ÿş<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">  <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Al Jazeera - objective and balanced global news coverage and analysis- Historical</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-16"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type><LINK href="article-current-govt_files/style.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2722.900" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY leftMargin=0 topMargin=10 rightMargin=0> <DIV align=center xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <CENTER> <TABLE style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px" align=left><IMG src="article-current-govt_files/banner.gif"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD><IMG src="article-current-govt_files/mainheader.jpg"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <DIV align=center> <CENTER> <TABLE id=AutoNumber2 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#999999 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=1> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE id=AutoNumber3 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=dates id=hDate dir=ltr style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" width="80%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD> <TD dir=ltr width="20%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE id=AutoNumber4 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=768 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width=565> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD colSpan=2 height=5></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" colSpan=2> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=indicationLink2 vAlign=top><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/index.html">Homepage<IMG src="article-current-govt_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0></A><IMG src="article-current-govt_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0><IMG src="article-current-govt_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0>/ <IMG src="article-current-govt_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/topics/index1e0f.html?cu_no=1&template_id=271&temp_type=42">Historical<IMG src="article-current-govt_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0></A>/ </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=6></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD><INPUT id=item_cu_no type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=item_no type=hidden value=515 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=version type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=date1 type=hidden value=23/03/2003 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=dateTime type=hidden value=10:18PM xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=articalText type=hidden value="<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>The government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is at a historic turn, its survival threatened by foreign and domestic forces supported by the United States and other international powers which consider Baghdad a threat to their security.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=right>
<TABLE width=10 align=right border=0>

<TR>
<TD align=middle><FONT face=Arial><IMG height=150 src=_/mritems/images/2003/3/22/1_724_1_6.html width=190 border=0></FONT></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD class=imgcaption id=Comment dir=rtl vAlign=top align=middle><FONT face=Arial size=1><STRONG>President Saddam Hussein (R) appears on Iraqi state television at a meeting with military advisors after an attempt by U.S. stealth fighters to eliminate him on Thursday</STRONG></FONT></TD></TR></TABLE></DIV></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>President Saddam Hussein heads the government in Iraq. He was born in 1937 and assumed power in 1979, after forcing his predecessor Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr to step down.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The strength of the current Iraqi government lies primarily in the state security apparatus. Members of the inner circle of the ruling Baath party, such as family and tribal members, hold key and sensitive posts in the country. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>They, in turn, are under the control of other security bodies in charge of guarding against any attempted deviation from the regime, such as the case of Hussein Kamel, President Saddam’s son-in-law. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Then come the personal bodyguards of President Saddam Hussain who are known for their blind loyalty to Saddam.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Republican Guards are the core of Iraq’s Army. Privileged and well trained, their duty is to protect the regime from any military or popular disobedience.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Members of the Ba’ath party are deployed in most of Iraqi villages and cities. Their duties are to ensure security and to strengthen the authority of the regime.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>There is no real domestic threat in Iraq. Kurds are divided among themselves in the north and Shiites are isolated in the South. Both Kurds and Shiites do not enjoy the sympathy of the Sunnis in central Iraq.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Notwithstanding its repressive nature, during 23 years in power, Saddam Hussein’s government has accomplished much. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>It has modernised the country, taking advantage of its natural resources to make Iraq one of the leading regional powers in the Middle East. Before the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq was the world's second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia. But unlike other neighbouring countries, Iraq did not depend solely on oil.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Moreover, the Iraqi military was well advanced in the manufacture of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. These achievements made the Iraqi army one of the strongest in the region before the 1991 Gulf War.</FONT></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=2>Major events:</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Iraq has witnessed important political events in recent times. The First Gulf War began one year after Saddam assumed power. Iraq launched a fierce war against its neighbour Iran over a territorial dispute concerning the Shatt al-'Arab waterway. Each side also accused the other of fomenting opposition in their own countries.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Iraqi-Iranian war officially broke out on September 22, 1980 with an armed attack by Iraqi air and land forces on Iran’s western border, though the two sides had been engaged in artillery attacks since September 4th. The war, which lasted for eight years saw the use of chemical weapons and quickly spread to cover populated areas.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Iraq enjoyed much wider military and financial support than Iran, both among Arab and Western nations. Its backers included the Gulf States, the United States, North Korea, China, and the former Soviet Union.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>In July 1988, Iran was forced to accept the United Nations&nbsp;mandated cease-fire. The war, which cost billions of dollars, left up to 1.5 million people dead.</FONT></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Second Gulf War</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Still recovering from the First Gulf War, the region witnessed the eruption of another violent war. This time between Iraq and its neighbour Kuwait.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The crisis began with the exchange of accusations between the two countries over the manipulation of oil prices. Iraq also accused Kuwait of illegally pumping oil from Iraq’s Rumaila oil field. Iraq invaded Kuwait, which it had long claimed, on August 2, 1990. After annexing it, Iraq declared Kuwait its 19th province and appointed an Iraqi governor there to replace the Kuwaiti ruling family that had fled the country.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>On August 7th, Saudi Arabia sought&nbsp; US protection from Iraqi threats. Under the umbrella of the United Nations, the United States began mobilizing forces from 32 countries, known as an international coalition force, to attack the Iraqi army and force it to withdraw from Kuwait.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>On November 29, 1990, the United Nations set January 15, 1991, as the deadline for a peaceful withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. When Saddam Hussein refused&nbsp;to&nbsp;comply, Operation Desert Storm was launched three days later under the leadership of U.S. general Norman Schwarzkopf. The US-led coalition began a massive air war to destroy Iraq's forces and its military and civil infrastructure. Iraq retaliated by launching Scud missiles against Saudi Arabia and Israel in an attempt to break up the international coalition.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>When US President George Bush senior declared a ceasefire on February 28, 1991, most of the Iraqi forces in Kuwait had either surrendered or fled. Kuwait’s government was restored.</FONT></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=2>Repression of Shiite and Kurdish mutiny</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Shiites in the South and Kurds in the north tried to seize on Iraq’s crushing defeat in the 1991 Gulf War to rebel against the regime which they accused of maintaining a repressing their aspirations for expanded self-rule. They were also seeking to improve their living conditions and to seek a just representation in the government. Iraq however, succeeded in suppressing the mutiny in 1991.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Following the Gulf War, the United States set up unilateral no-fly zones north of the 36th parallel, ostensibly to protect Iraq's Kurdish population and, later, south of the 32nd parallel for the country's Shiite Muslims. Iraq considered the no-fly zones as illegal because they had not been authorized by the United Nations. Iraq, however, could not violate the embargo because its air defences had been destroyed during&nbsp; Operation Desert Storm.</FONT></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=2>Economic sanctions on Iraq</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The economic sanctions, which the United States has imposed on Iraq since 1991,&nbsp; have&nbsp;impacted severely on&nbsp;the living conditions of the Iraqi people. The allies’ destruction of infrastructure crippled Iraqi life. The Iraqi dinar collapsed and necessary foodstuff and medicines became scarce in Iraq. In an attempt to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people, the United Nations signed the “Oil-for-Food Program”, but the humanitarian crisis continued.</FONT></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=2>International weapons inspections</FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Under the terms of the armistice which ended the war over Kuwait, the United Nations issued a resolution forcing Iraq to give up its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and restricting its imports of arms. To implement this resolution, an inspections team was set up to search for and destroy suspected weapons of mass destruction. The team began its duties in1993. Iraq, however, complained about the selection of the team that was mostly made up of Americans and accused them of spying. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and&nbsp; Scott Ritter, a member of the inspection team, confirmed them to be true. The work of the&nbsp; inspectors proceeded until 1998, when the United States decided to launch&nbsp; new military strikes against Iraq and ordered the international inspectors to leave Baghdad.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The United States tried to get the inspectors back into Iraq following a four-day air strike, but Iraq refused to comply unless all its outstanding issues with the United Nations were settled in accordance with a specific timetable.&nbsp; However, Iraq was warned of military retaliation if it failed to comply and given a unilateral 48-hour deadline by the United States' president George Bush.&nbsp;In the morning&nbsp;of 20&nbsp;March 2003 (GMT) the US initiated a new war against Iraq.&nbsp;</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>&nbsp;<STRONG>Al Jazeera</STRONG></FONT></P>" xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TABLE id=AutoNumber5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE id=AutoNumber5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD dir=ltr width="100%"><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/xml/topics/printarticle7aa6.xml?cu_no=1&item_no=515&version=1&template_id=271&parent_id=258"><IMG hspace=5 src="article-current-govt_files/print.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></A><IMG onmouseover="this.style.cursor = 'hand' ;" onclick=SendByEmail(); onmouseout="this.style.cursor = '' ;" hspace=5 src="article-current-govt_files/email.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=5></TD></TR> <TR> <TD class=articalTitle>The current government in Iraq</TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=15></TD></TR> <TR> <TD id=artical vAlign=top></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=12></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width="100%" background=article-current-govt_files/h-dotedline-bg.gif><IMG height=1 src="article-current-govt_files/spacer.gif" width=1></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD dir=ltr width="100%"><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/xml/topics/printarticle7aa6.xml?cu_no=1&item_no=515&version=1&template_id=271&parent_id=258"><IMG hspace=5 src="article-current-govt_files/print.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></A><IMG onmouseover="this.style.cursor = 'hand' ;" onclick=SendByEmail(); onmouseout="this.style.cursor = '' ;" hspace=5 src="article-current-govt_files/email.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> if(document.all.artical) document.all.artical.innerHTML = document.all.articalText.value ; </SCRIPT> </TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD> <TD dir=ltr width=1 bgColor=#cccccc><IMG height=1 src="article-current-govt_files/spacer.gif" width=1 border=0></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=202> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/index.html"><IMG src="article-current-govt_files/homepage.gif" border=0></A></TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=8></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD></TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2> if( document.all.date1 ) { docDate = document.all.date1.value ; } </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="article-current-govt_files/HomeMenu.js"></SCRIPT> </BODY></HTML>