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'''Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti''' (most often referred to as simply Saddam Hussein) (April 28, 1937 – December 30, 2006) was the [[Sunni]] President of [[Iraq]] from July 16, 1979<ref>http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aasaddambio.htm</ref> to December 14, 2003.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3317429.stm</ref> Hussein brought change and [[secularization]] to an otherwise faith-based and religiously guided society. Hussein was a social revolutionary and a modernizer, following other modern [[Socialist]] movements and the Nasser model. To the consternation of Islamic conservatives, his government gave women freedoms and offered them high-level government and industry jobs. Hussein also created a Western-style legal system, making Iraq the only country in the Persian Gulf region not ruled according to traditional Islamic law (Sharia). Hussein abolished the Sharia law courts, except for personal injury claims.

'''Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti''' (most often referred to as simply Saddam Hussein) (April 28, 1937 – December 30, 2006) was the [[Sunni]] President of [[Iraq]] from July 16, 1979<ref>http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aasaddambio.htm</ref> to December 14, 2003.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3317429.stm</ref> Hussein brought change and [[secularization]] to an otherwise faith-based and religiously guided society. Hussein was a social revolutionary and a modernizer, following other modern [[Socialist]] movements and the Nasser model. To the consternation of Islamic conservatives, his government gave women freedoms and offered them high-level government and industry jobs. Hussein also created a Western-style legal system, making Iraq the only country in the Persian Gulf region not ruled according to traditional Islamic law (Sharia). Hussein abolished the Sharia law courts, except for personal injury claims.

==Iran Iraq War==

==Iran-Iraq War==

During the 1980s, during the [[Iran-Iraq War]], the [[United States of America|United States]] considered Hussein to be a friend and assisted him with loans<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/</ref> up until the time of the [[Iranian initiative]] under [[President Ronald Reagan]] when U.S. policy shifted. Fearing the threat to Iraq's neighbors, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Gulf States if a militarized Iraq under Hussein emerged from the war intact, the U.S. through intermediaries began selling [[TOW missile]]s to Iran in what has come to be known as the [[Iran/Contra affair]], to break the deadlock and tip the balance in favor Iran.

During the 1980s, during the [[Iran-Iraq War]], the [[United States of America|United States]] considered Hussein to be a friend and assisted him with loans<ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/</ref> up until the time of the [[Iranian initiative]] under [[President Ronald Reagan]] when U.S. policy shifted. Fearing the threat to Iraq's neighbors, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Gulf States if a militarized Iraq under Hussein emerged from the war intact, the U.S. through intermediaries began selling [[TOW missile]]s to Iran in what has come to be known as the [[Iran/Contra affair]], to break the deadlock and tip the balance in favor Iran.