An interesting example of Matrix propaganda...partial truth is
the same as lying...
Joining up with the clandestine Baath party in 1956, he
participated in a failed attempt to assassinate military ruler
General Abdul Karim Qassem.
...having been recruited by the CIA.
The US quietly backed him, ignoring Iraq's human rights record
and atrocities like the killing of more than 140 men in the
mostly Shia town of Dujail after a failed assassination
attempt against him in July 1982, and the gassing of 5,000
Kurdish villagers of Halabja in March 1988.
...funny how U.S. backing is never mentioned when BBC refers to
the gassing on TV.
His experts produced special long-range missiles and pursued
ambitious nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programmes.
...getting his weapon ingredients from the U.S., Britain, and Germany.
Stringent international sanctions remained in full force in
the years after the Gulf War, causing a near-collapse of the
Iraqi currency and leading to infighting in the power
structure.
...and causing the deaths of millions of children
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix reported that Iraq had
accelerated its cooperation and there was no evidence of a new
weapons programme, but the US and UK declared the diplomatic
process over.
...a process that had never been seriously pursued.
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1099005.stm
Profile: Saddam Hussein
During more than two decades as leader of Iraq, Saddam
Hussein's violent methods and uncompromising stance thrust his
country onto the world stage.
Having been overthrown and captured by the US-led coalition in
2003, the former president is now standing trial for crimes
against humanity committed during his rule.
Saddam Hussein's road to absolute power began in Tikrit,
central Iraq, where he was born in 1937. His stepfather beat
him as a child, introducing him to the brutality and bullying
which would mark his own life.
Joining up with the clandestine Baath party in 1956, he
participated in a failed attempt to assassinate military ruler
General Abdul Karim Qassem.
In a country where politics was always a violent game, his
talents took him swiftly to the top.
Saddam was forced to flee Iraq in 1959 and spent four years in
exile in Cairo.
Back in Iraq, he rose through the party ranks. When it finally
seized power from Abdul Rahman Mohammed Aref in 1968, Saddam
emerged as the number two figure behind Gen Ahmad Hassan
al-Bakr.
Now the power behind the throne, he took over when Bakr was
quietly shunted aside in July 1979 and began the reign of
terror that was to keep him in power for so long.
Saddam took the posts of prime minister, chairman of the
Revolution Command Council and armed forces
commander-in-chief.
Within a year, he launched Iraq into a massive and risky
adventure.
Iran-Iraq conflict
Seeing himself as the new leader and champion of all Arabs,
Saddam poured his army across the border into western Iran in
September 1980, hoping to defuse a potential threat from the
new Islamic revolution.
The disastrous war lasted eight years and claimed a million
lives.
The US quietly backed him, ignoring Iraq's human rights record
and atrocities like the killing of more than 140 men in the
mostly Shia town of Dujail after a failed assassination
attempt against him in July 1982, and the gassing of 5,000
Kurdish villagers of Halabja in March 1988.
After the ceasefire with Iran that August, Saddam Hussein's
constant striving for regional supremacy intensified.
His experts produced special long-range missiles and pursued
ambitious nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programmes.
Invasion
But war with Iran had crippled the Iraqi economy and the Iraqi
leader desperately needed to increase his oil revenues.
In August 1990, he accused Kuwait of driving the price of oil
down, invaded and annexed the emirate.
Weeks of US-led bombing, during what Saddam Hussein had
famously described as the "Mother of All Battles", reduced
Iraq's infrastructure to ruins, and wrought havoc among
front-line troops.
Operation Desert Storm, the subsequent ground assault in
January 1991 to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait left
thousands of Iraqi soldiers dead, wounded or captured.
Retreating troops set fire to the country's oil wells, turning
day to night and precipitating a vast ecological disaster.
Kurds flee
But this time, the Iraqi president's blunders did lead to
consequences at home. Encouraged by the first President Bush
to rise up, the Shia of southern Iraq revolted.
But the Western powers did nothing, as Saddam Hussein
ruthlessly restored his grip on the south.
In the north, he attacked the rebellious Kurds. Millions fled
into the freezing mountains and the West was forced to impose
a "safe haven", maintained by a constant air umbrella, over
the area.
The following year, the Western powers imposed a no-fly zone
in the south, to give some sort of protection to the Shia.
To add to his humiliations, after his ejection from Kuwait,
the Iraqi leader was forced to agree to the elimination of all
his weapons of mass destruction by the UN.
'Regime change'
Stringent international sanctions remained in full force in
the years after the Gulf War, causing a near-collapse of the
Iraqi currency and leading to infighting in the power
structure.
His two sons-in-law defected, but both were murdered after
being persuaded to return to Iraq.
President George W Bush's election in 2000 increased the
pressure. Washington now talked openly of "regime change".
And, following the 11 September 2001 attacks, the US named
Iraq a "rogue state".
UN weapons inspectors returned to Iraq in November 2002 and
resumed their search. Iraq destroyed a number of missiles and
said it had neutralised its stocks of anthrax.
Mr Bush remained suspicious, claiming that Saddam was building
and hiding weapons to dominate the Middle East and intimidate
the civilised world.
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix reported that Iraq had
accelerated its cooperation and there was no evidence of a new
weapons programme, but the US and UK declared the diplomatic
process over.
Coalition forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, despite not
securing a new UN resolution authorising such action.
Saddam's reign was brought to a violent end and he disappeared
after the fall of Baghdad on 9 April, becoming the US
military's most wanted fugitive in Iraq.
Fugitive
His two sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed by US troops in a
raid on a house near Mosul, northern Iraq, on 22 July.
And in December 2003, US officials announced that the former
president had been captured near Tikrit.
While world leaders and many Iraqis welcomed the capture,
there were angry protests in towns throughout the area known
as the Sunni Triangle.
Saddam was transferred to the Iraqi authorities on 30 June
2004 following the handover of sovereignty to Prime Minister
Iyad Allawi's interim government. His trial opened in Baghdad
the next day.
Trial
Saddam was defiant. He challenged the legality of the
proceedings, which he said were brought about by the "invasion
forces", and refused to sign the charge sheet without his
lawyers present.
In July 2005, the tribunal laid the first charges against
Saddam and seven other former regime members for crimes
against humanity in Dujail. He could be executed within 30
days of a final judgement.
Defendants include Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother
and former head of Iraq's intelligence service; Taha Yassin
Ramadan, former deputy prime minister; and Awad Hamad
al-Bandar al-Saadun, former Revolutionary Court chief judge.
Other charges include the Halabja massacre, the launching of
the Iran-Iraq war and the invasion of Kuwait.
Defiant
Saddam Hussein's rule was characterised by a mixture of
megalomania and paranoia. His monuments were everywhere.
He even had Nebuchadnezzar's palace rebuilt, with his own name
printed on the bricks.
Scared for his own security, he slept in a different place
every night and used up to eight doubles.
Beneath the surface, his power was wielded through the armed
forces and a complex web of intelligence organisations.
Though he failed in his ambition of unifying the Arabs under
his leadership, Saddam Hussein remains, even after being put
on trial, defiant as ever.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/1099005.stm
Published: 2005/10/18 21:44:18 GMT
© BBC MMV
--
http://cyberjournal.org
"Apocalypse Now and the Brave New World"
http://www.cyberjournal.org/cj/rkm/Apocalypse_and_NWO.html
List archives:
http://cyberjournal.org/cj/show_archives/?lists=newslog
Subscribe to low-traffic list:
•••@••.•••
