The end of the war, 1988
After 8 years of continuous war between Iraq and Iran, peace is finally been made. A UN mandate made an end to the war costing to hundreds of thousands of human lifes. The results however were not the same for both countries. Iran saved it’s province Khuzestan, reduced the amount of Arab separatism due to the Iraqi loss and the new revolutionary government had enough prestige and legitimacy in the eyes of the Iranian population. The debt and human losses were at the end worth it. Iraq however wasn’t in a good position. Many people and soldiers died due to the consequences of war, the crackdown of suspected pro-Iranian Iraqis. Khuzestan wasn’t ‘liberated’ and there was a ton of debt gained in 8 years of war. Saddam was, the least to say, not happy with the results. And now there was an even bigger tension with the Iraqi Kurdish population.
Iraqi soldiers treated like hero’s after the war was over, 1988
Rebuilding process (1988-1996)
As soon as the war was over, the question in Iraq was, what will happen next? Will Iraq start recover from the war or will there be a witch hunt against suspected ‘traitors’? In the first two years after the war, Saddam was sure about restoring Iraqi glory. This could be against anyone. Reality shows him only two targets: Kuwait and Syria. Kuwait for its historical ties with Iraq like Khuzestan. It was of course the weakest of the two. But the power behind the Kuwaiti’s is what bothered the Iraqi military. The Gulf states will likely back Kuwait and there is no telling how the USA, only recently a partner against Iran, would react. Saddam was sure about the power of the Iraqi Army. They would, without a doubt cause trouble among the Kuwaiti allies. And then there was Syria. Syria ruled by the same Ba’ath Party but in reality, a rival of Baghdad. In 1982, they closed down the second Iraqi lifeline. This can’t and shouldn’t be forgiven. Iran won’t intervene for sure as they are exhausted of war. Regardless, the Military leaders of the Iraqi Army, Iraqi ministers and even Qusay Hussein and the rest of his family members talked Saddam out his madness of a new war. Except for Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri and Uday Hussein, nobody favored war. The country needs to rebuild first. Saddam agreed. He agreed to clear Iraq of what he would describe as traitors. And so his purge would start.
The purge (1988-1991), Baghdad, August 1989
In a speech Saddam held in Baghdad, he targeted the Talabani faction and the Shi’ite supporters of SCIRI*. The Iraqi people were betrayed by the traitors who prefered Mullah tyranny over Iraq. The speech was to most Iraqis cliche. Saddam blamed his own loss on political enemies rather than himself. But the part the people feared was, anytime any moment, the Mukhabarat could start arresting people, the Republican Guards can be send to code-red regions. And the people can start fearing their lives. Except for the Iraqi Sunnis and Secularist Shiites, there wasn’t much support for Saddam. And the people feared right. Only 8 months later, Saddam Hussein declared a state of Emergency during several protests by Iraqi Shias in Karbala, Najaf, Basra and Nasiriyah. The Republican Guards were send in to force protesters to stop. The bloodiest one was in Najaf were 105 people died and another 351 were wounded.