International leaders agreed that Saddam’s actions risked further conflict and in a unique Coalition of Arab nations, several influential Muslin nations joined the multi-national force to stop the spread of Baghdad’s bloody ambitions. Saddam Hussein was a despot and after the Iran-Iraq war had a huge unemployed army, an ailing economy and was eager to become ‘the’ regional power-force. Furthermore, Iraq was heavily in debt to Kuwait as a result of money it had borrowed to fund its war against Tehran. This had been used to buy missiles, tanks, fighter planes - many of which had been destroyed in the conflict with Iran.
He had been born to a peasant family in 1937 and was a devoted follower of the Ba’ath party, the radical nationalist organisation with fascist overtones which aspired to unite Arabs in one state. After a chequered early life, Saddam first came to prominence in 1968 as the deputy President of Iraq. Then in 1979 he secured total control as President and used ‘terror’ as a weapon to sustain him in office. He was regarded as a ruthless tyrant, who was prepared to do anything to retain his position and extend his military influence. His war with Iran was seen by many as a bad move. It caused anxiety among regional neighbours who Iraq had previously maintained a balanced relationship with. The casualties from the war were appalling with reports claiming that 120,000 Iraqi soldiers died and 300,000 were wounded. But Saddam regarded it as a political bonanza, his forces crippled the Iranian air force, devastated Iranian oil facilities and seriously damaged the Army - sending a powerful message to Tehran of who was ‘boss’- but at immense cost. At the end of the conflict in 1988, Iraq was left
