did saddam have any allies?
459060
Donkey is right, we supported him throughout the Iran/Iraq war.  My unit personally found an ammo cache that included several mortars, artillery, and all kinds of other explosives marked US and with US serial numbers.\n\nAlso, during Desert Storm, Iraq launched SCUD missiles at Israel trying to get Israel to fight back.  Since many countries in the region don't like Israel, he was trying to get more allies.  Since they didn't fight back and we protected them with our patriot missiles, it didn't amount to much.\n\nBefore the war in 2003, America had put together quite a case for doing it and everyone believed Iraq had WMDs.  America encountered no resistance from countries other than Iraq.
1128791
No. That is actually a good question. I think that Pres. Bush is trying to gain the world support [especially the UN..because they didn't when they liberated Iraq] Bush just wants to make sure that he has an ally.
947898
France was doing undertable deals with Saddam and violating the sanctions, same the same with Germany and Russia.  Small wonder those 3 didn't want us to invade, they were making millions.
1178389
Oh YES Zarqawi was most certanly affiliated with al Quaida BEFORE the invasion of Iraq. He was in Afghanistan serving as a unti commander at a training camp prior to 9/11. He was wounded by US fire & fled into Iran & then across into SADDAM CONTROLLED northern Iraq, not the Kurdish area covered by the no-fly zone (he would have been killed there). While in Iraq, still prior to the invasion, he went to Bagdad for medical treatment, where his leg was amputated, and he was interviewed by Sadam security/intelligence agents about his experiences fighting the Americans & his intentions in Iraq. He was then granted an asylum visa by the Sadam govt. ALL of this is documented public record & was included in the UN presentation. Later, after the invasion & after he had significantly recovered from his wounds, he got back into the fight by going out on his own & creating an independent terrorist organization of mostly foreign fighters. A short time later, when running low on funds & a PR machine, he affiliated his organization with the al Quaida whom he previously served.
801558
Please ignore these other nitwits - it's late and their mommies are out partying and so are not home to put them to bed.\n\nThe answer to your question is that Saddam sent a hit team to kill George H. W. Bush (the current President's father and the 41st President of the United States) in Kuwait when Bush was there to receive thanks from the Kuwaiti government and people for freeing them from the yoke of the Iraqi dictator.\n\nBill Clinton was President at the time of the attempted assassination and, being the Weak Sister that he is, he just sent a few cruise missles into Iraq and called it a day.  What he should have done was to go back to Iraq and kill Saddam at that time - but, as I say, he's a very weak man (he's not REALLY a man, he just has a man's body) and so he did almost nothing.
889964
I've been questioning their support of Iran, France, and the former leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. I know Russia needs money and that need dictates much of what they do. But I'm also very wary that they may have ulterior motives. And I think our Pentagon is aware as well.
133808
Saddam was the Baathist party leader in Iraq.  Most Sunni's are Baathist as well.  That is the connection between the two.  Saddam is by no means a religious man.  It was on rare occasion that he even wore Arab garb.  The Sunni's enjoyed most of the perks under his watch.  Most of the army was Sunni, yet most of the Republican Guard were from his home town. These are the people that he trusted the most; these were his most loyal followers, it had nothing to do with religion. His relationship with all other segments of Iraqi society was at best, guarded.  The Kurds would have had his ass in a New York minute, given half the chance.  The Turkman had no particular edge with Saddam, and the Christians just stayed out of his way. The Shiites, particularly those in the south, had strong ties to Iran.  Iran's brand of Islam is predominately Shiite, so Saddam was not particularly friendly to the Shiites.  Saddam ruled with scare tactics and he was pretty effective with them.  He kept every one under control but at a high price.  The mass graves still pop up occasionally!
1099649
For everyone who says that Iraq had nothing to do with 9&#92;11. \nWe are fighting a war on terrorism and there is no single country that we are fighting. The terrorists are based and&#92; or supported  in many ways and operate independently of each other but they all have the same goal. Afghanistan was a host country, Iran supports them with money and equipment, Saddam paid $$ for suicide bombers and had training camps. Syria is also a sponsor. \nThe point is that while Saddam may not have been directly involved with 9&#92;11, he was a part of the bigger problem and had to be dealt with sooner or later. The terrorists are a network and need to be taken down wherever we find them.
297631
Quite easy.\n\nWhy: Saddam grew independent from the US admnistration who helped him to power and helped covering up his crimes. Under Saddam Iraq grew economically and became a fair power in the ME, one that was beginning to threaten US interests there and had a national strategy with the oil industry that was going to limit western companies access to raw oil.\n\nHow come: one reason is to save face. Without help rebuilding US would appear just as it is: a brute force agressor that pursues its own selfish interests. But with rebuilding there's still some doubt to that and there's a chance that US might somewhat care for the people. Another reason is that there are no more viable Iraq companies. All economic infrastructure would be build by (mostly) US companies, that includes beginning the reopening of oil fields. Those companies will profit enormously from low exploitation prices and govt subsidies. Maybe some companies will have an Iraq front-end, but that's were the game is headed. US will do an enormous 'favor' to the Iraqi people by sucking their oil fields for them.
263047
Simple.\nBush's dad helped put Saddam in power and things were going ok, Saddam helped replenish US oil reserves drained by the 70's crisis. But when Saddam got more profit he realizes he could make his country better so he nationalized oil industry, rebuilt the economy and education, bringing IRaq closer to true civilization.\nAs Iraq turned away from US, it was clear the balance in ME was going to turn gainst US and Israel, no to mention US lost their second oil supplier.\nSo they tried other things:\n- accused Saddam of human rights violations (true by international law but Iraq was a dictatorship, Saddam could be tried only after deposed)\n- embargo on Iraq, pretex by Iraq invasion on Kuwait, which was once supported by US as Bush hoped Iraq will become a larger supplier (US hoped the population would turn against Saddam, but they didn't since under Saddam Iraq grew a lot, despite wars) this eventually led to more than 1 mil death among Iraqis who were deprived of medical aid and food.\n- first Gulf War, the 'oil for food programme' which helped Western nation blackmail oil out of Iraq in exchange for food (probably one of the greatest human rights violations in the history of mankind after the Holocaust)\n- as everything failed, US used the 9/11 to invent a threat in Saddam claiming he was involved and the he had weapons of mass destruction. None of the allegations were proven but US and UK went to war, despite the fact UN Security COuncil opposed military action.
726568
If his brother-in-law said he had them, then I'm\n  sure he did have them and probably moved them\n  into Syria while we waited 9 months to get any\n  Inspectors into Iraq.  At any rate, the whole world\n  is better off without this tyrant and dictator.  He\n  chopped up children and women and threw them\n  into huge deep pits (sometimes alive) and covered\n  them with dirt. This was proved as the US uncovered\n  the graves with dozens of Iraqi people's bones in\n one large pit (I even saw it on tv)......a horrible person.
614984
Saddam Hussein was a young man who was angry at the Iraqi monarchy (installed by the british).  He hooked up with the socialist Ba'ath party based in syria.  The Ba'athists were devout anti imperial and anti-communist.  The USA, fearing communist influence in iraqi politics after the toppling of iraq by general Qassim, trained and funded a group of Ba'athist members including Saddam, and helped them execute a bloody coup that killed Qassim.  They were chased out of Iraq by an angry populace in 1963 and regrouped later in 1968 and finally managed to take power during iraq's turbulent years.  Saddam was only VP at the time but was the main power base of iraq.  In 1973 Saddam angered the USA by participating in the oil embargo after the yom kippur war, but quickly became friends again after the Iranian Revolution toppled the Pro-USA Shah Pahlavi.  Saddam Hussein saw the disorganization of the Iranian Revolutionary Government and saw it as an opportunity to defeat Iran, which was the biggest military power in the middle east at the time, even bigger than israel.   Saddam Hussein had taken power as president in 1979 and went on an internal purge of suspected anti-baath elements.  Dozens of iraqi lawmakers were killed or jailed.  The Iran-Iraq war went on for nearly a decade from 1980-1988.  The United States had a hand in making sure neither side won because of concerns about a power vacuum.  Early in the war the USA helped iraq with intelligence and shipments of chemical weapons precursors.  later on the USA began selling spare parts and advanced missiles to Iran.  This was called the "Reagan Iran-Contra Scandal" where the president sold advanced american missiles to iran, took the profits and illegally funnelled them to the contra terrorists in central america.  Both sides used chemical weapons, and both regularly attacked each others cities with ballistic missiles.  After the end of the war, iraq was a broken, debt riddled nation.  Iraq's reason for invading kuwait in 1990 was complaints of kuwait overselling oil and slant-drilling into iraqi oil fields (both true).  The USA tricked saddam into attacking kuwait by proclaiming they had no special defence agreemnent with kuwait.  The USA went to war with iraq in hopes of toppling saddam and restoring the kuwaiti dictatorship.  12 years of postwar UN sanctions followed, and in 2003 George W. Bush decided to attack iraq without provocation, giving false justification of WMD as a reason.  The war continues to this day and the insurgency grows.  American soldiers are dying at a rate of 2 to 3 per day and the country is riddled with ethnic divisions and a looming civil war.   Saddam was captured but it has had no effect on the growing rebellion.
294907
Absolutely not. Saddam may well have been a tyrant, despot and  an egotistical maniac as well as a bully but the UN should have got him out when he sent troops into Kuwait in the 90's and there was truly an international coalition against him. They had the moral high ground then and a mandate from the UN which made Operations Desert Sheild and Desert Storm legal under International Law plus there were many arab nations involved.\n\nThis time things are different. The so called coalition is made up of mainly American and British forces with a few small contingents from some countries, the majority had no wish or desire to become involved. The case for invasion this time was flimsy at worst and a complete pack of lies at best.\n\nUN inspectors found no evidence of chemical weapons let alone weapons of mass destruction yet at the UN members were shown "spy satellite photo's" of mobile chemical trucks and production facilities. Strange how the inspectors never found any of it. When America and Britain put forward a resolution calling for the invasion of Iraq most of the UN voted it down, the US and UK virtually thumbed their noses at the UN and went ahead with the invasion anyway.\n\nSo now we have a situation where the "liberators" are now the occupiers, insurgents are all over the country, American and British soldiers are being attacked daily, suicide bomings are becoming more and more frequent, kidnappings of Westerners and Muslims is increasing, the new Iraqi Government is virtually paralised by internal squabbling, the American trained Iraqi Security Forces are bareley holding their own and the whole country is sliding ever more closer to civil war and anarchy. Yet both Britain and America maintain that things are getting better.\n\nReally where??.
1105870
go ask Saddam he knows
867694
He was a despotic leader of a socialist party (the Baathist party) who hated communists. I've always suspected that Hussein's line about hating communists was simply to keep the CIA supporting him.\n\nThe irony has always puzzled me.
921016
people seem to forget that back in the 80's we were allies with Iraq and Saddam Husein . the links i have given not only show you this but give detailed info. \nhttp://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2038.htm\n  \nall most every country that we have gone to war or had some type of military involvement with has come back to bite us in the butt.
365858
Sadam Hussein invaded Kuwait.  The U.S. and other world militaries came to the aid of the Kuwaities.