. His ideals are the Babylomian emperor Nebuchandnaazar and Col. Nasser of Egypt. He transformed the Iraqi people from a tribal society to a modern country. It was because of his efforts that Iraq became an educated and liberal countray with a secular outlook. Iraq wwas the only Arab country that supported India on the vexed Kashmir problem. Saddam also did not hesitate to fight an eight-year war with his neighbour Iran, known for Islamic fundamentalism and orthodoxy. Millions of people died in this war and property worth billions was ravaged