Editing Saddam Hussein (section)

==Rise to Power, Gulf War, and war on terrorism==
Several years later his party overthrew Abd. Then Ba'ath leaders joined the cabinet, and Abdul Salam Arif was appointed president. Later, however, he got greedy and sent all Baathist leaders to jail for a few years. [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]] lead a coup to overthrow Abdul in 1968, which was successful. Saddam Hussein was then appointed deputy of president Bakr.<ref name = facts>[https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/17/world/meast/saddam-hussein-fast-facts/index.html Saddam Hussein Fast Facts], ''CNN''</ref>

Saddam was basically moving the country forward while Bakr was leading. After moving up in rank several times Saddam was now the second most important person in the country. In 1979 Bakr decided to sign a treaty with Syria uniting the nations, but this would cause Saddam to lose a lot of power. He stressed and threatened Ahmad out of power, and was now the leader of Iraq.<ref>[https://irqnow.com/saddam1979/ The 1979 Saddam Hussein coup d'état in Iraq], ''Iraq Now''</ref> Soon after he gathered together 68 Ba'ath leaders who he called "disloyal to him", and killed 22.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-25363857 Saddam's 1979 Baath Party purge], ''BBC News''</ref> After a few months, hundreds of high-ranking officials in the Ba'ath Party were executed.

In 1980 Saddam gave weapons and safe haven to the Syrian [[Muslim Brotherhood]] seeking to overthrow another secular Ba'athist dictator, [[Hafez al-Assad]], in neighboring Syria whose Alawite regime was allied with Shi'a Iran. This was the beginning of Saddam's support for international [[terrorism]].

Saddam went to war with neighboring Iran in 1980, fearing that, [[Ruhollah Khomeini]], who rose to power in Iran, would rally Iraq's Shi'ite population against him.<ref name = facts></ref><ref>[https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/on-this-day-iran-iraq-war-begins-41-years-ago-680067 On This Day: Iran-Iraq War begins, 41 years ago], ''The Jerusalem Post''</ref> Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of Iran's post-revolutionary chaos, it made limited progress and was quickly repelled; Iran regained virtually all lost territory by June 1982.

For the next six years, Iran was on the offensive until near the end of the war. After accusing Kurdish forces of allying with Iran, he ordered his cousin [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]] to gas Kurdish forces in Northern Iraq. Iraqi Air Force helicopters rained chemical weapons – including mustard gas, Sarin, and VX nerve gas – upon scores of Kurdish villages, causing tens of thousands of Kurds as well as several Assyrians nearby to die from suffocation and burning.<ref>[https://nonproliferation.org/saddam-husseins-gassing-of-the-kurds-who-is-accountable-for-war-crimes/ Saddam Hussein’s gassing of the Kurds: who is accountable for war crimes?], James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies</ref>

The [[Anfal Genocide]] to the destruction of thousands of villages, the deportation of thousands of Kurds to southern and central Iraq, and the deaths of over 100,000 Kurds. The campaign takes its name from Surah al-Anfal in the Qur'an (the holy book of Islam), which describes the spoils of war. The campaign was also directed against other minority communities in the country including Assyrians, Shabaks, Yazidis, Jews, Mandaeans and Turkmens, and the villages of these ethnic groups were destroyed. An estimated 50,000 to 182,000 people were killed.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/ANFALINT.htm GENOCIDE IN IRAQ The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds], Human Rights Watch</ref>

After many uprisings in southern Iraq by Shia as well as Marsh Arabs, Saddam ordered the marches around the Tigris and Euphrates to be drained, causing the marshes to become desert. Dams and canals were built to divert the rivers away from the marshlands. Thousands of Marsh Arabs either died due to the drought, killed, or displaced. It was believed that his son [[Qusay Hussein|Qusay]] helped squash the uprisings. By 2000, it was estimated that 90% of the marshes had disappeared. Although there have been efforts to reflood the marshes, the droughts still affect southern Iraq today. This was labeled as one of the worst environmental disasters in modern history.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/legacy/backgrounder/mena/marsharabs1.htm The Iraqi Government Assault on the Marsh Arabs], Human Rights Watch</ref>

There were a number of proxy forces—most notably the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]] siding with Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdish militias of the KDP and PUK siding with Iran. The United States, Britain, Soviet Union, France, and most Arab countries provided political and logistic support for Iraq, while Iran was largely isolated. After eight years, war-weariness, economic problems, decreased morale, repeated Iranian military failures, recent Iraqi successes, Iraqi use of weapons of mass destruction, lack of international sympathy, and increased U.S.–Iran military tension all led to a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations in 1988.

In 1990, Saddam decided to invade Kuwait as he believed that Kuwait was historically a part of Iraq.<ref name = facts></ref> Iraq now had one fifth of the worlds oil. Worried that Iraq would invade Saudi Arabia and then control twice as much oil, the United States led a coalition of 35 countries to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. 
[[File:SaddamStatue.jpg|left|thumb]]
In 2001, in the aftermath of the [[September 11 attacks]], George W. Bush declared an "axis of evil" (similar to the [[Axis Powers]] of [[World War II]]) consisting of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. Saddam Hussein was accused by George W. Bush's Administration with making and possessing weapons of mass destruction and being linked to [[Al-Qaeda]]. After giving an ultimatum to leave Iraq or face invasion, the U.S. led coalition invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003, and Saddam was overthrown on April 9, with his statues being toppled in Firdos Square. Saddam Hussein was captured by American forces in Tikrit, his hometown, on December 13, 2003 in an operation named "Red Dawn".<ref>[https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/history/2022/12/13/jacksonville-florida-looks-back-fall-iraqi-leader-saddam-hussein/10774263002/ Dec. 13, 2003: A look back at the capture of Saddam Hussein], ''The Florida Times-Union''</ref>

In 2006 he was convicted of genocide and executed by hanging on December 30, 2006.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6218485.stm Saddam Hussein executed in Iraq], ''BBC News''</ref> However, as he had so many followers, the [[Iraq War]] continued until late 2011.