Saddam Hussein and Iraq Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq, is the person that makes the United States stand up and look at the Middle East as a threat to their personal safety. Who is Saddam really? Saddam came from a past that formed the President of Iraq that the United States is fighting with now. Saddam has a wife, a family, he has a country, and he is a grandfather; but even so he is still considered a monster by the United States. Today, "[w]hile the outside world must wait and guess at the Iraqi president's thoughts and intention, his personal history and those ruling Baath Socialist Party and Iraq" know exactly what Saddam has up his sleeve (Rupert 1). President Saddam Hussein was born on April 28, 1937 in Tikrit District Iraq. Rupert remarks that "[s]addam is a 53-year old ex-intelligence officer, a man whose life since childhood has meant struggle for survival and primacy" (Rupert 1). He was educated at the University of Cairo Law school and gained a law degree from the University of Baghdad in 1971. Saddam was raised with a Muslim background and is married with two sons and three daughters. Saddam in his early years before becoming president was involved in the attempted assassination of Iraqi leader Abdul Karim Kassem and he also helped to organize the militia that brought about the political party the Ba'ath in 1968. Saddam became president of Iraq in 1979 and in 1994 he came to be known because of how he used "Iraq's oil wealth to make the country a major military power in the Middle east; led the country into the Iran-Iraq war and the Persian Gulf war against the United States" (Saddam 1). Taking a look at Saddam "[p]olitical and psychological specialists say that his cultural and personal roots developed in him a vein of paranoia and insecurity that helped led him into the Persian Gulf crisis, although these analysts dismiss any suggestion that he is insane" (Rupert 1). His wife Sajida Khayrallah is described as "[a] clotheshorse. She's a bottle blonde. She's the headmistress of a girl's school. She's a jealous wife, and with good reason. She's the mother of a killer. She's her husband's first cousin. She's Mrs. Saddam Hussein" (Sherrill 1). Sajida Khayrallah is her name and she been married to Saddam for 32 years. Their marriage was arranged like so many others in the Arab world, when Saddam was only 4 or 5 years old. They were married in 1958 after the Ba'ath political party took power. Sherril describes the Husseins as[s]tatus-conscious and socially mobile. They wore expensive clothes and matching jewelry - the brilliant stones in his cuff links and her earrings were cut from the same rock. The silk lining of his suits matched the silk of his ties. Sajida, over the years, was drawn to Geneva and Paris to buy Western-style designer clothes and her hair - brunette at first - became blonder (1).Hussein said, when asked about his marriage, "the most important thing about marriage, is that the man must not let the woman feel downtrodden simply because she is the woman and he is the man" (Sherrill 2). Families in Iraq and the Arab world are centered around kinship groups the fundamental social units, that regulate many activities that are viewed in western cultures as belonging to the responsibility of political, economic, religious and neighboring groups. In Arab families "[r}elatives tend to be preferred as business partners since they are believed to be more reliable than persons over whom one does not have the hold of kinship ties" (Al-Hariri 1).

In the Middle East "the family consists of a senior couple, their sons, the son's wives and children, and unmarried daughters. Other dependent relatives may also be attached to the group. The senior male is the head of the family; he manages its properties and has the final voice in decisions" (Al-Hariri 2). The number of people of in the household is actually determined by the family's economic situation, style of living, and habitation. Seniority and sex determine authority in the household. In regards to authority the father "has absolute authority over the activities of the members of the household, both within the confines of the house and outside" (Al-Hariri 2). Marriage arrangement is a family matter in which the needs and positions of the kin group are primary decision factors. If Saddam or any other man wanted to get a divorce from his wife he would under Moslem law, according to, Harris he would[h]ave to announce three times the traditional formula "I divorce you" in the presence of two witnesses. The wife does not have the right to oppose this action; and, in practice, a Moslem wife will almost never initiate a divorce unless a special provision granting her the liberty is included in the marriage contract. She does, however, have the formal right to appeal for a divorce, or have a male kinsman appeal for her, to the shariah court (274).Saddam has a lot of power as President of Iraq and it seems that he is always constructing another palace as a sign of this power. The people of Iraq do not seem to mind Saddam building another palace or attacking the United States. In November as an example of their willingness to support Saddam "carrying pillows, blankets, and personal belongings, several hundred Iraqi families headed for presidential palaces, vowing to act as human shields in case of a U.S. attacks." The families were willing to do everything for their president, even though he had caused their homes to be destroyed and to cause their children to starve (Barkho 1-2). Saddam's presidential palace near Samarra is 10 square miles and contains 90 buildings, one presidential residence, 75 villas, 5 warehouses and a parking lot. Radwaniyah near Baghdad's international airport is known to be Saddam's main residence. U.S officials think that Saddam may have built "anywhere from 43 to 50 palaces were built since the 1991 Gulf War" (LaBelle 1). Saddam and Iraq in 1999 will have to face the advancement and development of technologies. Middle East states "will have an ever harder time managing their internal pressures as technology begins to transform the relationship between governments and people in the region as elsewhere." (Maynes 2). As technology advances and the west begins to influence the Middle East, Saddam will have to become more aware of the fact that it going to influence his world. The people of the Middle East are beginning to become more literate on the Internet, railroads and mass media. Saddam soon will not be able to "manage the people with a policy of repression and stealth" he will have to begin to be honest with his people instead of trying to hide. (Maynes 2). Saddam may seem like a big monster, but he has a family, he has a past, he has a future: Saddam is human.