Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge [Paperback]

Said K. Aburish (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

Drawing on the author's knowledge of and contacts with the Arab world, especially in Iraq, Said Aburish gives us an accurate, compelling biography and psychological profile of the man the western world feared most. The author worked with Saddam Hussein in the 1970s, adding dimension and personal experience to our understanding of this remarkable dictator. The book includes an account of Saddam's series of personal quests—for recognition after being orphaned and brought up by a destitute uncle; for control of his country; for leadership in the Arab world; for mastery in the technology of destruction. This is the frightening story of how the man who, with the encouragement of Western governments, made his country the most advanced in the Arab world in the 1970s, and through personal ambition led it to disaster at the end of the 1980s.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There's a lot to be gleaned from this detailed, balanced biography of Saddam Husseinand there's a lot that's controversial as well. A journalist who has worked as a consultant to the Iraqi government, Aburish (Children of Bethany; Arafat: From Defender to Dictator) walks a tightrope, condemning the Iraqi dictator while simultaneously criticizing the Westfirst Britain and then the United Statesfor what he sees as its hypocritical policy in the Persian Gulf. He traces Saddam's life from a fatherless, impoverished childhood in the town of Tikrit through his rise up the ranks of the Iraqi army after Iraq gained its independence in 1958 and his eventual stranglehold on power. Aburish attributes Saddam's rise to his ability to appeal to ordinary Iraqis' desire to regain what they see as their great Mesopotamian past, although since the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, Aburish believes Saddam has lost the legitimate support of his people. But the real grist of this biographywhich relies on Aburish's extensive contacts in the Arab worldcomes as the author addresses Iraq's role in international affairs during the past decades. He builds a credible case that Iraq relied on American technology to build its weapons program even before the Iran-Iraq warand that the American government knew about it. America's flip-flops during that war and its conflicting signals to Iraq in the months preceding Saddam's invasion of Kuwait are well known. Those interested in foreign policy will learn a great deal from Aburish's knowledge of clandestine contactsand his appropriately dramatic but not sensational narrativeeven if some are put off by his closing plea for an end to U.N. sanctions. 16 b&w photos.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

'A brilliant Arab-Western examination - by one uniquely placed - of the psychology and makeup of one of the world's political phenomena, in clear historical context, written with pace, detail, and a host of witnesses and sources' SUNDAY TRIBUNE 'Powerful. Aburish provides shameful details of Western complicity, cynical and mostly clandestine, in Saddam's reign of terror' HERALD 'The hypocrisy and amorality of Western policy make uncomfortable reading Aburish's unmatched contacts in the Middle East enable him to provide a rare glimpse into the secret world of Saddam. A chilling biography' OBSERVER

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury UK; New edition edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747549036
• ISBN-13: 978-0747549031
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #419,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Balanced view, June 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge (Hardcover)

Aburish has written a good book on Saddam Hussein. One has to remember that it is part of the writing process to understand your readers' perspective. So, in this case it means that Saddam has to be judged by western standards. I have lived ten years in Iraq and liked especially Aburish Said's critical thinking towards horror stories that come from Iraq. I noticed while living in Saddam's Iraq (1980-1990) that iraqis tell all kinds of stories that are not to be taken literally. For example iraqis said that one European ambassador had slapped on the face of his European subordinate. The ambassador in question became very angry at such story. Of course it was true that this ambassador was angry, but to resort to physical violence is very serious matter in Europe. Iraqis just added this minor thing about hitting to illustrate how angry he was. I feel that in many cases stories that are coming out of Iraq are not exactly true in western sense. Aburish analyses well for example the case when Saddam killed his health minister. Iraqis hoped for peace, so they mixed their hope of peace with Iran to the fact that Saddam killed a minister. So story changed in the minds of iraqis, who thought that this minister had told something bad to Saddam in order to make peace with Iran. Aburish corrects many similar stories with his rational thinking. Of course it is true that Aburish has written his book mostly from his memory. So there are few mistakes. For example Saleh Ammash didn't die in 1975 (perhaps 1985 is correct). But these are minor things, because Aburish is so well informed about the Middle Eastern politics. It is always pleasure to read Aburishes books. His book about House of Saud is written with great wit.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great and thorough coverage of the Iraqi pschye, May 1, 2001

By 

Issam (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge (Hardcover)

Aburish exceeds his own high standards in research and thorough analysis of the rise and reasons for the lack of a fall of Saddam Hussien. I couldn't put this book down.

It's easy to read, even handed in its portrayal of the dictator, and comprehensive in explaining this product of brutal Iraqi history.

Thanks to this book, I have a better understanding of Middle Eastern politics, the gulf war and the wests' continued involvement in the region.

I throroughly recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing the whole story of the Gulf War and Iraq.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Fresh Perspective Needing an Editor, August 27, 2000

By 

Charles Brown (Bellingham, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge (Hardcover)

Said Aburish's biography of Saddam Hussein is not so much a biography as it is a narrative of the author's interaction with the Hussein regime. The core of this very readable work is based on Aburish's business relationship with the Saddam Hussein regime in the 1970s and early 1980s, when he tried to procure arms and other material for Iraq.

Around this core comes the rest of the book in which we are treated to a history of Iraq since the 1958 revolution, the origins of the "Beast of Baghdad," the Iran-Iraq War, and the Persian Gulf War and its aftermath. Aburish's work is very much needed; he locates Hussein within the context of modern Arab history, which is a breathe of fresh air for American readers.

However, the book is in need of an editor. The farther Aburish gets from his real expertise-the story of his own relationship with the regime-the more details of other events become muddied. For example, he mistakes the ground offensive in the Persian Gulf War as beginning on February 22, 1991, when it actually occured on February 24. In addition he miscredits some of his sources. An example of this is the recent "Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein." This latter work is by Andrew and Patrick Cockburn, not Andrew and Leslie Cockburn. Lastly, Aburish is given to painting his portrait of Saddam in overly broad strokes; Saddam will certainly be remembered by history, but Saddam won't change the study of history as Aburish claims.

These criticisms aside, Aburish's book is still quite good and represents a fresh perspective on the problem of one of America's thorniest foreign policy issues.