Saddam hussein captured |
December 13, 2003: The capturing of Saddam Hussein toppled the Ba'ath party government in Iraq, freeing hundreds of thousands of oppressed people. Saddam Hussein spent nine years on the run before being captured by US military forces Iraq. On March 20, 2003, the US led an operation called Operation Red Dawn to take down the Ba’ath party which had controlled Iraq for over 20 years.[1] Hussein’s secret police terrorized the citizens and ignored their rights to maintain his power.[2] In the 1980’s, Hussein started an 8-year war with Iran which took over a million lives on both sides. He used nerve agents and mustard gas on the Iranian soldiers as well as his own citizens. After he invaded Kuwait in 1990, the US military forced his army out but they failed to remove him from power. Throughout the 90’s many airstrikes were aimed towards Hussein to hinder his production of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. He was also accused of illegal oil sales and weapons building. After saying, "it is without doubt that the faithful will be victorious against aggression," Saddam Hussein went into hiding and spoke to his people only through audiotapes[3]. After declaring Saddam Hussein the most important in his regime, the US started an intense manhunt for him. On July 22, 2003, Saddam’s sons who were going to take his place someday, were killed by US forces when they raided a villa in northern Iraq. Five months later, on December 13, 2003, the US found Saddam Hussein hiding in a deep hole in the ground, nine miles away from his hometown in Tikrit.[4] He was sentenced to death by hanging and was executed on December 30, 2006. The Iraq war was started because the US claimed that Iraq’s possession of nuclear weapons was a threat to the United States and its allies. These weapons were under the control of Saddam Hussein, the leader of the Ba’ath party in Iraq. The constant oppression of the Iraqi people by the government and the possession of dangerous weapons were enough to launch the US and other allies such as the UK, Poland, and Australia into war with Iraq. After successfully capturing Saddam Hussein, searches showed that no nuclear weapons were found.
[1] "ARMY.MIL, The Official Homepage of the United States Army." Operation RED DAWN Nets Saddam Hussein. Army, 6 Dec. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
[2] “Saddam Hussein captured.” 2014. The History Channel website. Dec 2 2014, 9:31 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saddam-hussein-captured.
[3] “Saddam Hussein captured.” 2014. The History Channel website. Dec 2 2014, 9:31 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saddam-hussein-captured.
[4] “Saddam Hussein captured.” 2014. The History Channel website. Dec 2 2014, 9:31 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saddam-hussein-captured.
[1] "ARMY.MIL, The Official Homepage of the United States Army." Operation RED DAWN Nets Saddam Hussein. Army, 6 Dec. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
[2] “Saddam Hussein captured.” 2014. The History Channel website. Dec 2 2014, 9:31 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saddam-hussein-captured.
[3] “Saddam Hussein captured.” 2014. The History Channel website. Dec 2 2014, 9:31 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saddam-hussein-captured.
[4] “Saddam Hussein captured.” 2014. The History Channel website. Dec 2 2014, 9:31 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saddam-hussein-captured.