Special Sub-Topic: December 14, 2003: A Day to Remember Click Here To Play: December 14, 2003: A Day to Remember

Saddam was born in al-Awja near Tikrit, Iraq. When was he born?

April 28, 1937. Saddam was born on April 28, 1937, in al-Awja near Tikrit, Iraq, a town on the Tigris River about 100 miles north of Baghdad. He was raised by his widowed mother. His father and his older brother died while his mother was pregnant with him. According to his biography on the Biography Channel, his mother never wanted him, and tried to commit suicide while she was pregnant.

What year did Saddam get married, the first time?

1963. Saddam married his cousin, Sajida, who was a high school teacher in Baghdad.

Saddam was a member of the Arab Baath Socialist Party. Why was the party originally founded?

To stop Western influence in Arab nations.. Saddam joined the party in 1955. In 1959 he was heavily involved with the assassination attempt of Iraqi prime minister 'Abd al-Karim Qasim. The party itself, when first formed, followed the ideas of Socialism. They believed in the ideals of Karl Marx, some where along the way, perhaps because Saddam idolized Josef Stalin, something went wrong, and the party became known for being cold blooded killers, amongst other things.

Saddam failed his assassination attempt of Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qasim, and fled from Iraq. Where did he go?

Cairo, Egypt. Saddam fled to Syria and then went to Cairo, Egypt, where he was under the protection of President Abdel Nasser. While in Cairo, he studied law.

What is Iraq's major source of wealth, which Saddam nationalized when he was vice chairman of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council in 1969?

oil. Saddam worked hard to improve Iraqi's living conditions. He used the money that oil brought in to build new schools, factories, and hospitals.

What year did Saddam become president of Iraq?

July 16, 1979. Saddam became the formal president of Iraq on July 16, 1979. The year after he became president, Iraq invaded Iran. His attempt was to gain control of the Straight of Hormuz.

The Iran-Iraq war cost Saddam a lot of money. So he decided to have another country help. This is a small country, with a big oil source. Which country did Iraq invade in 1990?

Kuwait. George Bush launched Operation Desert Storm to help the people of Kuwait. Many Americans complained then that we didn't get Saddam, why we didn't I do not know. I only trust that Bush had his reasons as he knew more than I did. However, Saddam did retreat out of Kuwait.

Saddam has been accused of hiding WMD. What does WMD stand for?

Weapons of mass destruction. In 2003, it was claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and on March 20, 2003, the United States began the war on Iraq 90 minutes after George W. Bush's deadline for Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq expired. Throughout the war, weapons of mass destruction were never found.

Saddam is Shia Muslim.

f. Saddam is a Sunni Muslim. Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Muslims. Saddam became a Muslim in 1990. Shia is the second largest group, and is considered by Saddam and others, to be a radical group.

On MSNBC, a TV station in the United States, they showed clips of the people in Iraq after Saddam was captured. What were the people yelling?

"Death to Saddam!". On December 13, 2003, Saddam was captured without a single gunshot being fired. The people in Iraq have been filled with joy. Saddam has kept them captive and scared in their own land for over three decades.