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Saddam Hussein

1937 CE – 2006 CE

Retrace Saddam Hussein's life across the map — 29 events in chronological order, from a cinematic flythrough to a full timeline.

Life journey

1. Iraqi–Kurdish conflict1918 CE
   The Iraqi–Kurdish conflict consists of a series of wars, rebellions and disputes between the Kurds and the central authority of Iraq starting in the 20th century shortly after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Some put the marking point of the conflict beginning to the attempt by Mahmud Barzanji to establish an independent Kingdom of Kurdistan, while others relate to the conflict as only the post-1961 insurrection by the Barzanis.
2. 1959 Mosul Uprising1959 CE
   The 1959 Mosul Uprising started with an attempted coup by Arab nationalists in Mosul who wished to depose the then Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim, and install an Arab nationalist government which would then join the Republic of Iraq with the United Arab Republic. Following the failure of the coup, law and order broke down in Mosul, which witnessed several days of violent street battles between various groups attempting to use the chaos to settle political and personal scores.
3. 17 July Revolution1968 CE
   The 17 July Revolution was a bloodless coup in Iraq in 1968 led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif, and Abd ar-Rahman al-Dawud that ousted President Abdul Rahman Arif and Prime Minister Tahir Yahya and brought the Iraqi Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power. Ba'athists involved in the coup as well as the subsequent purge of the moderate faction led by Naif included Hardan al-Tikriti, Salih Mahdi Ammash, and Saddam Hussein, the future President of Iraq. The coup was primarily directed against Yahya, an outspoken Nasserist who exploited the political crisis created by the June 1967 Six-Day War to push Arif's moderate government to nationalize the Western-owned Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) in order to use Iraq's "oil as a weapon in the battle against Israel." Full nationalization of the IPC did not occur until 1972, under the Ba'athist administration. In the aftermath of the coup, the new Iraqi government consolidated power by denouncing alleged American and Israeli machinations, publicly executing 14 people including 9 Iraqi Jews on fabricated espionage charges amidst a broader purge, and working to expand Iraq's traditionally close relations with the Soviet Union.
4. 1975 Algiers Agreement1975 CE
   The 1975 Algiers Agreement, also known as the Algiers Accords and the Algiers Declaration, was signed between Iran and Iraq to settle any outstanding territorial disputes along the Iran–Iraq border. Mediated by Algeria, it served as the basis for additional bilateral treaties signed on 13 June 1975 and 26 December 1975. The territorial disputes in question concerned Iraq's Shatt al-Arab and Iran's Khuzestan Province, and Iraq had wished to negotiate to end Iran's support for the then-ongoing Iraqi Kurdish rebellion after suffering a military defeat in the 1974–1975 Shatt al-Arab conflict. On 17 September 1980, shortly after the Iranian Revolution, the Iraqi government abrogated the treaty in light of another series of cross-border clashes between the two countries. On 22 September 1980, the treaty was completely voided with the Iraqi invasion of Iran, which triggered the eight-year-long Iran–Iraq War.
5. Arab Cold War1979 CE
   The Arab Cold War was a political rivalry in the Arab world from the early 1950s to the late 1970s or early 1990s and a part of the wider Cold War. It is generally accepted that the beginning of the Arab Cold War is marked by the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which led to Gamal Abdel Nasser becoming the president of Egypt in 1956. Thereafter, newly formed Arab republics, inspired by revolutionary secular nationalism and Nasser's Egypt, engaged in political rivalries with conservative traditionalist Arab monarchies, influenced by Saudi Arabia. The Iranian Revolution of 1979, and the ascension of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as leader of Iran, is widely seen as the end of this period of internal conflicts and rivalry. A new era of Arab-Iranian tensions followed, overshadowing the bitterness of intra-Arab strife.
6. Battle of Khorramshahr1980 CE
   The First Battle of Khorramshahr was a major battle in the Iran–Iraq War, beginning shortly after the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September 1980. Amidst the gruelling urban warfare in and around the city, Khorramshahr came to be referred to by the Iranians as Khuninshahr, as both sides had suffered heavy casualties in combat. It was the single largest urban battle of the Iran–Iraq war.
7. Siege of Abadan1980 CE
   The siege of Abadan was the encirclement of the city by Iraqi forces beginning in November 1980. The city had already been under almost daily bombardment since the early days of the war, which began the previous September.
8. Iran–Iraq War1980 CE
   The Iran–Iraq War, also referred to as the First Gulf War and the First Imposed War, began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September 1980. After eight years of conflict, both countries accepted a ceasefire deal brokered by the United Nations, which became effective in August 1988. The war caused around 500,000 deaths, making it the deadliest conventional war ever fought between regular armies of developing countries.
9. Operation Tariq al-Qods1981 CE
   The Liberation of Bostan, that codenamed Operation Tariq al-Quds was a military operation launched by Iran during the Iran–Iraq War to free Bostan in the Khuzestan province. It was fought from 29 November to 7 December 1981 and was carried out jointly by the Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
10. Operation Samen-ol-A'emeh1981 CE
    Operation Samen-ol-A'emeh was an Iranian offensive and operation in the Iran–Iraq War between 27–29 September 1981 where Iran broke the Iraqi Siege of Abadan. The operation was carried out by the Iranian army joined by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
11. Operation Undeniable Victory1982 CE
    Operation Fath-ol-Mobin was a major Iranian military operation conducted during the Iran–Iraq War, in March 1982 and resulted to the Battle of Shush. The operation was led by Lt. General Ali Sayad Shirazi and was conducted in four phases.
12. Battle of the Marshes1984 CE
    The Battle of the Marshes was a part of the Iran–Iraq War.
13. Anfal campaign1986 CE
    The Anfal campaign, also known as the Kurdish genocide, was a counterinsurgency operation, described by many scholars and human rights groups as a genocide or ethnic cleansing, which was carried out by Ba'athist Iraq from February to September 1988 during the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The campaign targeted rural Kurds because its purpose was to eliminate Kurdish rebel groups and Arabize strategic parts of the Kirkuk Governorate. The Ba'athist regime committed atrocities on the local Kurdish population, mostly civilians. Although primarily targeting Kurds, other non-Arabs also fell victim to the Anfal campaign.
14. Operation Karbala-41986 CE
    Operation Karbala-4 was an Iranian offensive in the Iran–Iraq War on the southern front. The operation was launched after the failure of Operation Karbala-2 and Operation Karbala-3 to move the Iraqi lines in an effort to capture Iraqi territory.
15. Battle of Mehran1986 CE
    In response to the loss of the strategic al-Faw Peninsula during the Iran–Iraq War, the Iraqis pushed into Iran to seize the strategic Iranian city of Mehran to trade for the strategically important territory. Saddam was able to seize the city in May 1986, for the third time. He then offered to trade it for al-Faw, but instead of negotiating, the Iranians recaptured the city in June 1986.
16. Operation Nasr 41987 CE
    The Iran–Iraq War, also referred to as the First Gulf War and the First Imposed War, began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September 1980. After eight years of conflict, both countries accepted a ceasefire deal brokered by the United Nations, which became effective in August 1988. The war caused around 500,000 deaths, making it the deadliest conventional war ever fought between regular armies of developing countries.
17. Siege of Basra1987 CE
    The siege of Basra, code-named Operation Karbala-5 or The Great Harvest, was an offensive operation carried out by Iran in an effort to capture the Iraqi port city of Basra in early 1987. This battle, known for its extensive casualties and ferocious conditions, was the biggest battle of the war and proved to be the last major Iranian offensive. The Iranians failed to reach their objective.
18. Operation Ramadan ul-Mubarak1988 CE
    The Second Battle of al-Faw (also known as the Operation Ramadan Mubarak (Blessed Ramadan), fought on 17 April 1988, was a major battle of the Iran–Iraq War. After their defeat at the First Battle of al-Faw two years earlier, the newly restructured Iraqi Army conducted a major operation to clear the Iranians out of the peninsula.
19. 1991 uprising in Basra1991 CE
    The Battle of Basra was fought in the beginning of the 1991 Iraqi uprisings following the Gulf War. The battle started after demoralized troops throughout Iraq began to rebel against Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime, in particular after a tank driver in Basra fired at a public portrait of Saddam Hussein. Basra became a chaotic battlefield between military defectors and Republican Guard, with most of the fighting taking place at close quarters. Most of Basra had been retaken by mid March, but rebels in parts such as Tanuma managed to hold out until mid April. After Ba'athist forces had regained control, they engaged in a crackdown against civilians and suspected supporters of the uprising.
20. Battle of Qurah and Umm al Maradim1991 CE
    The Battle for Qurah and Umm al Maradim, were several naval and land battles for control over the islands off the coast of Kuwait in the Persian Gulf, mainly the islands of Qurah and Umm al Maradim.
21. Battle of Bubiyan1991 CE
    The Battle of Bubiyan was a naval engagement of the Gulf War that occurred in the waters between Bubiyan Island and the Shatt al-Arab marshlands, where the bulk of the Iraqi Navy, which was attempting to flee to Iran, much like the Iraqi Air Force, was engaged and destroyed by Coalition warships and aircraft.
22. 1991 uprising in Sulaymaniyah1991 CE
    The Battle of Sulaymaniyah was one of the battles fought during the 1991 uprisings in Iraq. Sulaymaniyah, a mostly Kurdish city with a population of over 100,000, was the first to be liberated by the rebels and the last to fall back to the Iraqi army. After three months the city was captured by Kurdish forces.
23. Battle of Khafji1991 CE
    The Battle of Khafji was the first major ground engagement of the Gulf War. It took place in and around the Saudi Arabian city of Khafji, from 29 January to 1 February 1991.
24. Battle of Phase Line Bullet1991 CE
    The Battle of Phase Line Bullet was one of a series of engagements that led to the destruction of the Tawakalna Iraqi Republican Guard Division, on 26 February 1991, by a simultaneous attack of the 1st and 3rd armored divisions, the 1st Infantry Division, and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2ACR) during the Persian Gulf War.
25. 1991 uprising in Tuz Khormato1991 CE
    The Battle of Tuz Khormato was fought during the 1991 uprisings in Iraq between the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces. Tuz Khormatu, a predominantly Turkmen town, was one of the most southernly towns to fall under the control of the Peshmerga then retaken by Iraqi government forces.
26. Operation Bramble Bush1992 CE
    Operation Bramble Bush was an Israeli plan to assassinate Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, in 1992. It was described in full in December 2003 by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, but news reports had circulated about the plot since January 1999. The plan was conceived as retaliation for Iraqi Scud missile attacks during the Gulf War. Another motivation was the postwar revelation by UN inspectors that Iraq had been a few years away from potential nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons capability as well as the missile capability to hit Israel, and the fear that Hussein would continue trying to develop such capabilities. The plan was called off after five commandos were accidentally killed during the final rehearsal for the operation; the accident is known in Israel as the Tze'elim Bet disaster.
27. Operation Vigilant Sentinel1995 CE
    Operation Vigilant Sentinel was a response to Saddam Hussein advance of its military forces on the border with Kuwait. The United States deployed the 74th Air Control Squadron to Kuwait on August 24, 1995. The specific battle management functions the 74th Air Control Squadron and its counterparts performed included surveillance, data link management and weapons control. The deploying units were part of a ground theater air control system, consisting of a control reporting element and an air support operations center. The US then deployed 3,500 soldiers to Kuwait in October 1996 as a deterrent to further hostile Iraqi acts toward Kuwait following the expansion of the Iraqi no-fly zones.
28. Battle of Baghdad2003 CE
    The Battle of Baghdad, also known as the Fall of Baghdad, was a military engagement that took place in Baghdad in early April 2003, as part of the invasion of Iraq.
29. Operation Red Dawn2003 CE
    Saddam Hussein, the deposed president of Iraq, was captured by the United States military in the town of Ad-Dawr, Iraq, on 13 December 2003. The military operation to capture him was codenamed Operation Red Dawn, after the 1984 American film Red Dawn.

Event data from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA). Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].