Page 218 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

The Winter of

ISLAM

and the Spring to Come IRAQ

Middle East fascism:

Saddam Hussein

V arious religious sects and ethnic
groups make up Iraq's population
of 25 million. Some 95 percent are
Muslims, and they have experienced op-
pression, torture and fear for many years.
The most important factor in the killing and
poverty inflicted on the Muslim population
has been Saddam Hussein's "fascist" dicta-
torship.
Saddam Hussein took power in 1979,
and after that refused to allow religious cir-
cles to enjoy any kind of political or social
activity. Saddam was the architect of the
martyrdom of 5,000 Muslim Kurds by
chemical weapons at Halabja, inflicted terri-
ble suffering on his own people and those of
their neighbor by starting the Iran-Iraq war,
and tried to conquer Kuwait in 1990.