Typed 1980 appointment letter signed by Saddam in red ink
Rare Typed DS:
"Saddam Hussein" in red ink, as Head of the Revolution's Supreme Council,
in Arabic, 1 page, 8x11.
Baghdad, Iraq, 1980 May 22. Not translated.
"Decided" that
Lieutenant Colonel Ali Omran Mosa be appointed to a civilian post at the Ministry of
Transportation. Saddam Hussein (b. 1937) joined the Pan-Arab socialist Baath Party in 1957
and fled Iraq. He was wounded two years later, after attempting to assassinate Prime Minister
Kassim. Returning to Iraq after Kassim's overthrow in 1963, he rose rapidly in the Baath
revolutionary apparatus and by 1968 was a Vice President with broad authority over the secret
police.
Saddam seized full power in 1979 and conducted a ruthless purge of opponents
inside and outside the Baath Party. He dealt brutally with political, ethnic and religious
opponents, real or imagined, throughout his reign.
In September, 1980, four months after
signing this order, Saddam Hussein began an eight-year war with Iran which began well
but soon turned into a stalemate costly in lives and money. It was partly to recover from
the resulting financial crisis that Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990.
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