His signature in red ink on a typed housing document 2 months before he invaded Kuwait Rare Typed DS: "Saddam Hussein" in Arabic in red ink as President of Iraq, 1 page, 8x11. Baghdad, Iraq, 1990 June 2. Not translated. A decree revising paragraphs in the real estate register for the city of Ebril. Saddam Hussein 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, 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 on August 2, 1990, just two months after signing this decree.