Islam’s Worst Enemy
The case against Saddam Hussein.

October 17, 2001 11:20 a.m.

raq's 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.