Page 290 - A Call for a Turkish-Islamic Union

nism, stamped its mark upon the worldview of Arab socialists,
who developed aggressive, oppressive, and provocative poli-

cies. Saddam was a leading Ba'th Party militant, the embodi-
ment of this erroneous ideology in Iraq. In his youth, he orga-
nized and carried out attacks on political organizations and in-
dividuals opposed to the Ba'th movement through the Jihaz
Hanin (the Apparatus of Yearnings) terrorist organization.
Following the Ba'thists' first coup d'etat, an interrogation unit
was formed under Saddam's command and subjected its suf-

ferers to horrific torture. It was known that Saddam even de-
vised new torture techniques.
Under the influence of the Stalinist ideology in which he
fervently believed, he became a ruthless and merciless dictator
known for his cruelty. In 1980, he ignited a bloody 8-year war

by invading Iran; 2 years after that tragedy ended, he invaded
Kuwait. He was violent with all domestic groups and individ-
uals that he considered potential threats, as his chemical
weapons attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja (northern
Iraq) proved: 5,000 innocent people died. And, this was just
one of his regime's crimes against humanity.

All of this clearly proves that Saddam was not fit to rule
Iraq. People expect their leader to deliver peace, security, hap-
piness, and prosperity, as well as peace and stability both to
their neighbors in particular and the world in general.
Now that Saddam and his regime have been removed

from power, the post-invasion strategies are crucially impor-
tant. It is not enough to portray Saddam as a tyrant for a last-
ing peace to appear in the Middle East. What is needed is an
analysis that can correct the conditions and ideologies that led

A CALL FOR A TURKISH-ISLAMIC UNION