I don suffer no be small Upon say I get sense Poverty no good at all, oo Na im make I join this business 419 no be thief, it's just a game Everybody dey play am if anybody fall mugu, ha! my brother I go chop am National Airport na me get am National Stadium na me build am President na my sister brother You be the mugu, I be the master Oyinbo man I go chop your dollar, I go take your money disappear 419 is just a game, you are the loser I am the winner The refinery na me get am, The contract, na you I go give am But you go pay me small money make I bring am you be the mugu, I be the master na me be the master ooo!!!! When Oyinbo play wayo, Dem go say na new style When country man do him own, Dem go dey shout: bring am, kill am, die! But Oyinbo people greedy (Dem greedy) I say dem greedy (Dem greedy) I don see them tire That's why when they fall enter my trap o! I dey show dem fire"
I used to work with an Iraqi man. He said everyone he knew had a family member killed by Saddam. But he also said Iraqis would rather have Saddam in power than be occupied by George Bush and the US. Imagine how much hate they could have for such a barbarous man. Now imagine how they would prefer him over being occupied. A benevolent dictator is sometimes the best leader for a people.
When that’s all you know of course you’ll hate the people that come in and ruin that false sense of stability. I bet if we went to North Korea to free those people, somehow the world would spin it around and turn it into a bad thing.
That's not what it is, though. A benevolent dictator is better than a bunch of benevolent dictators who hide under the guise of democracy as it is the case right now.
He didnt have them killed brother they went to war and died thats why america couldnt if gotten in if iraqis supported him but when america invaded all the military members were tired of him
But yes alot of stuff ppl said abt him we’re propganda he was one of the best presidents to come if only the kuwait war wasnr started that was a stupid war
@@baruckobungoo8225a “democracy” where you have “free speech” as long as you know not to cross red lines. GTFO and go eat a big mac if you can still afford it in your so called democracy
True, the guy was so evil that saddam had to literally imprison him repeatedly just to uphold his own reputation. Uday once got mad at Saddam’s favorite server at a party and in front of saddam, the president of Egypt, and multiple party guests, murdered him with a turkey knife
And for some reasons, Uday Hussein is always not included in every pro-Saddam Hussein's comments. Intentionally forgetting his existence and his impact on messed up Iraqi politics.
There's no disputing that dictatorships and authoritarian regimes can bring stability - at least temporarily. But if that stability is dependant on repression and the rule/whims/worship of one leader with no accountability, it's just liable to fall apart after a while.
You think the whims of the masses are somehow better then the whims of one man? Democracy will always choose the easy path and vote to give themselves more money even at the detriment of the future of the nation.
@@hydra8845 one unaccountable leader can be much more dangerous. Malignant narcissism and a sense of invincibility will develop in that individual. The unrestrained will of the masses can lead to anarchy and even another dictatorship, but it holds much more potential for accountability and a more free and equal society.
@@hydra8845 also, not everyone is voting to "give themselves more money". If you think that is what all voters are thinking about, that tells me a lot more about you.
I am an American who taught English in the Kurdish region of Iraq for 3 1/2 years (4 months in Zakho, a bit over a month in Sulaimaniyah, and 3 years in Duhok). I learned that most Kurds loathed Saddam while most Arabs looked back with nostalgia on his era. However, there were a few Kurds who had a positive view of Saddam. My best friend there told me that in Saddam's time you could travel from one end of the country to another in perfect safety. There was no terrorism. As long as you kept out of politics, you were fine. Gasoline and kerosene (used for space heaters) were so cheap they were almost free. Another Kurdish friend, from the town of Amedi, told me about when Saddam visited his house when he was child. Saddam made trips to towns around the country every month or so to be seen with the common people. My friend's father was a humble porter in the local market and he had eleven children, so theirs was a poor family. Well, Saddam (with his entourage) came to visit them. He asked, ""Sir, do you have a refrigerator?" Father: "No, Mr. President." Saddam (to an aide): "Get him one." (To the father): "Do you have a TV?" Father: "No, Mr. President." Saddam (to an aide): "Get him one." Saddam went away and the fridge and TV were promptly delivered. My friend said they were of good quality. He added that current Iraqi presidents go on similar goodwill visits to the provinces, but when they say they will send items, there is a long delay and the items are of poor quality. When Kurds learned that I was an American they were thrilled. The overwhelming majority were grateful to America for getting Saddam out of their region. Many had died and many had gone into exile during Saddam's time. Quite a few of my students at the university in Duhok had lived in Iran or various European countries during Saddam's time. Their families had only returned to Kurdistan after Saddam was overthrown. A lot of my fellow professors were Arabs from the city of Mosul. A number of them returned to Iraq from Libya after the Arab spring started in early 2011. In my mind the first question that occurred was, "Why the heck would you go from Iraq to a hellhole like Libya with its crazy leader Qaddafi?" After a while, though, I realized that Saddam's style of government was not atypical for the Middle East, nor was Qaddafi's. Authoritarian dictators are the norm, not the exception. So if you grow up in a country where such a government has always been the norm, regardless of whether the leader is called a king or a president, that is just how life is. If you see that all the countries around you are governed in the same way, it just seems normal. And as I see the terrific challenges faced by American democracy, I see that more than a few Americans wish that they lived under a dictator who supported their beliefs and prejudices.
I was born in Iraq 1958 left in 2014 permanently. I say definitely that people with nomadic mentality and Islamic heritage or beliefs( Arabs , Kurds, turks, afghans, even russians...etc, produce either aggressive dictators against his people and neighbor countries ( saddam, Hafiz Asad , kaddafi, Putin ...etc ) or they produce chaos. My advice to you. Keep your countried clean or as much as you can from those people as immigrants or refugees.
You purposefully didn't mention that Kuwait was stealing Iraqi oil in 1989-1990, and Saddam negotiated with them for more than one year before invading.
To be very clear: Saddam was a horrible leader who committed horrible crimes, however the framing of this video is absurd. The reason why Iraq was impoverished is transparently because of the USA. You at least mentioned the sanctions of the 90s but brushing aside the first gulf war is crazy… that war literally destroyed the entire Iraqi infrastructure, water plants, agricultural fields, electrical grids etc. Iraq had the highest standard of living in the Middle East at that point.
I was watching the films from "disturbing movie iceberg" When I watched a film under his rule, I literally threw up. I was amazed what this man was shown as a hero meanwhile what he committed on Shi'a Muslims, Marsh Arabs, Kurdish people. I request not to watch that documentary on archive website as you might need anti-depressants after it or may have sleepless nights. It has literal scenes of amputations on the streets, lashings, b-headings, I wonder how was he different from ISIS. His only safe group was the Assyrian/Chaldean Christians as he spent millions of dollars in their churches from Iraq to the Chicago, US in funds citing they are the only native people of modern Iraq meanwhile, all others like Circassians, Turkish, Mandeans, Shabaki, Kurds, everyone else were Arab. I mean - whaaaat?
I was quite shocked when I learned that a lot of Jordanians see Saddam as a hero figure, very often having his portrait on cars and so on. As I was told by one Jordanian, they believe that Saddam could do much better for the ME if only the rest of the Arab countries were willing to help him with his cause.
I am Jordanian, born & living in Jordan , what you report is very true, and in fact, I personally hold the same conviction, he is the Arab Napoleon, gifted and brave patriot who got very unlucky, and died defeated. We believe israel is the core cause of most tragedies in the region , it is the anomaly that keeps distorting our lives throughout the middle-east, Saddam was the first to attack and humiliate israel, this is THE origin of emotional attachment to him in the Arab world.
The way Saddam purged his political opponents on live TV while smoking a cigar is the most gangster thing I have ever seen. He also understood that combating theocratic sentiments is very important
@@Azzlad Yes, I do. In short: Saddam was the man in power behind the scenes. He concocted a scheme to purge the president and his opponents by accusing them of working together with Hafez Al-Assad on live television. This manoeuvre solidified his his status publicly. As I was saying it was pretty gangster how he did it. Hitler did it sneaky and Stalin overdid it.
Low Human Development Index & education is the root cause of idolizing those dictators blindly. Here in Indonesia most people who supported Soeharto dictatorship were the lowly educated ones.
@@DeadManSinging1That's not true, it was exactly the opposite. The British were essential in their involvement in the coup that brought him to power, as they expected he would align to their policy and objectives. But he quickly made a U-turn and cut ties with the UK early on his reign. For most of his goverment, he was aligned to the USSR (a major arms supplier) and Lybia.
Their anti-imperialist image created a rhetoric of goodwill. Sometimes they're perceived as the better of two evils. Me personally, I'd rather suffer at the hand of my own than that of an external force
03:19 this is 90s propaganda. In revealed interviews of US interrogating officers, Saddam said that his stepfather was very loving and warm, never discriminated between the children of the household, Saddam never held any grudge against him, rather he respected and loved him.
I mean, should we really take stock in what a mass murderer says about his father? I'm not saying it's impossible, just unlikely that he was raised by a warm and loving father.
He was negotiating and abiding by USA demands way before he was captured. Just listen to Scott Ritter. The war was about the ideology, they killed all the baathiat and all the intellectuals during their invasion, more of a pillaging
As early as April 1987, the Iraqis used chemical weapons to remove Kurds from their villages in northern Iraq during the Anfal campaign. It is estimated that chemical weapons were used on approximately 40 Kurdish villages, with the largest of these attacks occurring on March 16, 1988, against the Kurdish town of Halabja. Beginning in the morning on March 16, 1988, and continuing all night, the Iraqis rained down volley after volley of bombs filled with a deadly mixture of mustard gas and nerve agents on Halabja. Immediate effects of the chemicals included blindness, vomiting, blisters, convulsions, and asphyxiation. Approximately 5,000 women, men, and children died within days of the attacks. Long-term effects included permanent blindness, cancer, and birth defects. An estimated 10,000 lived, but live daily with the disfigurement and sicknesses from the chemical weapons. Saddam Hussein's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid was directly in charge of the chemical attacks against the Kurds, earning him the epithet, "Chemical Ali."
Saddam was great for iraq yes he was a dictator and did bad things which politician doesnt but saddam was great for iraq just look at the situation today even iraqi people are wishing saddam was still ruling them and he protected the sunni muslim from shia kafir
Great video. Hikma is one of my favorite creators. Being from the US, it’s extremely important to understand the dynamics and history of the Middle East.
You got it wrong buddy. The reason for invading Kuwait had to do with Kuwait pumping more oil than agreed with other gulf nations. Maybe don't do documentaries if you're not going to do proper research
its a sovereign country that can pump more oil all it wants iraq is not a gulf nation country saddam invaded kuwait to mitigate loses on the iran-iraq war and go for "quick money" that doesnt have high casualties Kuwait was a perfect country to seize for Iraq, small nation, almost no military preparations at the time, doesnt cause much casualties, and a high fucking income saddam was a tyrant no matter how you slice it, iraqis look at him fondly as a way to cope with what is happening now
Didn't watch the video yet, but i have an aunt who was 12 when got executed, i have relatives who were 2 and 4 years old when executed , and in the year 1991 there was an uprising, and Saddam's army was massively killing everyone even those who were trying to escape. Man was genociding his own people, not to mention the killing and the rape that happened after he invaded kuwait
Saddam was deposed by the US after many a times they tried through public revolts. Bqsically it was done to serve Iraq on a platter to shia IRan. Since Iraq has nearly all the sacred cities of Rafidism.
Saddam Hussein from his beginning of his political career was treacherous always betrayed his comrades to achieve his rank as the dictator. He tortured and imprisoned his political opponents and many innocents, the videos are online showing how innocents are beaten and tortured cruelly. His war against Iran crippled the economy and saw the loss of over one million Iraqis die fighting for him. He used chemical weapons against the Kurds killing thousands and against the Iranian when they managed to push back Iraq at the end of the war. His impulsive behavior continued when he invaded Kuwait where every family there lost a member; there are countless records of executions in broad daylight and war crimes of this war and the destruction of oil fields which caused one of the most catastrophic environmental disasters in the middle east. Let alone his son who tortured football players for losing matches and raped many women in universities and night clubs. This man is no hero. People turn a blind eye to all of his crimes just because Iraq was better off with him than the mess that was left after his downfall.
@@a7wdxim not opposing what you’re saying but can you give me sources so i can read more about this? Im just curious and im not disagreeing with you or anything, i honestly just wanna read with more context.
This "rich" man you accuse of spending his time in night clubs without providing any evidence wore his military uniform if not most of the time inside of iraq, whether it was for inspecting his soldiers or visiting farmers sitting beside them in the middle of the desert.
And of course His Kind Side plenty of Times. Made education free, schools free, healthcare free, nationalized oil, defended the arabs, stood Up for palestine, protected iraq from foreign influence etc.
@@vengefullight4665 are you really that d@mb? He could have packed his bags with Money and gold, take His Family and left iraq on a private Jet before the war even began. Instead He stayed. He Always stayed. It wasnt until his sons and grandson died in Battle along with his Army collapsing, that He decide to hide instead of offering him on a silver palette. What would you call prophet Mohammed (sas) that fled to meddina?
He literally destroyed the economy left his people in poverty torture and killed alot of innocent people he even massacred the poor kurds went war with Iran destroyed the economy inflation infrastructure invaded kuwait a small muslim country and you call him hero brave? why was he hiding in a hole then?
@@初日の出_初日の入りIraq Only Lost 1500 Soldiers In That War. Keep Seething weeb. And Have A Happy Great Replacement... america Lost 70K Soldiers In Iraq. More Than Vietnam. The american Military Was Wiped Out By The Iraqi People...
Iraq wasn't stable under the Ottomans, it spent decades effectively independent under Georgian Mamluks then under several more under direct Ottoman rule. The British mandate didn't have entirely unnatural borders they corresponded roughly to theboundaries of the three Ottoman vilayet Thad had usually been considered together. The British administration was incompetent as was true across Asia from the Mediterranean to Burma. The idea of handing the country over to a monarchy drawn from a small segment of the population was a particularly bad one. The Baathist coup produced another unrepresentative regime but one important factor was missed in the video and that's US failure to mens bridges with Iran. From 82 onwards Saddam was only able to fight the Iran-Iraq war because of US assistance funneled through other countries like Britain and and Italy plus arms dealers to which America turned a blind eye. The US also gave Saddam diplomatic cover for its use of chemical weapons and didn't do anything about the USS Stark incident. Saddam seemed to believe that once The US had supported him they always would and that turned out to be a grave error
@@Matt_The_Hugenot it seems you didn't hear about Iran Contra? USA also sent arms to Iran and allowed it to get spare parts for its American-made aircraft.
@@MuhammedAL-Chad-nz4jx true, if you add Kurds the Sunnis are majority definitely , but among Arabs ; Shiites are either equal or have a small majority to Sunnis
@@mogh2603Yes. A Small And A Very Diminishing "majority" Also, Basra Used To Be Sunni Before The Massacres That Happened After 2003. Will Be Sunni Again...
I think what you're offering with this video is truly valuable, and I say so in particular because of our current context in time. English language media has had a series of oversaturated gluts of Saddam indictments on repeat in the past, and in such a context a documentary like this would address real facts but in an environment where their meaning as political intervention would be limited and (for example in the run up to the 2003 invasion) potentially distracting. Today, particularly for a younger and more politically engaged audience, circumstances are different, and I admire how you recognize that. Today the most strident social media-based discourse on recent and historical violence in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen etcetera has an issue that pervaded US dialogue to disastrous effect preceding and during the Iraq War: the trappings of ethics used to cloak a primally-motivated good-guy against bad-guy form of tribalism. The magnitude of the impact of netizens extolling Assad, Saddam, or their Islamist counterparts elsewhere is obviously not comparable with that of the US intelligence and political establishments' manic convulsions, at least I don't see how anyone taking themselves seriously could compare them. Still toxicity in political discourse undercuts its efficacy and alienates us all. In the same way Saddam's disgusting cruelty impacted Iraq both through the culture of internal state repression and by reflection through external actors and their Saddam-contingent choices, we can expect historical cults of personality and selective ethics in general to hurt the dialogue of history/politics/intergroup relations both as a toxic culture and through its reflections produced when such toxicity is seen by free-agents in the external political space. Sometimes the most searing counterargument to a serious political movement can be listening to its most vocal proponents. This is always such a tragic shame. Again I appreciate this video as an intervention against partisan apologism for a creature who is increasingly recast as a solution to injustice. I trust in your intentions because of your willingness to challenge hypocrisy, but to be honest if you'd asked me in advance about whether a video called "How Saddam impoverished Iraq" were necessary I'd be like, "nah man the English language audience doesn't need to hate on Saddam more, once you recognize evil as evil further litigation against it mostly risks the exclusion of wider understanding". Reading your comments I see how wrong I would have been. Apparently an upsettingly large contingent of the internet only has the mental bandwidth to process the existence of one bad-guy. I find it impossible to blame those who have had their dreams and safety, loved ones or life ripped from them by violence if they see the world in black and white. At the same time even if I tried I couldn't smother my shame in those who pantomime political perspectives that emerge from trauma like the pro-Saddam revival, in spite of living privileged lives like my own. Hopefully this video will help detoxify our culture of dialogue. All the best.
@@try2justbe Even if he might live in the West now, he clearly has a Mideast origin from his channel name to his slight but perceivable accent. You have no idea mate.
@@mr.goldenproductions_0143 I'm pretty sure he's not from the Middle east. The name of his channel is no proof as arabic names are used all across the muslim world, especially in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. His accent is desi, too. it's not Middle Eastern. Edit: btw I'm from Iraq, and I've lived through the period he is talking about. So did my family, and this video is full of baised misinformation right from the start.
@@try2justbe So Saddam was a good guy? Come on man, I know quite a lot of guys from Iraq myself, and the constant terror and arbitrary violence and torture they recounted is not the way to a happy or prosperous society.
your information regarding the invasion of Kuwait, the first gulf war and the economic embargo are very inaccurate. Also in regards to the chemical attack on Halabja, you failed to mention the involvement of both the CIA and Iran. All and all, your video is very biased.
And the Iranians always had a much more powerful navy than Iraq. So Saddam probably wasn't going to be taking control of the Persian Gulf in the Iran-Iraq War.
Yes correct. But even though the Iraq/Iran war is regarded as a stalemate, Iraq had way more successes than Iran during that decade long war and by 1990 Iraq's military was also larger and more powerful than Iran's military
@@keananruiters9373tactical successes, yes. But Saddam failed to achieve any of his war aims (stop the Islamic Revolution in Iran, contain Iranian influence, gain control of Khuzestan and the Shaat-al-Arab waterway). Yes, the Iraqis were able to prevent a retaliatory Iranian invasion and takeover of Iraq (temporarily - Iraq is pretty much in Tehran's sphere of influence right now). But that was at a massive cost and left Iraq basically bankrupt. They couldn't keep paying for that enormous military of theirs. Hence the reason why Saddam ended up invading Kuwait, to get the oil money to pay his massive debts (which he was primarily responsible for racking up). So Iraq's 'victory' in the '80s war with Iran was a very hollow one. And like I said, it wouldn't last. Saddam brought his country into conflict with the west, his regime got invaded and collapsed - and then Iran and its proxies pretty much filled the power vacuum.
@@barracuda6900 Agreed! But he did stop Iran's influence big time. Iran was nowhere near as powerful and influential as it is now when Saddam was still in charge of Iraq. That's why a lot of the war cheerleaders in Washington and London at the time now all concede that getting rid of him was a mistake, especially learning that he actually wanted to join them in containing terrorist groups after 9/11. And the with regards to Iran, their main objective was to get rid of Saddam and the Ba'ath party in Iraq. Not only did they not get even close to getting rid of him and the party, but like I said by 1990, Hussein had built up the largest and most powerful military in the middle East with the exception of the Israeli military.
My uncle died from the aftermath of the Kuwaiti Oil Fire. He suffered lung problems, seizures and other ailments. He was a US Army Soldier whose Army Unit from Ft Hood happened to arrive so close to the Oil fire. His unit was never issued gas masks. That is what Gulf War Syndrome was. He would die from all of a septic shock syndrome 1 month to the 14th anniversary of the Liberation of Kuwait. Saddam Hussein being hunged like a cry baby as a result of a guilty verdict by the rule of law in a war crimes and crimes against humanity trial.
I've seen so many videos of Saddam Hussein, but this one is another one to add to the great vault. Thanks Hikma History for another great video! Love learning more about the history of the Middle East.
Hum... I feel that this video, for all it's good intentions, suffers from murrica's "worldview propaganda". Oh, it's a good opportunity to recommend the first season of the podcast Blowback. It's obligatory listening (the Gulf War was partially instigated by murrica).
Saddam destroyed my hometown, Khorramshahr. I’m sick of western kids like you who think they’re open minded and intelligent when they defend Saddam or the Islamic regime in Iran. Your arrogance is due simply to your ignorance and false sense of self-righteousness. Go back to playing your video games and stop trying to pretend that you understand anything.
Well 70% of iraqi shia don't think he is a lion he is a coward dictator who ran like a rat when Murica invade Iraq how brave and lion react when somebody invade your country 😂
@@shahidabdoullakhanzorovr1564 Only idiots would say, in the age of the internet, that Shias worship Ali. Are you confusing us for Nusayris like Bashar al-Assad?
My late father loved him He always updated the news during saddams execution Now we've overthrown dictator hasina But I had immense respect for saddam like my father Let's build our country 🇧🇩🇮🇶❤
I was born in Khorramshahr in 1977 . Half of my extended family are from Dezful. I don’t respect the views of people who have gained or lost nothing by Saddam decisions and actions. Neither do I think anyone who hasn’t been directly impacted, or seen what happened, has any way to pass judgement on Saddam.
Saddem the opinion of his people about him, you find half of Iraqi people with him, they like him as a leader , and half of them against him, this is inside Iraq - and for us the others arabs countries, the majority of us we like him, total point view we like him like a leader -This is for you from a Tunisian here speaks with you from Tunisia here, give you how it look the things if you ask in this region if you ask
Excellent video, the nation's biggest problem is that there's still such a big divided amongst religious tensions ethnic tensions and tribalism to the fact that they don't trust each other enough in order to create a functioning government. Yes Saddam could do that but only because he basically forced people to get along they as a society has just not developed enough yet but they can get along with each other without trying to monopolize power or trying to take it from those who have it.
Yeah saddam was bad but he wasn't that bad compared to people that currently in charge of the country , iraq is literally a failed state because of their mismanagement
I'm not an Iraqi , but I am an Arab in the Middle East, and I think that may be Saddam bought some stability to Iraq by controlling all aspects of the country , though I'm sure it was quite far from perfect ; I also think that many would prefer a patriot nationalist dictator in appearance than a democrat in appearance who is not .
Obviously Saddam as leader should take full responsibility for the deterioration of almost all aspects of Iraqi socioeconomic life. But to seemingly ignore the role America & it's lackeys played in the slow destruction of Iraq, is to me unfair. Take for example the issue of UN sanctioned weapons inspectors. The whole matter was basically a wild goose chase formulated by America as one of the key reasons justifying the harsh raft of sanctions. Which hurt ordinary Iraqi's than the elites.
Couldn't agree more. The sanctions were inhumane to put it mildly. This video however, intends to be a biography of Saddam; so the emphasis was on him.
@@MoeMa4 Time to held Iraqi politicians like Saddam & Uday accountable for their corruption, for their unnecessary war against Iran which made Iraq in huge debt & economic crisis, plus the subsequent Saddam invasion of Kuwait because his country under his administration clearly failed & bankrupt.
I love your video. But the prejudice is strong with this one. Iraq has the highest standard of living in the middle east back then. Until the gulf war and the sanctions afterwards destroyed it
Gulf War & sanctions did huge damage, but let's not forget the Iran-Iraq War before that which left Iraq with hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. Not to mention, it was Saddam's decision to invade Kuwait that invited the Gulf War.
Define "standard of living". When your relatives randomly disappear and When you are constantly being spied on is that a high "standard of living"? Who cares about justice when there are good roads right?
@@HikmaHistorybut you need to ask yourself why did saddam invade kuwait , was it because the kuwaitis were digging up Iraqi oil from underground or was it to preserve Iraqi sovereignty? 🇮🇶🇮🇶🇮🇶
@@HistoryOfRevolutionswomen were free to do what they wanted, religious freedom noone was killing each other no terrorists , Iraq was a major league nation 🇮🇶🇮🇶🇮🇶
The regicide of King Faisal II is what sent Iraq down the dark path, the Hashemites were descendants of the prophet would’ve bridged the gap between Iraq’s Sunnis and Shias. What was done to the young king was especially cruel and shameful, and set the precedent for the strongman mafia style rule that followed. I think restoring the Hashemites under a constitutional monarchy would be the best solution for Iraq, Jordan already is an example of what parliamentary monarchy under a Hashemite king can look like.
In the Arab world we believe israel is the core cause of most tragedies in the region , it is the anomaly that keeps distorting our lives throughout the middle-east, Saddam was the first to attack and humiliate israel, this is THE origin of emotional attachment to him in the Arab world.
Along with that my cousin who used to live in Iraq she said that under saddam the women that lived there weren’t suppressed like the media says so, if I’m not mistaken she said that most women rights were on par if not better under saddam
"As the waistline of Saddam expanded, so did his vision of his country". Here it shows that he cares also for the Iraqis...while you said that he favored his interests more than his people...that is not true... double standard.
Saddam was a dictator And this is true But those who paid the price for the Gulf War, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and the American invasion of Iraq were other than the Iraqi people themselves You said Saddam was tried for his crimes Why were the soldiers who killed Iraqi civilians not tried, and why was Bush not tried for his crimes for lying to his people and killing only 1 million Iraqi citizens? Bush is still suffering from the Iraqi invasion, and this memory will accompany him throughout his life
For anyone who is interested, check out the book "Republic of Fear" by Kanan Makiya. There is a more recent version, but the 1989 one is still very insightful. The forced disappearances of citizens would occur over things as simple as criticizing the clothes Saddam wore in televised addresses. If the body was returned, and that's a big if, the crude box it was in would be sealed with notices that opening the crude casket was a crime that carried the death penalty. So you were forced to accept the "suicide" of your husband or wife, son or daughter, lest you become another "suicide" victim. Really sick stuff.
He, like Qadaffi, is seen as a hero to some, as what came next would have been unimaginable as we in the west messed up liberation. We should have never got involved in the first place.
Appreciate your summary of Saddam Hussein and Iraq. I do not know how much of your report is accurate and how much of it are lies. Assuming you report is accurate then it demonstrates the challenge of Middle Eastern states in the modern era. The obvious truth is that the modern world is dominated by the truly industrialized countries. These modern industrialized nations are the most developed in the world. They are economically, socially, and politically developed when compared to the rest of the countries in the world like India, China, Iran, Iraq, ... I hear the narrator claiming Saddam modernized and Iraq prosperous by selling petroleum to the rest of the world. The truth is Iraq is a backward, pre-industrial country. Saddam's modernization was imported from the industrialized countries (the US, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, ...) to raise the standard of living for the Iraqi people. The industrialized countries created the modern machines. Saddam is a product of a pre-industrial, backward society. He only understands absolute power. He understands that his power comes from his military. He understands that he can use his military to take wealth from other people. Today it is the industrialized countries (the US, the UK, France, Germany, ...) who really control the world. It is the industrialized countries who can impose their interests on the rest of the world. Israel exists because the industrialized countries of NATO want Israel to exist. The four Arab and Muslim countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) that surround and attack Israel were defeated in 5 days. Can you imagine that? A tiny, little country like Israel can defeat 4 of its neighbors in 5 days. That is not the power of Israel. That is the industrialized power of the US, the UK, France, Germany, and other NATO allies. The existence of Israel and the defeat of its 4 Muslim neighbors in 5 days demonstrate the dominance of the industrialized countries of Western Civilization. Saddam can attack Iran or Kuwait, but that is all Iraq can do. The world has changed very little since WWII. The developed, industrialized countries of today are the same countries as before WWII with the addition of South Korea. The remaining countries are still backward. The rest of the world will remain under-developed until they can create a modern society. A democratic society with a republican form of government. A society governed by the Rule of Law and protection of individual rights and property.
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Please make a video about the 1979-1983 Kurdish Iran war I can help u
Evil maniac as a Kuwaiti person 😂
-this message was sponsored by the sabah family
@@EANașirofficial ? I’m not Kuwaiti I’m Kurdish
@@zanaahmadi123 i am
I don suffer no be small
Upon say I get sense
Poverty no good at all, oo
Na im make I join this business
419 no be thief, it's just a game
Everybody dey play am
if anybody fall mugu,
ha! my brother I go chop am
National Airport na me get am
National Stadium na me build am
President na my sister brother
You be the mugu, I be the master
Oyinbo man I go chop your dollar,
I go take your money disappear
419 is just a game, you are the loser I am the winner
The refinery na me get am,
The contract, na you I go give am
But you go pay me small money make I bring am
you be the mugu, I be the master
na me be the master ooo!!!!
When Oyinbo play wayo,
Dem go say na new style
When country man do him own,
Dem go dey shout: bring am, kill am, die!
But Oyinbo people greedy (Dem greedy) I say dem greedy (Dem greedy)
I don see them tire
That's why when they fall enter my trap o!
I dey show dem fire"
I used to work with an Iraqi man. He said everyone he knew had a family member killed by Saddam. But he also said Iraqis would rather have Saddam in power than be occupied by George Bush and the US.
Imagine how much hate they could have for such a barbarous man. Now imagine how they would prefer him over being occupied.
A benevolent dictator is sometimes the best leader for a people.
When that’s all you know of course you’ll hate the people that come in and ruin that false sense of stability. I bet if we went to North Korea to free those people, somehow the world would spin it around and turn it into a bad thing.
No One Wants Foreign Rule...
That's not what it is, though. A benevolent dictator is better than a bunch of benevolent dictators who hide under the guise of democracy as it is the case right now.
He didnt have them killed brother they went to war and died thats why america couldnt if gotten in if iraqis supported him but when america invaded all the military members were tired of him
But yes alot of stuff ppl said abt him we’re propganda he was one of the best presidents to come if only the kuwait war wasnr started that was a stupid war
America calls everyone a dictator except themselves.
because US presidents are elected and dictators came in coups
True but sadly American is now controlled by Zionist so it’s gonna get worse from here
That’s because the us aren’t dictators we vote for congress men and other politicians and they vote for the president
Bc they aren't, they're a democracy
@@baruckobungoo8225a “democracy” where you have “free speech” as long as you know not to cross red lines. GTFO and go eat a big mac if you can still afford it in your so called democracy
I recently learnt about Saddam's son, Uday, and, erm... good lord.
He makes Saddam look nice.
This video was originally intended to be 45-ish mins, the section on Uday was one of the casualties unfortunately. What a messed up human being.
Most likely a result of his parents being first cousins.
Strange tradition, if you ask me.
True, the guy was so evil that saddam had to literally imprison him repeatedly just to uphold his own reputation. Uday once got mad at Saddam’s favorite server at a party and in front of saddam, the president of Egypt, and multiple party guests, murdered him with a turkey knife
@@oneshothunter9877 Probably. And being one of the most spoilt brats in history.
And for some reasons, Uday Hussein is always not included in every pro-Saddam Hussein's comments. Intentionally forgetting his existence and his impact on messed up Iraqi politics.
There's no disputing that dictatorships and authoritarian regimes can bring stability - at least temporarily. But if that stability is dependant on repression and the rule/whims/worship of one leader with no accountability, it's just liable to fall apart after a while.
It would still be a dictatorship if he worked with cia
You think the whims of the masses are somehow better then the whims of one man? Democracy will always choose the easy path and vote to give themselves more money even at the detriment of the future of the nation.
@@hydra8845 one unaccountable leader can be much more dangerous. Malignant narcissism and a sense of invincibility will develop in that individual. The unrestrained will of the masses can lead to anarchy and even another dictatorship, but it holds much more potential for accountability and a more free and equal society.
@@hydra8845 also, not everyone is voting to "give themselves more money". If you think that is what all voters are thinking about, that tells me a lot more about you.
Define stability
I am an American who taught English in the Kurdish region of Iraq for 3 1/2 years (4 months in Zakho, a bit over a month in Sulaimaniyah, and 3 years in Duhok). I learned that most Kurds loathed Saddam while most Arabs looked back with nostalgia on his era. However, there were a few Kurds who had a positive view of Saddam. My best friend there told me that in Saddam's time you could travel from one end of the country to another in perfect safety. There was no terrorism. As long as you kept out of politics, you were fine. Gasoline and kerosene (used for space heaters) were so cheap they were almost free.
Another Kurdish friend, from the town of Amedi, told me about when Saddam visited his house when he was child. Saddam made trips to towns around the country every month or so to be seen with the common people. My friend's father was a humble porter in the local market and he had eleven children, so theirs was a poor family. Well, Saddam (with his entourage) came to visit them. He asked, ""Sir, do you have a refrigerator?" Father: "No, Mr. President." Saddam (to an aide): "Get him one." (To the father): "Do you have a TV?" Father: "No, Mr. President." Saddam (to an aide): "Get him one." Saddam went away and the fridge and TV were promptly delivered. My friend said they were of good quality. He added that current Iraqi presidents go on similar goodwill visits to the provinces, but when they say they will send items, there is a long delay and the items are of poor quality.
When Kurds learned that I was an American they were thrilled. The overwhelming majority were grateful to America for getting Saddam out of their region. Many had died and many had gone into exile during Saddam's time. Quite a few of my students at the university in Duhok had lived in Iran or various European countries during Saddam's time. Their families had only returned to Kurdistan after Saddam was overthrown.
A lot of my fellow professors were Arabs from the city of Mosul. A number of them returned to Iraq from Libya after the Arab spring started in early 2011. In my mind the first question that occurred was, "Why the heck would you go from Iraq to a hellhole like Libya with its crazy leader Qaddafi?" After a while, though, I realized that Saddam's style of government was not atypical for the Middle East, nor was Qaddafi's. Authoritarian dictators are the norm, not the exception. So if you grow up in a country where such a government has always been the norm, regardless of whether the leader is called a king or a president, that is just how life is. If you see that all the countries around you are governed in the same way, it just seems normal. And as I see the terrific challenges faced by American democracy, I see that more than a few Americans wish that they lived under a dictator who supported their beliefs and prejudices.
Well spoken
Shia also loathed him, practically only the Sunni majority that benefited from his regime miss him.
He was a leader you either loved or hated
I was born in Iraq 1958 left in 2014 permanently.
I say definitely that people with nomadic mentality and Islamic heritage or beliefs( Arabs , Kurds, turks, afghans, even russians...etc, produce either aggressive dictators against his people and neighbor countries ( saddam, Hafiz Asad , kaddafi, Putin ...etc ) or they produce chaos.
My advice to you. Keep your countried clean or as much as you can from those people as immigrants or refugees.
@@akhagop4123 not necessarily, any and all people have the capacity for chaos.
You purposefully didn't mention that Kuwait was stealing Iraqi oil in 1989-1990, and Saddam negotiated with them for more than one year before invading.
But the real reason for the invasion was that, that Quwait wanted their money back. The money that Saddam borrowed to invade another neighbor, Iran.
Also not mentioned is the subsequent reoccupation of Iraqi oilfields by foreign powers after the second gulf war.
Shut up
I am interested. Sources?
@@Kazz-k5ckuwait belongs to iraq
21:08 " Iraqi court of law",, under American military occupation.... What a Joke
To be very clear: Saddam was a horrible leader who committed horrible crimes, however the framing of this video is absurd. The reason why Iraq was impoverished is transparently because of the USA. You at least mentioned the sanctions of the 90s but brushing aside the first gulf war is crazy… that war literally destroyed the entire Iraqi infrastructure, water plants, agricultural fields, electrical grids etc. Iraq had the highest standard of living in the Middle East at that point.
Nope it because of saddam
If saddam didn’t stupidly invade Kuwait America wouldn’t invade Iraq
You are so wrong @@mustafaali3333-q1m
The guy impoverished Iraq by declaring war on Iran, which led to untold suffering and bankrupt every aspect of the country. . It was not the USA.
It was because Saddam invaded Iran. That war bankrupted the country. It was not the USA, you idiot. Sadam was not a real muslim.
I was watching the films from "disturbing movie iceberg"
When I watched a film under his rule, I literally threw up. I was amazed what this man was shown as a hero meanwhile what he committed on Shi'a Muslims, Marsh Arabs, Kurdish people.
I request not to watch that documentary on archive website as you might need anti-depressants after it or may have sleepless nights.
It has literal scenes of amputations on the streets, lashings, b-headings,
I wonder how was he different from ISIS.
His only safe group was the Assyrian/Chaldean Christians as he spent millions of dollars in their churches from Iraq to the Chicago, US in funds citing they are the only native people of modern Iraq meanwhile, all others like Circassians, Turkish, Mandeans, Shabaki, Kurds, everyone else were Arab.
I mean - whaaaat?
what is the name of the documentary?
@@cameraman1234567890a search for "Buried in the Sand" but I would insist not to watch it, it would give you horrors for weeks to come.
@@cameraman1234567890a Buried in the Sand
I assume the reason why they were protected was because the only guy he trusted, Tariq Aziz, was a Chaldean Christian and this was his patronage
No surprise there, a lot of ISIS terrorists are former Saddam military and police agents.
Thanks!
My pleasure!
I was quite shocked when I learned that a lot of Jordanians see Saddam as a hero figure, very often having his portrait on cars and so on. As I was told by one Jordanian, they believe that Saddam could do much better for the ME if only the rest of the Arab countries were willing to help him with his cause.
I am Jordanian, born & living in Jordan , what you report is very true, and in fact, I personally hold the same conviction, he is the Arab Napoleon, gifted and brave patriot who got very unlucky, and died defeated.
We believe israel is the core cause of most tragedies in the region , it is the anomaly that keeps distorting our lives throughout the middle-east, Saddam was the first to attack and humiliate israel, this is THE origin of emotional attachment to him in the Arab world.
No Such Thing As "middle east" It's Called Arabia And It's For Arabs Only...
Another great video Hikma!
Great video as always hikma
The way Saddam purged his political opponents on live TV while smoking a cigar is the most gangster thing I have ever seen. He also understood that combating theocratic sentiments is very important
Combatting theocracy is very important for people who want to destroy their countries with the curse of God
@@موسى_7 Especially islamic theocracy
They’ weren’t just political enemies they were trying to sell Iraq to Syria
He also proved to be the biggest idiot that ruled the country and his foolish wars and dictatorship and destruction can still be felt today in Iraq
@@Azzlad Yes, I do. In short: Saddam was the man in power behind the scenes. He concocted a scheme to purge the president and his opponents by accusing them of working together with Hafez Al-Assad on live television. This manoeuvre solidified his his status publicly. As I was saying it was pretty gangster how he did it. Hitler did it sneaky and Stalin overdid it.
I am not surprised many Iraqis look at him fondly. Here in Africa, some people now venerate dictators and brutal tyrants like Idi Amin😮💨
Low Human Development Index & education is the root cause of idolizing those dictators blindly. Here in Indonesia most people who supported Soeharto dictatorship were the lowly educated ones.
@@orboakin8074 only sunnis Iraqis that is nor more than 5-8% love him kurds asw ell as shias basically 90% plus population hate this bast ard saddam 😏
Funniest thing about Idi Amin, he was for most of his reign a British puppet - But many Africans praise him as a liberator who was anti West.
@@DeadManSinging1That's not true, it was exactly the opposite. The British were essential in their involvement in the coup that brought him to power, as they expected he would align to their policy and objectives. But he quickly made a U-turn and cut ties with the UK early on his reign. For most of his goverment, he was aligned to the USSR (a major arms supplier) and Lybia.
Their anti-imperialist image created a rhetoric of goodwill. Sometimes they're perceived as the better of two evils. Me personally, I'd rather suffer at the hand of my own than that of an external force
15:01 If Saddam's image was "as constant as the sun in the sky" does that mean it disappeared for 12 hours per day?
Only when you’re asleep
The sun is still in the sky, youre just facing a part of the sky where the Sun isn't visible.
@@lastword8783 The sun is in space, that's not the same thing as the sky.
Maybe he travelled a lot?..
Looking at his face only when the sun shined was no small commitment.
03:19 this is 90s propaganda. In revealed interviews of US interrogating officers, Saddam said that his stepfather was very loving and warm, never discriminated between the children of the household, Saddam never held any grudge against him, rather he respected and loved him.
I mean, should we really take stock in what a mass murderer says about his father? I'm not saying it's impossible, just unlikely that he was raised by a warm and loving father.
Are you really trying to sit here and argue that The American Governments word holds more value than Saddam's? 🤣 How thick headed can you be
Starts at 2:55
"I am the president of Iraq and I am willing to negotiate." -Saddam Hussein upon his capture.
what was he supposed to say then ''howdy parTner''?
He was negotiating and abiding by USA demands way before he was captured. Just listen to Scott Ritter. The war was about the ideology, they killed all the baathiat and all the intellectuals during their invasion, more of a pillaging
"Yea right old man, get the fuck out of that hole" -US Army Soldier
He's a countries president he's not supposed to be arrested by a foreign power unless he f'ed so bad
The occupying Americans said
As early as April 1987, the Iraqis used chemical weapons to remove Kurds from their villages in northern Iraq during the Anfal campaign. It is estimated that chemical weapons were used on approximately 40 Kurdish villages, with the largest of these attacks occurring on March 16, 1988, against the Kurdish town of Halabja.
Beginning in the morning on March 16, 1988, and continuing all night, the Iraqis rained down volley after volley of bombs filled with a deadly mixture of mustard gas and nerve agents on Halabja. Immediate effects of the chemicals included blindness, vomiting, blisters, convulsions, and asphyxiation.
Approximately 5,000 women, men, and children died within days of the attacks. Long-term effects included permanent blindness, cancer, and birth defects. An estimated 10,000 lived, but live daily with the disfigurement and sicknesses from the chemical weapons.
Saddam Hussein's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid was directly in charge of the chemical attacks against the Kurds, earning him the epithet, "Chemical Ali."
Saddam was great for iraq yes he was a dictator and did bad things which politician doesnt but saddam was great for iraq just look at the situation today even iraqi people are wishing saddam was still ruling them and he protected the sunni muslim from shia kafir
True
Bad to worse does not make the bad good
Great video. Hikma is one of my favorite creators. Being from the US, it’s extremely important to understand the dynamics and history of the Middle East.
Should have spoken more about al anfal the genocide on kurds
Saddam is an example of what intellectuals like Hobbes like but what every citizen hates!
Saddam and the Baath party nationalised the Iraqi oil.
You got it wrong buddy. The reason for invading Kuwait had to do with Kuwait pumping more oil than agreed with other gulf nations. Maybe don't do documentaries if you're not going to do proper research
This channel is propaganda and research of public opinion, reporting facts is irrelevant.
its a sovereign country that can pump more oil all it wants
iraq is not a gulf nation country
saddam invaded kuwait to mitigate loses on the iran-iraq war and go for "quick money" that doesnt have high casualties
Kuwait was a perfect country to seize for Iraq, small nation, almost no military preparations at the time, doesnt cause much casualties, and a high fucking income
saddam was a tyrant no matter how you slice it, iraqis look at him fondly as a way to cope with what is happening now
@@justsomeguywithoutamustach7402 no, saddam invaded kuwait due to provocation regarding oil prices
Wasn’t it also slant oil drilling?
@@dragonmaster3207 That was claimed by Iraq, but never proven. It probably wasn’t true.
Great channel, Great documentaries
Appreciate the support!
Another banger video. Keep it up
Didn't watch the video yet, but i have an aunt who was 12 when got executed, i have relatives who were 2 and 4 years old when executed , and in the year 1991 there was an uprising, and Saddam's army was massively killing everyone even those who were trying to escape. Man was genociding his own people, not to mention the killing and the rape that happened after he invaded kuwait
Most Iraqis hate and curse him, the man targeted shias and kurds the most, meanwhile more than half of his countrys population is shia
Without him Iraq is nothing.
he was similar to Aisha LA, a kuffar and dog.
Iraq was nothing and is nothing just one big oil field surrounded by poverty that the rich seperate themselves from
Saddam was deposed by the US after many a times they tried through public revolts. Bqsically it was done to serve Iraq on a platter to shia IRan. Since Iraq has nearly all the sacred cities of Rafidism.
Saddam Hussein from his beginning of his political career was treacherous always betrayed his comrades to achieve his rank as the dictator. He tortured and imprisoned his political opponents and many innocents, the videos are online showing how innocents are beaten and tortured cruelly.
His war against Iran crippled the economy and saw the loss of over one million Iraqis die fighting for him. He used chemical weapons against the Kurds killing thousands and against the Iranian when they managed to push back Iraq at the end of the war.
His impulsive behavior continued when he invaded Kuwait where every family there lost a member; there are countless records of executions in broad daylight and war crimes of this war and the destruction of oil fields which caused one of the most catastrophic environmental disasters in the middle east.
Let alone his son who tortured football players for losing matches and raped many women in universities and night clubs. This man is no hero. People turn a blind eye to all of his crimes just because Iraq was better off with him than the mess that was left after his downfall.
Bro we have the same views glad
I'm not the only one 👍🏻
From where did you copy this article?
@@mogh2603 This was my own writing.
You're so wrong. You're pushing nothing but pure propaganda
@@a7wdxim not opposing what you’re saying but can you give me sources so i can read more about this? Im just curious and im not disagreeing with you or anything, i honestly just wanna read with more context.
You either have Sadam your own dictator. Or the americans rule you. Clearly you think that option 2 was for the best....
A hero in true arabs and Muslims eyes. A brutal dictator that was against west benefits in middle east.
Its best to say, Autocrats usually end up driving their countries to the ground.
He was a hero, brave, pride, showed his hard side, humble side, proud side, never left his nation and gave its best for it.
This "rich" man you accuse of spending his time in night clubs without providing any evidence wore his military uniform if not most of the time inside of iraq, whether it was for inspecting his soldiers or visiting farmers sitting beside them in the middle of the desert.
And of course His Kind Side plenty of Times.
Made education free, schools free, healthcare free, nationalized oil, defended the arabs, stood Up for palestine, protected iraq from foreign influence etc.
@@vengefullight4665 are you really that d@mb? He could have packed his bags with Money and gold, take His Family and left iraq on a private Jet before the war even began. Instead He stayed. He Always stayed. It wasnt until his sons and grandson died in Battle along with his Army collapsing, that He decide to hide instead of offering him on a silver palette.
What would you call prophet Mohammed (sas) that fled to meddina?
He literally destroyed the economy left his people in poverty torture and killed alot of innocent people he even massacred the poor kurds went war with Iran destroyed the economy inflation infrastructure invaded kuwait a small muslim country and you call him hero brave? why was he hiding in a hole then?
He was a terrorist and he is in hell
Good video.
تمضرط شبعنا منه .... المهم هو تبرءة أمريكا من دمار العراق .
المشكلة قناة إسلامية...
sadly no mention about selling oil in € instead of $, but a good video nonetheless
Saddam defended Iraq against theocratic Iranian regime, and tried to reclaim Iraqi rights in Kuwait.
BS
@@Averrois.Cry...
@@MuhammedAL-Chad-nz4jxYou guys are the ones crying lol. Crying over a maniac dictator. You guys are disgusting
@@MuhammedAL-Chad-nz4jx desert storm go brrrrrrrrrrrr
cry...
@@初日の出_初日の入りIraq Only Lost 1500 Soldiers In That War. Keep Seething weeb. And Have A Happy Great Replacement...
america Lost 70K Soldiers In Iraq. More Than Vietnam. The american Military Was Wiped Out By The Iraqi People...
You've missed some pretty crucial commissions. Eg USA giving him green light to invade, Kuwait stealing oil, etc.
Then why did they fight him in Kuwait
Iraq wasn't stable under the Ottomans, it spent decades effectively independent under Georgian Mamluks then under several more under direct Ottoman rule.
The British mandate didn't have entirely unnatural borders they corresponded roughly to theboundaries of the three Ottoman vilayet Thad had usually been considered together. The British administration was incompetent as was true across Asia from the Mediterranean to Burma. The idea of handing the country over to a monarchy drawn from a small segment of the population was a particularly bad one.
The Baathist coup produced another unrepresentative regime but one important factor was missed in the video and that's US failure to mens bridges with Iran. From 82 onwards Saddam was only able to fight the Iran-Iraq war because of US assistance funneled through other countries like Britain and and Italy plus arms dealers to which America turned a blind eye. The US also gave Saddam diplomatic cover for its use of chemical weapons and didn't do anything about the USS Stark incident. Saddam seemed to believe that once The US had supported him they always would and that turned out to be a grave error
Sunnis Are The Majority In Iraq. shias Are A Minority. They're Not A "small segment"...
@@Matt_The_Hugenot it seems you didn't hear about Iran Contra? USA also sent arms to Iran and allowed it to get spare parts for its American-made aircraft.
@@MuhammedAL-Chad-nz4jx true, if you add Kurds the Sunnis are majority definitely , but among Arabs ; Shiites are either equal or have a small majority to Sunnis
@@mogh2603Yes. A Small And A Very Diminishing "majority" Also, Basra Used To Be Sunni Before The Massacres That Happened After 2003. Will Be Sunni Again...
Brilliant video
Well in Hindsight, Saddams toppling turned out to be so much worse for the country.
I think what you're offering with this video is truly valuable, and I say so in particular because of our current context in time. English language media has had a series of oversaturated gluts of Saddam indictments on repeat in the past, and in such a context a documentary like this would address real facts but in an environment where their meaning as political intervention would be limited and (for example in the run up to the 2003 invasion) potentially distracting. Today, particularly for a younger and more politically engaged audience, circumstances are different, and I admire how you recognize that. Today the most strident social media-based discourse on recent and historical violence in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen etcetera has an issue that pervaded US dialogue to disastrous effect preceding and during the Iraq War: the trappings of ethics used to cloak a primally-motivated good-guy against bad-guy form of tribalism.
The magnitude of the impact of netizens extolling Assad, Saddam, or their Islamist counterparts elsewhere is obviously not comparable with that of the US intelligence and political establishments' manic convulsions, at least I don't see how anyone taking themselves seriously could compare them. Still toxicity in political discourse undercuts its efficacy and alienates us all. In the same way Saddam's disgusting cruelty impacted Iraq both through the culture of internal state repression and by reflection through external actors and their Saddam-contingent choices, we can expect historical cults of personality and selective ethics in general to hurt the dialogue of history/politics/intergroup relations both as a toxic culture and through its reflections produced when such toxicity is seen by free-agents in the external political space. Sometimes the most searing counterargument to a serious political movement can be listening to its most vocal proponents. This is always such a tragic shame.
Again I appreciate this video as an intervention against partisan apologism for a creature who is increasingly recast as a solution to injustice. I trust in your intentions because of your willingness to challenge hypocrisy, but to be honest if you'd asked me in advance about whether a video called "How Saddam impoverished Iraq" were necessary I'd be like, "nah man the English language audience doesn't need to hate on Saddam more, once you recognize evil as evil further litigation against it mostly risks the exclusion of wider understanding". Reading your comments I see how wrong I would have been. Apparently an upsettingly large contingent of the internet only has the mental bandwidth to process the existence of one bad-guy. I find it impossible to blame those who have had their dreams and safety, loved ones or life ripped from them by violence if they see the world in black and white. At the same time even if I tried I couldn't smother my shame in those who pantomime political perspectives that emerge from trauma like the pro-Saddam revival, in spite of living privileged lives like my own. Hopefully this video will help detoxify our culture of dialogue. All the best.
Hikma, you're a treasure-trove of insight from a MidEast perspective, thank you!
He is not even from the middle east. Stop it you're embarrassing yourself.
@@try2justbe Even if he might live in the West now, he clearly has a Mideast origin from his channel name to his slight but perceivable accent. You have no idea mate.
@@mr.goldenproductions_0143 I'm pretty sure he's not from the Middle east. The name of his channel is no proof as arabic names are used all across the muslim world, especially in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. His accent is desi, too. it's not Middle Eastern.
Edit: btw I'm from Iraq, and I've lived through the period he is talking about. So did my family, and this video is full of baised misinformation right from the start.
@@try2justbe So Saddam was a good guy? Come on man, I know quite a lot of guys from Iraq myself, and the constant terror and arbitrary violence and torture they recounted is not the way to a happy or prosperous society.
@@mr.goldenproductions_0143 Intrigued by the accent comment - do I have a slight non-Western accent? I feel like I speak like any other Londoner.
your information regarding the invasion of Kuwait, the first gulf war and the economic embargo are very inaccurate. Also in regards to the chemical attack on Halabja, you failed to mention the involvement of both the CIA and Iran.
All and all, your video is very biased.
Ask Kuwaitis about Saddam, they will tell you how they feel
@@agostocobain2729 no, ask authentic Iraqis about this
@@Hellish_Life What, Iraqis like him?
@agostocobain2729 What, betrayal Iraqis like the current government of Iraq that they hoped so badly?
Hes afghan not iraqi@@agostocobain2729
And the Iranians always had a much more powerful navy than Iraq. So Saddam probably wasn't going to be taking control of the Persian Gulf in the Iran-Iraq War.
Yes correct. But even though the Iraq/Iran war is regarded as a stalemate, Iraq had way more successes than Iran during that decade long war and by 1990 Iraq's military was also larger and more powerful than Iran's military
@@keananruiters9373tactical successes, yes. But Saddam failed to achieve any of his war aims (stop the Islamic Revolution in Iran, contain Iranian influence, gain control of Khuzestan and the Shaat-al-Arab waterway).
Yes, the Iraqis were able to prevent a retaliatory Iranian invasion and takeover of Iraq (temporarily - Iraq is pretty much in Tehran's sphere of influence right now). But that was at a massive cost and left Iraq basically bankrupt. They couldn't keep paying for that enormous military of theirs. Hence the reason why Saddam ended up invading Kuwait, to get the oil money to pay his massive debts (which he was primarily responsible for racking up).
So Iraq's 'victory' in the '80s war with Iran was a very hollow one. And like I said, it wouldn't last. Saddam brought his country into conflict with the west, his regime got invaded and collapsed - and then Iran and its proxies pretty much filled the power vacuum.
@@barracuda6900 Agreed! But he did stop Iran's influence big time. Iran was nowhere near as powerful and influential as it is now when Saddam was still in charge of Iraq. That's why a lot of the war cheerleaders in Washington and London at the time now all concede that getting rid of him was a mistake, especially learning that he actually wanted to join them in containing terrorist groups after 9/11. And the with regards to Iran, their main objective was to get rid of Saddam and the Ba'ath party in Iraq. Not only did they not get even close to getting rid of him and the party, but like I said by 1990, Hussein had built up the largest and most powerful military in the middle East with the exception of the Israeli military.
@@barracuda6900Saddam Did Contain The Failed iranian Revolution. What Are You Talking About? 😂😂😂
@@barracuda6900iran Lost Their Entire Army Trying To Control A Country With A Fraction Of Its Population...😂😂😂
My uncle died from the aftermath of the Kuwaiti Oil Fire. He suffered lung problems, seizures and other ailments. He was a US Army Soldier whose Army Unit from Ft Hood happened to arrive so close to the Oil fire. His unit was never issued gas masks. That is what Gulf War Syndrome was. He would die from all of a septic shock syndrome 1 month to the 14th anniversary of the Liberation of Kuwait. Saddam Hussein being hunged like a cry baby as a result of a guilty verdict by the rule of law in a war crimes and crimes against humanity trial.
I've seen so many videos of Saddam Hussein, but this one is another one to add to the great vault. Thanks Hikma History for another great video! Love learning more about the history of the Middle East.
Hum... I feel that this video, for all it's good intentions, suffers from murrica's "worldview propaganda".
Oh, it's a good opportunity to recommend the first season of the podcast Blowback. It's obligatory listening (the Gulf War was partially instigated by murrica).
Saddam destroyed my hometown, Khorramshahr. I’m sick of western kids like you who think they’re open minded and intelligent when they defend Saddam or the Islamic regime in Iran. Your arrogance is due simply to your ignorance and false sense of self-righteousness.
Go back to playing your video games and stop trying to pretend that you understand anything.
What do you mean by americas world view?
I'd say the Gulf War was entirely instigated by the US!
@@takie9218 Superiority complex.
Say ALLAHU Akbar hundred times everyday after Fajr Salah...
Hakimaa hakimaaaa please make one video about Hafez al assad
Already wrong at the strat
Major right was given to the land borders
He might have impoverished my whole family, but he was a lion 🦁🦁🦁
Arabs politics is like: “I don’t care if he put your grandma in a c0ncentration camp. That n1gga was a lion.”🦁😭
Well 70% of iraqi shia don't think he is a lion he is a coward dictator who ran like a rat when Murica invade Iraq how brave and lion react when somebody invade your country 😂
True lions wear turbans and chant "Ali Ali Mawla"
@@موسى_7True lions don't deify men. Ali himself (ra) would lash some people for the things that they say on his behalf, if not worse.
@@shahidabdoullakhanzorovr1564
Only idiots would say, in the age of the internet, that Shias worship Ali. Are you confusing us for Nusayris like Bashar al-Assad?
My late father loved him
He always updated the news during saddams execution
Now we've overthrown dictator hasina
But I had immense respect for saddam like my father
Let's build our country
🇧🇩🇮🇶❤
womp womp psychopapth dictator
True life is how people remember u after u...
There is no question, Saddam was evil.
Yes, but he's the far lesser evil compared to ISIS/ISIL.
Fajr Zuhr Asar Maghrib Isha and Witr Namaz, Dua Qunoot ♥❤👌
@HikmaHistory i thought you tended to stay impartial?
I think 21 mins of the video is pretty impartial, nah? It's only really at the end, 'His Legacy' section, where I give my opinion.
0:18 is this guy Shashi Tharoor talking with saddam?
Sochn wali baat hai
Saddam Hussein came to India in 1979 at Indira Gandhi's time so may be
I was born in Khorramshahr in 1977 . Half of my extended family are from Dezful. I don’t respect the views of people who have gained or lost nothing by Saddam decisions and actions. Neither do I think anyone who hasn’t been directly impacted, or seen what happened, has any way to pass judgement on Saddam.
Saddem the opinion of his people about him, you find half of Iraqi people with him, they like him as a leader , and half of them against him, this is inside Iraq
- and for us the others arabs countries, the majority of us we like him, total point view we like him like a leader
-This is for you from a Tunisian here speaks with you from Tunisia here, give you how it look the things if you ask in this region if you ask
The Shia were not 60% of Iraqi population. The Shia were 40%, the Kurds 35% and the Sunni
25%.
Kurds are 15% , sunnis are 35% , and shias are 50%
Kurds 35%😂😂😂
Excellent video, the nation's biggest problem is that there's still such a big divided amongst religious tensions ethnic tensions and tribalism to the fact that they don't trust each other enough in order to create a functioning government. Yes Saddam could do that but only because he basically forced people to get along they as a society has just not developed enough yet but they can get along with each other without trying to monopolize power or trying to take it from those who have it.
18:45 not all the uprising failed, the kurds in the north got an autonomous region in 1991 till now
I still vividly remember watching his execution on the News in the US. I was 10 years old at that time and was traumatized by what I had seen.
Yeah saddam was bad but he wasn't that bad compared to people that currently in charge of the country , iraq is literally a failed state because of their mismanagement
True
No One Is "in charge" In Iraq Today. It's Not "mismanagement" If There's No Management To Begin With...
I'm not an Iraqi , but I am an Arab in the Middle East, and I think that may be Saddam bought some stability to Iraq by controlling all aspects of the country , though I'm sure it was quite far from perfect ; I also think that many would prefer a patriot nationalist dictator in appearance than a democrat in appearance who is not .
He was the Josef Stalin of Iraq
No.
@@Buurba_Jolofyes
Nah Stalin was intelligent.
@@MRF.11 No.
@@Lyraorganum He was beyond stupid.
No nobody’s gonna talk about Israil’s rolling this
as an Iraqi Saddam destructive behaviors, wars and tyranny made the country suffer far more than the 30 years he ruled.
Obviously Saddam as leader should take full responsibility for the deterioration of almost all aspects of Iraqi socioeconomic life.
But to seemingly ignore the role America & it's lackeys played in the slow destruction of Iraq, is to me unfair.
Take for example the issue of UN sanctioned weapons inspectors. The whole matter was basically a wild goose chase formulated by America as one of the key reasons justifying the harsh raft of sanctions. Which hurt ordinary Iraqi's than the elites.
Couldn't agree more. The sanctions were inhumane to put it mildly. This video however, intends to be a biography of Saddam; so the emphasis was on him.
How's Saddam Responsible For The crimes Of iran?
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Defending saddam & uday is like shooting our own foot then blaming other people for it.
@@notjohnnyrico aaaah yes... Attempting to hide the sun with a sieve, are we? Pretending those two had nothing with the destabilizing of Iraq. 🤡🤡
@@notjohnnyrico defending Saddam?? Bless your heart!!! Is Saddam in the room with us now?
@@MoeMa4 Time to held Iraqi politicians like Saddam & Uday accountable for their corruption, for their unnecessary war against Iran which made Iraq in huge debt & economic crisis, plus the subsequent Saddam invasion of Kuwait because his country under his administration clearly failed & bankrupt.
Ignoring Saddam's responsibility in how Iraq started downward the spiral of its doom was such a sad revisionist view.
I love your video. But the prejudice is strong with this one. Iraq has the highest standard of living in the middle east back then. Until the gulf war and the sanctions afterwards destroyed it
Gulf War & sanctions did huge damage, but let's not forget the Iran-Iraq War before that which left Iraq with hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. Not to mention, it was Saddam's decision to invade Kuwait that invited the Gulf War.
Ppl like to forget the Iraq-Iran war, which was a 100% Sadam creation and sent the country to Stone Age. It was not the US.
Define "standard of living". When your relatives randomly disappear and When you are constantly being spied on is that a high "standard of living"? Who cares about justice when there are good roads right?
@@HikmaHistorybut you need to ask yourself why did saddam invade kuwait , was it because the kuwaitis were digging up Iraqi oil from underground or was it to preserve Iraqi sovereignty? 🇮🇶🇮🇶🇮🇶
@@HistoryOfRevolutionswomen were free to do what they wanted, religious freedom noone was killing each other no terrorists , Iraq was a major league nation 🇮🇶🇮🇶🇮🇶
The regicide of King Faisal II is what sent Iraq down the dark path, the Hashemites were descendants of the prophet would’ve bridged the gap between Iraq’s Sunnis and Shias. What was done to the young king was especially cruel and shameful, and set the precedent for the strongman mafia style rule that followed.
I think restoring the Hashemites under a constitutional monarchy would be the best solution for Iraq, Jordan already is an example of what parliamentary monarchy under a Hashemite king can look like.
In the Arab world we believe israel is the core cause of most tragedies in the region , it is the anomaly that keeps distorting our lives throughout the middle-east, Saddam was the first to attack and humiliate israel, this is THE origin of emotional attachment to him in the Arab world.
Along with that my cousin who used to live in Iraq she said that under saddam the women that lived there weren’t suppressed like the media says so, if I’m not mistaken she said that most women rights were on par if not better under saddam
All great men are complicated
"As the waistline of Saddam expanded, so did his vision of his country". Here it shows that he cares also for the Iraqis...while you said that he favored his interests more than his people...that is not true... double standard.
Can you do Hafiz Al Assad next?
Hafiz built Syria
@@mustafaali3333-q1mand his son destroyed it
@@user-lq5yx1ke5kno rebels and America did
Decent idea!
@@HikmaHistory thank you soo much 😁
9:26 LMAOOO
Why would he fill the government with bathist, then piss off all the bathist?
Saddam was a dictator And this is true But those who paid the price for the Gulf War, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and the American invasion of Iraq were other than the Iraqi people themselves You said Saddam was tried for his crimes Why were the soldiers who killed Iraqi civilians not tried, and why was Bush not tried for his crimes for lying to his people and killing only 1 million Iraqi citizens? Bush is still suffering from the Iraqi invasion, and this memory will accompany him throughout his life
bush Doesn't Care About Dead Muslim Childre. If The Iraq War Didn't Cost america 85K-185K Soldiers They Wouldn't Even Care About It...
People forget the impact Iran had on Iraq. Many Iraqis despise Iran and the Ayotollah
Many Iraqis are atheists and communists. Doesn't make them right.
You did not mention that usa and other countries help start the devastating war between iran and iraq.
17:21 It Wasn't Even A "debt". It Was A Gift...
Need a 2 hour version explaining how they changed from Sunni
Great video but the conclusion is just... lies and lies and lies. Saddam was fighting for Iraq not for himself, not for "personal interests"
17:37 4 Hours Actually...
If you want to hear a wholly different version of that story, check out Roy Casagranda’s “US policy in the middle east”
20:00 correction its more likely for money rather than revenge
Fajr Zuhr Asar Maghrib Isha and Witr Salah, Dua Qunoot ♥❤👌
Establish regular Namaz and Pay ZAKAT..
See that picture of saddam in the thumbnail. He actually went to. Qadsh a Kurdish town. In govern of duhok
Establish regular Namaz and Pay ZAKAT..
Yes. Yes he was. Stupid question.
For anyone who is interested, check out the book "Republic of Fear" by Kanan Makiya. There is a more recent version, but the 1989 one is still very insightful. The forced disappearances of citizens would occur over things as simple as criticizing the clothes Saddam wore in televised addresses. If the body was returned, and that's a big if, the crude box it was in would be sealed with notices that opening the crude casket was a crime that carried the death penalty. So you were forced to accept the "suicide" of your husband or wife, son or daughter, lest you become another "suicide" victim. Really sick stuff.
He, like Qadaffi, is seen as a hero to some, as what came next would have been unimaginable as we in the west messed up liberation. We should have never got involved in the first place.
Appreciate your summary of Saddam Hussein and Iraq. I do not know how much of your report is accurate and how much of it are lies. Assuming you report is accurate then it demonstrates the challenge of Middle Eastern states in the modern era. The obvious truth is that the modern world is dominated by the truly industrialized countries. These modern industrialized nations are the most developed in the world. They are economically, socially, and politically developed when compared to the rest of the countries in the world like India, China, Iran, Iraq, ... I hear the narrator claiming Saddam modernized and Iraq prosperous by selling petroleum to the rest of the world. The truth is Iraq is a backward, pre-industrial country. Saddam's modernization was imported from the industrialized countries (the US, the UK, France, Germany, Japan, ...) to raise the standard of living for the Iraqi people. The industrialized countries created the modern machines. Saddam is a product of a pre-industrial, backward society. He only understands absolute power. He understands that his power comes from his military. He understands that he can use his military to take wealth from other people.
Today it is the industrialized countries (the US, the UK, France, Germany, ...) who really control the world. It is the industrialized countries who can impose their interests on the rest of the world. Israel exists because the industrialized countries of NATO want Israel to exist. The four Arab and Muslim countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) that surround and attack Israel were defeated in 5 days. Can you imagine that? A tiny, little country like Israel can defeat 4 of its neighbors in 5 days. That is not the power of Israel. That is the industrialized power of the US, the UK, France, Germany, and other NATO allies. The existence of Israel and the defeat of its 4 Muslim neighbors in 5 days demonstrate the dominance of the industrialized countries of Western Civilization.
Saddam can attack Iran or Kuwait, but that is all Iraq can do. The world has changed very little since WWII. The developed, industrialized countries of today are the same countries as before WWII with the addition of South Korea. The remaining countries are still backward. The rest of the world will remain under-developed until they can create a modern society. A democratic society with a republican form of government. A society governed by the Rule of Law and protection of individual rights and property.
Never show serix this video 🤫 🤫
Who is that?