22. Contrary to His Public Perception, “The Butcher of Baghdad” Had a Soft Side
“The Butcher of Baghdad”, Saddam Hussein (1937 – 2006), ruled Iraq from 1979 until his ouster in 2003. The perception of him as a butcher was spot on: his rule was marked by extreme brutality, repression, and corruption at home, plus costly wars against his neighbors. At least a quarter of a million Iraqis were killed in a variety of purges and genocides by Saddam’s security services. Hundreds of thousands more were killed in Saddam’s invasions of Iran and Kuwait.
However, although a vicious brute, Saddam was also a smooth operator who knew how to lay on the charm when he wanted to. Indeed, on the day he was led to his execution, most of Saddam’s American guards had tears in their eyes at the impending death of the kindly old man they had come to know. Saddam also had a maudlin streak that ran counter to his public perception: the man wrote four steamy romance novels, plus numerous poems and poetry collections.
