Saddam Hussein was a repressive leader who sowed fear among the people of the world. His destructive methods shone through as he attempted to eliminate the Kurdish population, nationalize Iraqi oil, and keep his regime in power. Yet his strict rule helped establish and maintain peace among the people of his country despite the many different religions living in the region. He protected his country against a theocratic form of government, and for a time Hussein was an ally of the United States. He led a westernized nation in a fundamentalist region of the world. His regime managed to stop the expansion of al-Qaeda in Iraq, grant civil rights to women, and prevent religious killings linked to intermarriage. Although Hussein was a brutal dictator, he managed to unite his country and create a westernized nation under his rule despite the country's Islamic situation. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was born on April 28, 1937, in Ouja, Iraq, a small village outside of Tikrit. In Arabic, Saddam translates to “He who confronts”. He was born into a landless peasant family and his biological father, Hussein 'Abid al-Majid, died around the time Saddam was born. He lived with his mother, Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat, and his two siblings, Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar. When his older brother died of cancer, his mother became depressed and was no longer able to care for him. She sent him to Baghdad to live with his uncle, Khairallah Talfah, a Sunni Muslim with great influence on Saddam. He then returned to live with his mother and her third husband, Hassan Ibriham, or Lying Hassan as many in the tribe called him. He often used a stick covered in asphalt to beat Saddam, which people believe was the reason...... middle of paper ...... hundreds of Shiites executed, thousands put in prison and tens of thousands of people were forced to flee the country and take refuge in Iran. Hussein could see that there was a great possibility of a war with Iran, and after weighing the possibilities, he deliberately started one. He believed he could win the war against Iran for several reasons. The Iranian army was low in numbers due to Ayatollah Khomeini's purge of the Shah's officers, and Iran was isolated from the world, without powerful allies to support it. Iraq, however, had a stable economy and a strong, organized army. Additionally, a Shiite had attempted to assassinate Tariq Aziz, Iraq's foreign minister and a close friend of Hussein. The rapid growth of the Ayatollah's power and fear of overthrow by the Shiites pushed Hussein to start the Iran-Iraq War..