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Politics : Moderate Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan B. who wrote (282)	4/17/2003 6:13:32 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 20773

Iraq may not have been conquered by an external government, but Saddam's rise to power can hardly be considered legitimate. The actions taken to overthrow the existing government, then even more horrific acts to maintain a stranglehold on his brutal dictatorship do not point to any type of legitimate government. It clearly appears to indicate that Saddam's recent removal resulted in genuine liberation of the Iraqi people regardless of how one wishes to parse words. JMO ____________________________________________________________ .....In 1959, Saddam and a group of Baathist supporters attempted to assassinate Gen. Kassim. The attack was unsuccessful, but it helped place Hussein in a leadership position in the Baath party. After the attack, in which Hussein was wounded, he fled to Syria and then to Cairo, Egypt where he would spend the next four years. In 1963 Saddam returned to Iraq to take part in another revolt against General Kassim. A group of Baathist army officers tortured and assassinated General Kassim. This was done on Iraqi television. They also mutilated many of Kassim's devotees and showed their bodies in close up on the nightly news. Hussein rose quickly through the ranks, known for his extreme efficiency as a torturer. He was appointed to be a member of the Baath Regional Command. In 1964, Hussein was jailed by some "rightist" military officers who opposed the Baathist takeover. In 1966 he "escaped" from prison and Saddam's older cousin, General Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, appointed him deputy Secretary-General of the Baathists. Saddam set up the Baathist internal party security system known as the Jihaz Haneen. It was to serve as the vehicle for his rise to power in Iraq. In 1968, another major upheaval in Iraq gave Hussein the greatest opportunity for further advancement; his mentor, Gen. Bakr and the Baathist seized the government...... Saddam was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council and built the Iraqi secret police network. On July 16, 1979, President Bakr resigned, officially due to health problems, but in reality a victim of Hussein's thirst for power. Saddam called a major Baathist meeting on July 22, 1979, where various family members and other Hussein devotees urged that the party be "cleansed". Hussein then read a list of names and asked that they step outside. Once there, they were taken into custody. A high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Command, the head of the labor unions, the leading Shiite member of the Command, and twenty others were then systematically and personally killed by Hussein and his top party officials. During the next few days, 450 other military officers, deputy prime ministers, and "non-party faithful" were rounded up and killed. This purge insured Hussein's consolidation of power in Iraq. efreedomnews.com ____________________________________________________________ ..... Some years ago a European interviewer nervously quoted reports that the Baghdad authorities might, on occasions, have tortured and perhaps even killed opponents of the regime. Was this true? Saddam was not offended. Rather, he seemed surprised by the naivete of the question. "Of course," he replied. "What do you expect if they oppose the regime?" ..... news.bbc.co.uk