Saddam Hussein

The article analyzes the views of Saddam Hussein, based on his statements regarding the “Shiite question”, which was originally based on the ideological heritage of the Ba’th, set out in the Constitution of 1951. However, under the influence of the processes that took place in Iraq throughout the 1970s, in particular the Kurdish national movement and the “Islamic awakening” of Shiites under the influence of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Saddam Hussein was forced to adjust the ideas of the Ba’th to new realities.

The article attempts to analyze the specifics of the position of the Shiite clergy in Iraq, associated with the traditional Islamic worldview of Shiites, who traditionally occupied a subordinate position in the Sunni political hierarchy. The article focuses on the period of the formation and strengthening of Saddam Hussein’s sole power, when he took the initiative to appease Shiites and Ulama, combining the policy of “carrot and stick”, considering Shiites as a potential threat to his secular power.