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Abdulrahman Hamadi
Professor: Holly Batty
English 113B
February 12, 2015
Saddam Hussein: A Sympathetic Figure in the Media, a Devil in Reality
Saddam Hussein was one of the most influential people in Iraq since he was the one who
controlled everything. He was known as a person who was very strict with others, but very kind
and soft with his own family. He made a lot of progress for Iraq and, at the same time, gave the
people an idea that whatever he was doing was for their benefit and not just for selfish reasons.
Many governments from around the world believed that Saddam Hussein was a person who was
good for his people since he helped produced a prosperous Iraq. In the media, he was shown as a
good person, even though, in reality he was terrible.
It was Saddam Hussein who was completely responsible for the Gulf War. However, in
the media, his people portrayed him as a leader who was doing right since many Iraqis believed
that Kuwait was a part of their territory. Saddam Hussein also made it look as if the people of
Kuwait were stealing oil from his country which was just not true since Kuwait has its own oil
fields which are different from those in Iraq. Fortunately, not every country believed the positive
media image about the evil dictator, and there are those media channels, like ones in the United
States, which showed the man for who he really was.
In the article written by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya called, The Injustice of Husseins
Death, the author writes about how many people around the world did not think that hanging
Saddam Hussein was right for the United States do to. Nazemroaya does not give his own
opinion, but does write that many people saw the actions of the United States as those of a

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neighborhood bully picking on the weakest kid on the block (11). However, I feel that what the
United States government did was correct as Saddam was the one who was responsible for many
crimes against humanity. Saddam used his power and influence to get what he wanted, and
sometimes the media made it seem like he was not the evil dictator who killed his people and
invaded other countries, like Kuwait, without any reason at all. Aside from this evil, Saddam
made the average Iraqi suffer and was against the education of women. During the Muslim
festival of Eid, which is an important holiday that follows the fasting of Ramadan, Saddam had
several men executred because he believed that they were trying to overthrow his government.
There was no proof of this, but he was allowed to do it because he was so powerful. Killing him
was a positive outcome since anyone who treats others so badly does not deserve to live.
In the book, Unholy Babylon by Adel Darwish, that the United States government tricked
Saddam Hussein into attacking Kuwait so that the United States could go to war with Kuwait.
The great scheme perpetrated by the United States was to force Husseins hand so that he had
no choice but to invade Iraqin the end, this invasion almost cost him his life (38). Looking at
the facts, I believe that nothing like this happened, as the Saddam did not invade Iraq because of
the United States. He just wanted the oil. I believe that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait for his
benefit, and also to show his people that he had more power than anybody else and could do
what he wanted. It was Saddams ego that drove him to wage war, and by doing so he wanted to
become a hero to his people. He started war saying that the Kuwaitis were stealing oil, a reason
that would definitely make people think that he was doing something correct. After all, the
biggest source of income of the Gulf countries is oil. This income is used to build the economy
and support many social areas. The media should not have listened to what Saddam had to say
and should have known that he was crazy for power.

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The media made people think of Saddam as great person. However, Saddam was not at
all liberal, and the truth is that he did not follow Islam or represent it in any way. In fact,
Saddam was known to be a rapist and many of the murders that he committed were caught on
camera. Even his two sons were shown to have been involved in these horrible crimes. No one
ever spoke about these crimes because they were afraid and they knew that if they said anything
they might be hanged. If Saddam was against a person, it did not matter what the reason was.
This person was going to die. However, the media always showed Saddam doing everything for
his people, but this is not true because all of this mans actions were done for profit or because of
his ego. Whatever the media told the Iraqi people about Saddam, they had to accept and think
that he was right. This does not mean that they people believed that Saddam was good; they
might have just been too scared to say anything against him. Still, Saddam did have many
supporters who he usually bought off with massive amounts of money.
In an article, Secrets of his Life and Leadership by Said K. Aburish, a Palestinian
journalist, a lot of interesting information came out about Saddams intentions and desires.
Aburish shares that Saddam Hussein thinks he talks to God. He has a message -- he has to lead
Iraq, make it a model for the Arab countries and then attract the rest of the Arab countries and
become the sole Arab leader of modern times (5). Saddam wanted to take Iraq into the 21 stcentury and he was willing to do anything that he wanted to make sure that he was the one who
did this. This means that he would even kill people who got in his way or tried to stop him from
doing what he wanted. It was so wrong for Saddam to kill so many people and there is nothing
that is worth killing another person for. Even though Saddam said that he talked with God, this
is not true because God would not tell a person to kill others just get ahead in life. A person like
Saddam will not prosper because he is killing people even though, in Iraq, he was allowed to do

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what he wanted without consequences. Also, even though there were people who supported
Saddam at the time, this does not mean that they are right either. Like it says in the interview,
Saddam had a very attractive personality which people made people want to get to know him
more. When he was focused on something, he could do whatever he wanted. However, he did
not do anything that was positive for his country, which is shown just by looking at the news
today. Iraq is rich in oil, but it has many problems, and everyday people are killing each other in
the markets or after coming out of the mosque. Saddam was able to stop all of this fighting, but
only because he was eviler than the other people. He was not a good man or a good leader for
the Iraqi people.
I think that Saddam Hussein was a person who always thought about power and that he
would remain powerful. This is why he thought that he could do anything he wanted without
any consequences. However, he could only act like this for a little while since the United States
came in and liberated Iraq from this evil man. Saddam Husseins image in the media is not the
one that people should follow or believe. The media can manipulate people into believing a lot
of incorrect information, but it is still wrong. The truth is that Saddam was a man who was not
right and he wanted power.

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Works Cited
Aburish, Said K. "Secrets of His Life and Leadership." PBS. PBS, 1 Mar. 1998. Web. 05 May 2015.
Darwish, Adel and Gregory Alexander. Unholy Babylon: The Secret History of Saddam's War. New
York: St. Martin's, 1991. Print.
Nazemroaya, Mahdi D. The Injustice of Saddams Death. Al-Arabiya, 19 October 2005. Web. May
2015.