Special Sub-Topic: Saddam Hussein - The Iraqi Dictator Authored by: bretton Sub-topic of: Iraqi Government

Saddam Hussein was not a Muslim when he invaded Kuwait and was criticised by the Arab world for being unIslamic and the leader of a sectarian state. However he did publically convert to Islam right at the end of the 1990s.

t. Saddam converted to Islam in 1999, but still claimed to be a direct decendent of the prophet Mohammad.

Saddam Hussein was head of the Ba'ath Party who ran Iraq. The official full name of his party was the Arab Ba'ath ____ Party. Which word has been replaced by the blank?

Socialist. Although Saddam's tyranical regime would not be described by many as socialist (fascist would be a better description), the Ba'ath Party did in the past initiate pseudo-socialist projects by the building of schools and hospitals. Many political groups have used the term socialist in their title and been anything but so. For example the National Socialists (Nazis) hated Marxism, but included the term socialist in order to trick left-wingers into supporting them.

Name ONE of Saddam's two sons.

Qusay & Uday. Qusay and Uday were the product of Saddam's marriage to his cousin, Sajida. The younger brother, Qusay, headed the Republican Guard. Uday however was badly injured in an assasination attempt but was still an influential sidekick to Saddam at the outbreak of war.

In which of these towns did Saddam's cousin, 'Chemical Ali,' gas thousands of Kurds?

Halabja. The most famous incident was Halabja but there were other gassings. There were gassings in the Balisan valley, there were gassings along the Iranian border in the area of the Balak valley, there were gassings along the Turkish border where over 100,000 Iraqi Kurds fled to Turkey even prior to the Gulf War where they lived in terrible conditions and camps where they weren't in fact recognised as refugees. (BBC News website)

Saddam was born before Nazi Germany invaded Poland and World War II started?

t. Saddam was born in Tikrit on the 29th April 1937, two years before World War Two started.

Which of the following brutal dictators did Saddam like comparing himself to and saw as an idol?

Josef Stalin- Soviet Union. Saddam loved Stalin as he based his own evil regime on the Soviet Union's government during the time when Stalin ruled. The two men never met, but oddly enough they look very similar, particularly with the moustache.

What did Saddam refer to the first Gulf War in 1991 as?

The Mother of All Wars. Despite the fact Iraq was heavily defeated in this war, Saddam has always insisted that Iraq won!

In 1980 Saddam launched the Iran-Iraq War which was to last eight years and cost the lives of 400,000 Iraqis. (mainly soldiers). How many Iranians were killed in this conflict?

600,000. When Saddam launched this war for the territory, he thought it would be quick and easy as he thought the Iranians were weak. Soon things got so bad for the Iraqi invasion that Saddam decided to start gassing thousands of Iranian soldiers.

In 1979, Saddam Hussein replaced Amhed Hussan Bakr as President of Iraq. In which way exactly did he replace Amhed?

He was simply appointed when Bakr fell ill.. In 1963 the Ba'ath Party Saddam belonged to came to power, only to be overthrown a few months later. Saddam was jailed until 1968 when the Ba'ath Party came back to power and Saddam took a key governmental role. In 1979 Saddam replaced the ailing Amhed Hussan Bakr. (BBC News website)

Which 1990s movie jokingly makes Saddam out to be the homosexual lover of the Devil?

South Park- The Movie. This movie not only poked fun at Saddam, but also at American arrogance and irritating Canadians.