Osama vs. Saddam -- Who is the Bigger BAD Guy?

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (Arabic: ''Saddam, pronounced , is his personal name, and means the stubborn one or he who confronts in Arabic (in Iraq also a term for a cars bumper). Hussein (Sometimes also transliterated as Hussayn or Hussain) is not a surname in the Western sense but a patronymic, his father's given personal name; Abid al-Majid his grandfather's; al-Tikriti means he was born and raised in (or near) Tikrit. He was commonly referred to as Saddam Hussein, or Saddam for short. The observation that referring to the deposed Iraqi president as only Saddam is derogatory or inappropriate may be based on the assumption that Hussein is a family name: thus, the New York Times refers to him as "Mr. Hussein"[http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/02/international/middleeast/02IRAQ.html?8br], while Encyclopædia Britannica uses just Saddam [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=42559]. A full discussion can be found [http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/saddam_hussein.html] (Blair Shewchuk, CBC News Online).; 28 April 1937 Under his government, this date was his official date of birth. His real date of birth was never recorded, but it is believed to be a date between 1935 and 1939. From Con Coughlin, Saddam The Secret Life Pan Books, 2003 (ISBN 0-330-39310-3). ? 30 December 2006)executed by hanging after being convicted of crimes against humanity following his trial and conviction was the President of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003.Official State Biography of Saddam HusseinOnline NewsHour Update: Coalition Says Iraqi Regime Has Lost Control of Baghdad - 9 April 2003 A leading member of the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought the party to long-term power.

As vice president under the ailing General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, and at a time when many groups were considered capable of overthrowing the government, Saddam created security forces through which he tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces. In the early 1970s, Saddam spearheaded Iraq's nationalization of the Western-owned Iraq Petroleum Company, which had long held a monopoly on the country's oil. Through the 1970s, Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as Iraq's economy grew at a rapid pace.See PBS Frontline (2003), "The survival of Saddam: secrets of his life and leadership: interview with Saïd K. Aburish" at [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/interviews/aburish2.html].

As president, Saddam maintained power during the Iran?Iraq War of 1980 through 1988, and throughout the Persian Gulf War of 1991. During these conflicts, Saddam suppressed several movements, particularly Shi'a and Kurdish movements seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence, respectively. Whereas some Arabs venerated him for his aggressive stance against foreign intervention and for his support for the Palestinians,BBC News, 16 October 2000 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/974987.stm] other Arabs and Western leaders vilified him as the force behind both a deadly attack on northern Iraq in 1988 and, two years later, an invasion of Kuwait to the south.

By 2003, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush had convinced the American public that Saddam remained sufficiently relevant and dangerous to be overthrown. In March of that year, the U.S. and its allies invaded Iraq, eventually deposing Saddam. Captured by U.S. forces on 13 December 2003, Saddam was brought to trial under the Iraqi interim government set up by U.S.-led forces. On 5 November 2006, he was convicted of charges related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites convicted of planning an assassination attempt against him, and was sentenced to death by hanging. Saddam was executed on 30 December 2006. By the time of his death, Saddam had become a prolific author.Theodolou, Michael. New Iraqi literary king is not-quite anonymous. The Christian Science Monitor: 11 December 2001.Boncompagni, Hala. [http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=19732 Saddam's lawyer plans book on president's 'secrets']. Middle East Online: 23 February 2007.Santora, Marc and John F. Burns. From Hussein, a florid farewell to the Iraqi people. The New York Times: 4 January 2007.Barr, Robert. Hussein tends garden, pens poems, official says. The Boston Globe: 27 July 2004. Among his works are multiple novels dealing with themes of romance, politics, and war.Hogg, Chris. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4996116.stm 'Saddam novel' on sale in Tokyo]. BBC News: 18 May 2006.Cockburn, Andrew and Patrick Cockburn. Saddam Hussein: An American Obsession. London: Verso, 2002, p. xviii.Blitzer, Wolf, et al. CIA corruption probe; President Bush to give immigration speech Monday night; Iraq: militia challenge. Cable News Network: 12 May 2006. Transcript.Federal Bureau of Investigation. Interviewing Saddam: FBI agent gets to the truth. United States Department of Justice: 28 January 2008.