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Saddam Hussein has more Muslim blood on his hands than any tyrant
in modern history. And he is Osama bin Laden's most outspoken cheerleader,
if not his key supporter.
Hussein —
not America or Western civilization — has unleashed a breathtaking
reign of murder and terror on Mideastern Muslims.
In 1979, when
Hussein took power in Iraq, he immediately began murdering large
numbers of Kurds, the majority of whom are Muslim. He destroyed
scores of Kurdish villages, killed tens of thousands of civilians
— including by execution and the use of mustard gas and sarin
— and relocated thousands more to other parts of Iraq. Millions
of Kurdish refugees sought to escape Iraq. Not until 1992, when
the U.S. and Britain stepped in, did Hussein's mass murder of the
Kurds stop.
In 1980, Hussein
started a bloody eight-year war against Iran. Estimates of total
killed run as high as 1.5 million. The populations of Iraq and Iran
are overwhelmingly Muslim. And this war between these Muslim states
was particularly heinous. Air and missile strikes against large
civilian populations were common. Hussein used poison gas against
Iranian soldiers to reverse his battlefield losses. And prisoners
of war were routinely tortured and murdered.
In 1990, Hussein
ordered an invasion of Kuwait and then annexed it. Again, the vast
majority of Kuwaitis are Muslim. During the occupation, there were
reports that the Iraqi army raped, pillaged, and murdered at will.
Hundreds of thousands of Kuwaitis fled their country in fear of
their lives. When the Iraqi army was chased out of Kuwait by the
Gulf War coalition, its soldiers caused tens of billions of dollars
in damage to the country's infrastructure, including torching oil
fields. There remain over six hundred Kuwaiti POWs for which Iraq
refuses to account.
Hussein has
conducted a jihad against his fellow Muslims on Muslim holy
land. If bin Laden were truly concerned about the plight of Muslims,
he would have taken up arms against Hussein. Instead, bin Laden
has defended Hussein by, among other things, laying blame for the
death of Iraqis at the feet of America. No doubt referring to the
U.S.-led economic boycott of Iraq, bin Laden has claimed that Americans
have killed a million Iraqi children. Bin Laden said this knowing
full well that Hussein has stolen from his people. He has enriched
himself at the expense of Iraq's children. And Hussein wouldn't
think twice about using poison gas again to kill Muslim women and
children if it meant retaining power.
While their
methods are different, bin Laden and Hussein are power-hungry madmen
who seek domination at any cost. Whereas Hussein sought to expand
his rule with a conquering army, bin Laden seeks to impose his rule
by inciting uprisings and overthrowing moderate Arab and Muslim
governments from within. Both know that America stands between them
and their designs. Thus, they must drive the U.S. from the region
if they're to succeed. And since 1993, bin Laden has organized and
financed terrorist attacks against Americans for this purpose.
Bin Laden may
claim to represent Muslims in a war against the West, but the truth
is he has no more regard for their lives than for ours.
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