hurriyet.com.tr / FOREIGN NEWS
The soldier who captured Saddam Hussein, who disappeared after the Second Gulf War and was wanted for a while by the US-led coalition forces, broke the silence. With the statement of the US soldier, a 20-year secret was deciphered.
Iraqi leader who was overthrown in 2003 Saddam HusseinNew information has emerged about the operation in which .
After the US-led coalition forces entered the capital, Baghdad, the soldier who caught Saddam, who almost disappeared into the background, made remarkable statements.
With the statements of Kevin Holland, the secret of 20 years has been deciphered.
According to the news in the British Daily Mail newspaper, Holland stated that they went to the region upon a tip and told the unknowns of the operation.
Stating that a Texas soldier pulled Saddam out of his hiding place, Holland said that they had detained the ousted leader, considering the possibility that he had a weapon with him.
THE FIRST WORD SADDAM HEAR: BUSH HAS A GREETING
Stating that they tied Saddam down later, Holland said that they told him “President Bush is sending his greetings”.
Stating that Saddam told them that he was open to negotiation in English, Holland said that they answered him, ‘It is too late now’.
Stating that the footage they took was published in the US press, Holland replied when asked how the ousted leader survived in a hole for so long; ‘He didn’t stay there long.’
Holland added that Saddam had two bodyguards in the region.
MEET WITH POLITICS EARLY
Born in Tikrit in 1937, Saddam’s acquaintance with politics dates back to his early youth. In those days, Saddam, who lost himself to the nationalist-libertarian and anti-imperialist wind that dominated the Arab world, joined the Baath Party at a young age. He attempted a failed coup in 1956. After the end of the monarchy, he played an important role in an assassination organization created to kill Prime Minister Abdul Karim Hassam. However, this event came to light and Saddam was forced to flee the country.
When the Baath Party came to power in 1963, he returned to his country. Meanwhile, he married his cousin Sacide and had five children, two boys and three girls. However, over the years, the differences between him and the Baath Party began to deepen. When the conflicts got worse, Saddam was imprisoned.
Coup Escaped Jail
The coup in 1968 also saved Saddam from prison. Rapidly rising in the party, Saddam entered the Revolutionary Council, one of the most important structures of the Baath, thanks to his uncompromising determination and firmness. Over time, he consolidated his position and became the main source of power behind the power of President Ahmed Hasan Bekri. In 1979, he ‘dropped the curtain’ by seizing power in a coup d’etat. First, he launched a ruthless ‘extermination’ campaign against his opponents.
Since then, Saddam has based his power on repressive methods based on a powerful intelligence network. He never hesitated to kill anyone who raised his voice. Sometimes these extermination campaigns turned into ‘genocide’ against the whole city, as in the case of Halabja.
THE PEOPLE PAYED THE BILL OF POWER AGGRESSION
In 1980, Saddam thought he saw an opportunity that would carry him to the leadership of the Arab world and make him indispensable in the eyes of the West. The Islamic Revolution in Iran was in full swing. The relations of the Khomeini regime with the West, especially the USA, were deteriorating gradually, and Iran was perceived as a threat to the entire region with its ‘revolution export’ policy. Based on this determination, Saddam declared war on Iran. His calculations were based on the fact that he would easily get the support of the West in this war and that Iran, which had had turbulent days, would not be able to resist much. In the early days of the war, Iraqi troops captured an important water area, Shatt al-Arab.
But Iran turned out to be more formidable than Saddam had anticipated. And 8 years of war resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of people. The economies of both countries were also destroyed. When the war was over, both sides were at the starting point.
SADDAM TO THE END
Knowing the power of oil very well because it was the only power he had, Saddam turned his attention to Kuwait when he couldn’t get the profit he hoped for from the Iran War. On August 2, 1990, Saddam’s troops invaded Kuwait.
The other Gulf countries, alarmed by the invasion of Kuwait, approached the West. Saudi Arabian territory was opened to multinational power. When efforts to persuade Saddam to withdraw were also inconclusive, the war began on January 17. Saddam described the war as ‘the mother of all wars’ but had to retreat in the face of international forces and a life began in Iraq under the shadow of embargoes.
During the years of embargoes, while Saddam and those around him continued their comfortable lives, the Iraqi people living on one of the world’s largest oil reserves remained in hunger and misery.
SECOND GULF WAR
After the Second Gulf War, Saddam, his family and closest men disappeared. While Saddam’s staff were captured one by one, Saddam’s sons, Uday and Qusay, who were notorious for their cruelty, were killed. Coalition forces intensified their search in and around Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam. The tapes that appeared from time to time, in which Saddam announced that he was alive and that he was organizing the resistance, USA It was causing demoralization in the forces led by him. However, on Saturday, December 14, 2003, the news that “Saddam was caught”, which was first claimed as an allegation, became final with the publication of the images taken while he was undergoing medical examination in the afternoon.
Saddam was executed by hanging in 2008.
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