kamel ghani al-hiti, who is from the anbar province, that is considered one of the provinces loyal to saddam hussein, published an article about the former iraqi president, which could be the briefest in describing the bloody ruler, who did not believe in putting behind bars his opponents in the belief one day they will be released and will turn against him, so he eliminated them immediately.
al-hiti says saddam’s military history began as a personal security guard and within a short period he reached the position of head of the repressive hanin apparatus and went on to become the vice-president of the republic, then an officer with the rank of staff lieutenantgeneral, then president of the republic, all within just ten years, during which the iraqi dinar was worth 3.3 dollars while he was in power and then fell to the ‘bottom’.
saddam was the first president to turn against his party, execute its most prominent leaders, get rid of all iraqi intellectuals without trial, and relinquish iraq’s (complete) sovereignty over the shatt al-arab – the waterway whose sovereignty was shared between iran and iraq during the time of the shah of iran.
he is also the first iraqi ruler to hide in a hole after his government was defeated, amassing a debt of $400 billion for iraq. he was the first to invent the most heinous methods of killing his opponents, other than slaying by cutting their tongues, chopping off ears and noses. however, his daughter, raghad, said in a television interview that “papa had never loved blood.”
saddam is the first head of state in history to start his rule with war and end it with war and always claimed ‘oh, how sweet victory is with god’s help.’
saddam also banned the means of communication, the internet, religious and political books. he also banned the free press and private radio and during his rule, iraq did not know any real elections. during his time no one could leave iraq without the permission of the security apparatus and payment of ‘high fees’.
military service was also mandatory during his reign, and the conscript received a paltry salary. they were called for ‘reserve’ service for two months and anyone who insulted the president’s honor, or a member of his family was executed, almost no one was left unharmed in iraq. it was forbidden to belong to anything other than the ba’ath party and all kinds of peaceful demonstrations against the regime were prohibited.
for reasons related to personal mood, it was forbidden to listen to the tapes of the preacher ahmad al-waeli or listen to the songs of fouad salem or to recite the poems of al-jawahiri or muzaffar al-nawab.
during his miserable reign, all food supplies disappeared and the prices of meat and fish increased and the price of a chicken reached half the employee’s salary, according to 2003 prices.
he also trampled on the dignity of the iraqi people, squandered their wealth, killed them with poisonous gases, displaced millions from their homes and villages where they had lived for hundreds of years, and moved them to areas hundreds of kilometers away. after all this, an ignorant person comes to bemoan his time, forgetting that he is the cause of everything that has happened to iraq after that.
another person who lacks credibility also describes saddam as a strong personality, forgetting that he had earned this personality by instilling brutality and fear in the hearts of his people. he had no feelings of mercy or pity and was brutal even to people closest to him. all these things made people around him shiver and on the strength of his brutality, he built his charisma and heroism.