How was Saddam able to maintain Iraq I know he was Ruthless but he was a member of the Minority group there How did he manage to keep all these independent groups at bay for over 20 yrs. While I understand the threat of torture etc what is that to a suicide bomber? Maybe we just didn't hear much about it. Maybe we just didn't care. As this war wages on I wonder how much more Ruthless *we* will be forced to become in order to gain Order. Will we do it if necessary? Was he able to better suppress the flow of weapons? Rocket River
His ruthlessness was the primary way but he also used a system of largesse to award loyalty. On top of that his wars kept the Iraqis focussed on external enemies. Its also very likely that many Iraqis themselves supported the idea of having a strong man who could maintain order.
It would be easy to keep control. Anyone who does not agree with your way of running the country? Send them to prison or just shoot them. Develop a wide spy network that will report anyone who disagree with you. If you are willing to do that and have a large enough police/army, you can keep control of a country easily.
Saddam ruled with an iron fist, and that's why he kept factions from fighting and Iran in check. Since he was ousted, the factions are fighting and Iran is stronger than ever. The invasion and occupation of Iraq will go down as the worst foreign policy decision this country has ever made.
he killed any who opposed or had a chance to oppose him. Anyone see the video of when he was calling out names and then guards would walk in and take them away?
Why did external forces not align against him? He was running a Secular govt in the area I wonder why al-Queda and what have you were not against him Rocket River
Al Qaeda was against him. Osama Bin Ladin called him an apostate and wanted an Islamic insurgency to throw him out of Kuwait when he invaded. One of the reasons why Osama Bin Ladin had a falling out with the Saudi Royal family was that while he wanted Saddam out of Kuwait he vehemently opposed bringing in the US and non-Muslim forces to do so.
Pretty sure Saddam killed the entire family if one person ****ed up. Why would you suicide bomb if you knew after they found out who you were they would take your entire family and then torture and kill them. Your mom, your father, your brothers and sisters, your wife and kid if you have one.. All dead no matter how innocent they were. He was ruthlesss
One point is that as an Iraqi he was able to establish a security survaliance service which could develop intelligence and security sources that would not be possible for the 'outsider' Americans. Also, he benifited from political 'inertia'. Once he had a solid lid on everything it was much more difficult for unrest to move to a more energetic state, while the first thing we did was to rip the lid off the system and energize everything.
the biography channel had something on it. it was a pretty good documentary. basically he was gangsta and secret police everywhere. they never got close to that guy cause there were spies everywhere, u say you don't like him, you're beat down. charles oakleys at every corner.
Saddam also operated using tribal ties, Sunnis who knew they were in the minority and, as much as they may have disliked or hated Saddam, a tribal member or not (he bumped off some of his own people to gain and solidify his hold on power), they knew that if they lost power, things would very possibly turn ugly for them. Uglier for them than being under Saddam. An argument could be made that they were right. D&D. Replicant City.
ha ha i am having visions of bruce bowen w/ a saddam moustache and beret - sneaking up behind saddam dissidents and kicking them in the achilies. saddam loyalists calling into al-jazzera saying that bowen isnt dirty, he's just hard nosed.
The serious replies in this thread are very good. I'll just add that Arab nationalists outside of Iraq liked him because he was a secular Sunni who stood up to and fought Iran. This gained him huge points in the Arab world. The war against Iran even helped his standing with Iraqi Shias who resented the influence of Iran's hard-line mullahs.
That's part of it. What also helped make him 'tolerable' early on was his ability to modernize Iraq and bring it into the 20th century. During the 70's, Iraq was one of the richest countries in the region, and had a modern infrastructure that was the envy of its neighbors. Saddam did all that. Oh, he also had anti-communist tendencies and that put him in good standing with the West, which meant strong U.S. support (the French and British pitched in too). But hey, it was the Cold War. Then, the Islamic Revolution came and the Shah was toppled, which led to even more support for Saddam as a 'counterbalance' for Iran. The Iran-Iraq war pretty much sustained him through the 80's, where he was hailed as the "new Nasser", the leader of the Arab nation. Of course, he was also indirectly helping to carry out U.S. policy towards the new unfriendly regime in Tehran, so he was treated as a 'proxy'.
So, uhm..... Why was taking out Saddam our primary objective/target in the "War on terror"..? Sounds like for better or worse.. he was successful in keeping the reigion in "check"/ balance for 20yrs.. While those that removed him from power.. have had nothing but failure in attempting to do the same over a span of 6+ yrs..
