How Saddam Hussein Was Even More Evil Than You Think

On a summer day in 1982, Hussein was paying a visit to the small city of Dujail. While on his visit, his caravan of vehicles came under light gunfire from anti-Ba'athists that were from the area (via Thought Company). In what he considered an assassination attempt, Hussein exacted immediate retribution. Not caring if anyone innocent was punished, he ordered 140 "fighting-age men" to be rounded up. These men and boys were shipped out of Dujail and never seen or heard from again.

As if that weren't bad enough, Hussein ordered another 1,500 townspeople into trucks and taken to prisons (via Thought Company). There, the new prisoners were subjected to torture off and on for nearly a year. Those who survived were exiled to a desert encampment, forbidden to return to Dujail (not that returning to Dujail would have been beneficial to these poor people). While they were incarcerated, Hussein ordered the property of the convicted to be destroyed. Businesses were looted and razed, homes were bulldozed, and farmland was totally destroyed.

At this point, Hussein can be blamed for waging a winless war against Iran, destroying a healthy Iraqi economy, gassing his own citizens, and making genocidal moves against groups of people under his leadership. What would he follow all of this up with? Following the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Hussein committed one of his most brutal moves up to that point in his regime.

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