The Saddam Hussein Reader: Selections from Leading Writers on Iraq

Saddam Hussein has worn many hats since the last President Bush branded him "the dictator of Iraq" who "systematically raped, pillaged, and plundered" Kuwait before driving him from the country in 1991. Before the Gulf War, Hussein was a U.S. ally who led a modern, secular, and westernized Middle Eastern nation. Afterward, he was a defeated dictator on the brink of being ousted, the brutal repressor of the Kurds, and a cagey sanctions-dodging head of state, first foiling and then halting United Nations arms inspections. He has positioned himself as pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel, and the victim of crippling, murderous U.S. embargoes. As permanent Security Council member states called for an end to sanctions against Iraq, the Clinton administration maintained that Hussein was a ruthless leader who had put his people in the path of illness, bombs, and starvation to further his own ends. The current Bush administration has singled him out for removal. In this book, writers from across the political spectrum and across the world tackle Hussein's many public and private faces, discussing this complicated man and his long-suffering country. The result is a contentious and enlightening exploration of the secular Iraqi dictator who has become public enemy number one in America's near-holy war against terrorism. Selections are from leading commentators, such as Shyam Bhatia, Efraim Karsh, Khidr Abd Al-Abas, Elaine Sciolino, Fred Halliday, Mansour Farhang, Dilip Hiro, Christopher Hitchens, Edward Said, Kanan Mayika, Eqbal Ahmed, Andrew and Patrick Cockburn, Robert Fisk, and more.