November 15, 2016 ▸ People, War & Conflict

Episode 145: Saddam Hussein: Evil Dictator or Evil Dictator?

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This issue of The Sofa King Podcast covers the life and death of one of this century’s greatest madmen, Saddam Hussein. Born to a poor family of sheepherders, he grew to be an evil despot who ruled Iraq through torture, assassination, murder, rape, and intimidation. So how did he go from nothing to such a powerful person?

For one, he was sent to be raised by relatives in Baghdad after his father disappeared and older brother died, and he was exposed to the Ba’ath Party. Here, he became a nationalist who politicized Islam for the good of his state. As part of his political training, he and a small group of other Ba’ath Party members decided to kill the country’s President Abd al-Karim Qasim, (as you do…) The assassination attempt failed, and Saddam had to flee to Egypt to keep from being put to death. While there, he got a law degree and stayed active in politics until the president of Iraq was finally ousted, and it was safe for him to return to his home country.

From there, he helped lead a coup that got President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr elected to the country. Saddam was named his deputy at only 32 years old and started to enact policies that changed all of Iraq, many for the positive. He nationalized oil reserves, improved healthcare, made sure literacy rates rose, worked on the country’s physical infrastructure and did many things a sane leader would do. However, he was also starting to stock pile Mustard gas and Sarin gas, and had pretty dark plans.

Eventually, he got the president overthrown and became the president of Iraq. It was here that he became the madman that the media makes him out to be. He started on the first month by having 200 prominent politicians killed and thousands jailed. He began a war with Iran that killed over a million people and saw him commit horrible war crimes which the US and the West ignored (though the CIA had proof he was doing it).

How many people did he kill with poison gas? How many were his own countrymen? What sadistic evils did his son Uday unleash on the population? Why did he invade Kuwait and start Desert Storm, and how did he really die? Listen, Laugh, Learn.