title: Vladimir Lenin

text: After Lenin's death, Stalin's administration established an ideology known as Marxism–Leninism, a movement that came to be interpreted differently by various contending factions in the communist movement. After being forced into exile by Stalin's administration, Trotsky argued that Stalinism was a debasement of Leninism, which was dominated by bureaucratism and Stalin's own personal dictatorship. Marxism–Leninism was adapted to many of the 20th century's most prominent revolutionary movements, forming into variants such as Stalinism, Maoism, Juche, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and Castroism. Conversely, many later Western communists, such as Manuel Azcárate and Jean Ellenstein, who were involved in the Eurocommunist movement, expressed the view that Lenin and his ideas were irrelevant to their own objectives, thereby embracing a Marxist but not Marxist–Leninist perspective.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: In 2012, the last statue of Lenin still standing in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, was removed, with city mayor Bat-Uul Erdene calling him a "murderer".


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng, ( ; born 6 August 1962) is a Malaysian actress. Credited as Michelle Khan in her early Hong Kong films, she rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in a series of Hong Kong action films where she performed her own stunts, such as "Yes, Madam" (1985), "" (1992) and "Holy Weapon" (1993). She gained international recognition for her roles in the James Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997) and in Ang Lee's martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000). The latter role earned her a BAFTA Best Actress nomination.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh's other works include "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005), "Reign of Assassins" (2010), "Kung Fu Panda 2" (2011), "" (2016), and "The Lady" (2011), where she portrayed Aung San Suu Kyi. She went on to have supporting roles in the romantic comedies "Crazy Rich Asians" (2018) and "Last Christmas" (2019), and the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021). On television, Yeoh had a recurring role in the science fiction series "" from 2017 to 2020. In 2022, she gained critical acclaim for starring as an overwhelmed mother navigating the multiverse in the science fiction film "Everything Everywhere All at Once", receiving a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: The film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes ranked her the greatest action heroine of all time in 2008. In 1997, she was chosen by "People" as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World", and in 2009 the same magazine listed her as one of the "35 All-Time Screen Beauties". In 2022, "Time" named her one of the world's 100 most influential people on its annual listicle and its Icon of the Year.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh was born on 6 August 1962 in Ipoh, Perak, to a local ethnic Malaysian Chinese family of Hokkien and Cantonese ancestry. Her parents are Janet Yeoh and Yeoh Kian-teik (died on 5 November 2014), a lawyer and Malaysian Chinese Association politician, as well as the man behind the express bus service Sri Maju. She is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh was keen on dance from an early age, beginning ballet at the age of four. She studied at Main Convent Ipoh, an all-girls secondary school in Ipoh, as a primary student. At the age of 15, she moved with her parents to the United Kingdom, where she was enrolled in an all-girls boarding school. Yeoh later studied at the UK's Royal Academy of Dance in London, majoring in ballet. However, a spinal injury prevented her from becoming a professional ballet dancer, and she transferred her attention to choreography and other arts. She received a BA degree in creative arts with a minor in drama in 1982.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: In 1983, at the age of 20, Yeoh won the Miss Malaysia World contest. She was Malaysia's representative at Miss World 1983 pageant in London. Later that year, she travelled to Australia where she won Miss International Tourism Quest pageant. From there, she appeared in a television commercial with Jackie Chan which caught the attention of a fledgling Hong Kong film production company, D&B Films.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh started her film career acting in action and martial arts films, where she did most of her own stunts. Already with her third credit, "Yes, Madam" (1985), she was given a main role. She was credited as Michelle Khan in these earlier films. This alias was chosen by D&B Films, who thought it might be more marketable to international and western audiences. Yeoh married Dickson Poon, who headed the D&B Group, in 1987 and retired from acting.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh returned to acting with "" (1992) after having divorced Poon. She appeared in "The Heroic Trio" (1993), and the Yuen Woo-ping films "Tai Chi Master" and "Wing Chun" in 1993 and 1994, respectively.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: She changed her stage name back to Michelle Yeoh when she started her Hollywood career with "Tomorrow Never Dies" in 1997. In the 1997 James Bond film, she played Wai Lin opposite star Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan was impressed, describing her as a "wonderful actress" who was "serious and committed about her work". He referred to her as a "female James Bond" in reference to her combat abilities. She wanted to perform her own stunts but was prevented because director Roger Spottiswoode considered it too dangerous. Nevertheless, she performed all of her own fighting scenes. In 1997, she played Soong Ai-ling in the award-winning "The Soong Sisters". Yeoh was approached by Ang Lee to star as Yu Shu Lien in the Chinese language martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000). The film was shot in various provinces around China. Yeoh had grown up speaking English and Malay, before learning Cantonese. She spoke little Mandarin, and learned the Mandarin lines for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" phonetically. The film was an international success, and earned Yeoh a BAFTA 2000 nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: In 2002, Yeoh produced her first English film, "The Touch", through her own production company Mythical Films. In 2005, Yeoh starred as Mameha in the film adaptation of "Memoirs of a Geisha", and she continued her English-language work in 2007 with "Sunshine". In 2008, Yeoh starred in the fantasy action film "" with Brendan Fraser and Jet Li. In 2011, she portrayed Aung San Suu Kyi in Luc Besson's "The Lady". Yeoh was blacklisted by the Burmese government allegedly because of her participation in "The Lady"; she was refused entry to Myanmar on 22 June 2011 and was deported on the same day.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: In October 2011, Yeoh was chosen by Guerlain to be its skincare ambassador. Yeoh's role was to help strengthen the French cosmetics company's relationship with Asia.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh did not branch out into television until 2015, with her first role playing Mei Foster, wife to the British Ambassador to Thailand, who is secretly a North Korean spy named Li-Na, on the fifth season of the Cinemax/Sky series "Strike Back". In 2016, Yeoh was cast as Starfleet Captain Philippa Georgiou of the starship USS "Shenzhou" in the series "", and recurs as Georgiou's "mirror" doppelganger later in the story.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: In 2018, Yeoh played family matriarch Eleanor Young in Jon M. Chu's "Crazy Rich Asians", a film adaptation of Kevin Kwan's book of the same name, opposite Constance Wu and Henry Golding. Carlos Aguilar of "TheWrap" described her performance as "convincingly subdued". In 2019, she played Christmas themed-store owner "Santa" in "Last Christmas", opposite Henry Golding and Emilia Clarke. The film was released on 8 November 2019, and was a box office success grossing over $121 million worldwide.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh played Ying Nan in Marvel Studios' "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. The film was released in theaters on 3 September 2021. It was announced at The Game Awards 2020 that Yeoh would star in "Ark: The Animated Series", a series based on the video game "" by Studio Wildcard, in which she plays the role of Mei-Yin Li, the Beast Queen of the Jungle.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: In 2022, Yeoh starred in the science fiction black comedy film "Everything Everywhere All at Once" from filmmaking duo Daniels, released in March to near-universal acclaim. In the film, she played struggling laundromat owner Evelyn Wang, a role that brought her widespread critical acclaim, with David Ehrlich of "IndieWire" claiming it the "greatest performance that Michelle Yeoh has ever given".


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh is set to appear in the upcoming Disney+ series "American Born Chinese", based on the book of the same name by Gene Luen Yang. In June 2022, it was announced that she will star in the eight-part series "The Brothers Sun" for Netflix


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: She is also set to star in "A Haunting in Venice" directed by Kenneth Branagh and as Madame Morrible in the two-part film adaptation of the musical, "Wicked" directed by Jon M. Chu.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh was married to Hong Kong entrepreneur Dickson Poon, owner of businesses such as Harvey Nichols and Charles Jourdan, from 1988 to 1992. In 1998, Yeoh was engaged to Alan Heldman, an American cardiologist. In 2004, she started dating Jean Todt, then the General Manager and CEO of Scuderia Ferrari and later the president of the FIA. In July 2008, she confirmed her engagement to him during an interview with Craig Ferguson on CBS's "The Late Late Show".


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh is a Buddhist. In March 2008, she visited Vietnam to film a documentary for the Asian Injury Prevention Foundation. Yeoh is a patron of the Save China's Tigers project committed to protect the endangered South China tiger.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: On 19 April 2001, Yeoh was awarded the Darjah Datuk Paduka Mahkota Perak (DPMP), which carries the title Dato', by Sultan Azlan Shah, the Sultan of Perak, her home state, in recognition of the fame she brought to the state.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: On 25 November 2002, Yeoh was honoured as The Outstanding Young People of the World (TOYP) (Cultural Achievement) by JCI (Junior Chamber International).


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: On 23 April 2007, French President Jacques Chirac conferred upon Yeoh the title of Knight of the Legion of Honour (Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur). The decoration was presented to her in a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on 3 October 2007. She was promoted to Officer of the same French Order (Officier de la Légion d'honneur) by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on 14 March 2012. The decoration was presented to her at a ceremony held at the president's residence, the Élysée Palace on that day.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: In 2011, Yeoh received a special award for her contribution to Malaysian cinema at 24th Malaysian Film Festival.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: On 22 May 2012, Yeoh was awarded the Darjah Seri Paduka Mahkota Perak (SPMP) which carries the title Dato' Seri during the investiture ceremony in conjunction with the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah's birthday.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh received the Excellence in Asian Cinema award during the 7th Asian Film Awards in March 2013 in Hong Kong.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: On 1 June 2013, Yeoh was awarded the Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM) which carries the title Tan Sri during the investiture ceremony in conjunction with the birthday of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: On 12 February 2016 Yeoh was conferred France's Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres award by the French government in Kuala Lumpur.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: Yeoh was included in the BBC's "100 Women" list of 2020. She was placed on "Time" magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: On 13 August 2022, Yeoh received an honorary doctorate of fine arts degree from the American Film Institute for her contributions of distinction to the art of the moving image. She became the first Asian artist to receive the honor.


title: Michelle Yeoh

text: On 9 December 2022, Yeoh received the Kirk Douglas Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.


title: James Cameron

text: James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability with his use of novel technologies. He first gained recognition for writing and directing "The Terminator" (1984) and found further success with "Aliens" (1986), "The Abyss" (1989), "" (1991), and the action comedy "True Lies" (1994). He wrote and directed "Titanic" (1997) and "Avatar" (2009), with "Titanic" earning him Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing. A recipient of various other industry accolades, two of his films have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron co-founded the production companies Lightstorm Entertainment, Digital Domain, and Earthship Productions. In addition to filmmaking, he is a National Geographic sea explorer and has produced many documentaries on the subject, including "Ghosts of the Abyss" (2003) and "Aliens of the Deep" (2005). Cameron has also contributed to underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies and helped create the digital 3D Fusion Camera System. In 2012, Cameron became the first person to do a solo descent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth's ocean, in the "Deepsea Challenger" submersible.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron's films have grossed approximately USD $2 billion in North America and $6 billion worldwide. "Avatar" and "Titanic" are the highest and third highest-grossing films of all time, earning $2.91 billion and $2.19 billion, respectively. Cameron holds the achievement of having directed the first two of the five films in history to gross over $2 billion worldwide. In 2010, "Time" named Cameron as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Cameron is also an environmentalist and runs several sustainability businesses.


title: James Cameron

text: James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954, in Kapuskasing, Ontario, to Philip Cameron, an electrical engineer, and Shirley (), an artist and nurse. He is the first of five children, with two brothers and two sisters. His paternal great-great-great-grandfather emigrated from Balquhidder, Scotland, in 1825. Cameron spent summers on his grandfather's farm in southern Ontario. As a child, he declined to join in the Lord's Prayer at school, comparing it to a "tribal chant". He attended Stamford Collegiate in Niagara Falls. At age 17, Cameron and his family moved from Chippawa to Brea, California. He attended Sonora High School and then moved to Brea Olinda High School. Classmates recalled that he was not a sportsman but instead enjoyed building things that "either went up into the air or into the deep".


title: James Cameron

text: After high school, Cameron enrolled at Fullerton College, a community college in 1973 to study physics. He switched subjects to English, but left the college at the end of 1974. He worked odd jobs, including as a truck driver and a janitor, but wrote in his free time. During this period, he learned about special effects by reading other students' work on "optical printing, or front screen projection, or dye transfers, anything that related to film technology" at the library. After the excitement of seeing "Star Wars" in 1977, Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron's directing career began in 1978. After borrowing money from a consortium of dentists, he learned to direct, write and produce his first short film, "Xenogenesis" (1978) with a friend. Learning as they went, Cameron said he felt like a doctor doing his first surgical procedure. He then served as a production assistant for "Rock and Roll High School" (1979). While educating himself about filmmaking techniques, Cameron started a job as a miniature model maker at Roger Corman Studios. He was soon employed as an art director for the science-fiction film "Battle Beyond the Stars" (1980). He carried out the special effects for John Carpenter's "Escape from New York" (1981), served as production designer for "Galaxy of Terror" (1981), and consulted on the design for "Android" (1982).


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron was hired as the special effects director for the sequel to "Piranha" (1978), titled "" in 1982. The original director, Miller Drake, left the project due to creative differences with producer Ovidio Assonitis. Shot in Rome, Italy and on Grand Cayman Island, the film gave Cameron the opportunity to become director for a major film for the first time. However, Cameron later said that it did not feel like his first film due to power-struggles with Assonitis. Disillusioned from being in Rome and suffering a fever, Cameron had a nightmare about an invincible robot hit-man sent from the future to assassinate him, which later led to the inspiration of "The Terminator". Upon release of "Piranha II: The Spawning", critics were not impressed; author Tim Healey called it "a marvellously bad movie which splices clichés from every conceivable source".


title: James Cameron

text: Inspired by John Carpenter's horror film "Halloween" (1978), in 1982 Cameron wrote the script for "The Terminator" (1984), a sci-fi action film about a cyborg sent from the future to carry out a lethal mission. Cameron wanted to sell the script so that he could direct the movie. Whilst some film studios expressed interest in the project, many executives were unwilling to let a new and unfamiliar director make the movie. Gale Anne Hurd, a colleague and founder of Pacific Western Productions, agreed to buy Cameron's script for one dollar, on the condition that Cameron direct the film. He convinced the president of Hemdale Pictures to make the film, with Cameron as director and Hurd as a producer. Lance Henriksen, who starred in "Piranha II: The Spawning", was considered for the lead role, but Cameron decided that Arnold Schwarzenegger was more suitable as the cyborg villain due to his bodybuilder appearance. Henriksen was given a smaller role instead. Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton also joined the cast. "The Terminator" was a box office success, exceeding expectations set by Orion Pictures. The film proved popular with audiences and earned over $78 million worldwide. George Perry of the BBC praised Cameron's direction, writing "Cameron laces the action with ironic jokes, but never lets up on hinting that the terror may strike at any moment". In 2008, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


title: James Cameron

text: In 1984, Cameron co-wrote the screenplay to "" with Sylvester Stallone. Cameron moved onto his next directorial feature, which was the sequel to "Alien" (1979), a science fiction horror directed by Ridley Scott. After titling the sequel "Aliens" (1986), Cameron recast Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, who first appeared in "Alien". "Aliens" follows the protagonist, Ripley, as she helps a group of marines fight off extraterrestrials. Despite conflicts with cast and crew during production, and having to replace one of the lead actors—James Remar with Michael Biehn—"Aliens" was a box office success, generating over $130 million worldwide. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1987; Best Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound. It won awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. In addition, Weaver and the film made the cover of "Time" magazine in July 1986.


title: James Cameron

text: After "Aliens", Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd decided to make "The Abyss", a story about oil-rig workers who discover strange intelligent life in the ocean. Based on an idea which Cameron had conceived of during high school, the film was initially budgeted at $41 million, although it ran considerably over this amount. It starred Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn. The production process began in the Cayman Islands and in South Carolina, inside the building of an unfinished nuclear power plant with two huge water tanks. The cast and crew recall Cameron's dictatorial behavior, and the filming of water scenes which were mentally and physically exhausting. Upon the film's release, "The Abyss" was praised for its special effects, and earned $90 million at the worldwide box office. "The Abyss" received four Academy Award nominations and won Best Visual Effects.


title: James Cameron

text: In 1990, Cameron co-founded the firm Lightstorm Entertainment with partner Lawrence Kasanoff. In 1991, Cameron served as executive producer for "Point Break" (1991), directed by Kathryn Bigelow. After the success of "The Terminator" there were discussions for a sequel and by the late 1980s, Mario Kassar of Carolco Pictures secured the rights to the sequel, allowing Cameron to begin production of the film, "" (1991). Written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton reprise their roles. The story follows on from "Terminator", depicting a new villain (T-1000), with shape-shifting ability and hunts for Sarah Connor's son, John (Edward Furlong). Cameron cast Robert Patrick as T-1000 because of his lean and thin appearance—a sharp contrast to Schwarzenegger. Cameron explained, "I wanted someone who was extremely fast and agile. If the T-800 is a human Panzer tank, then the T-1000 is a Porsche". "Terminator 2" was one of the most expensive films to be produced, costing at least $94 million. Despite the challenging use of computer-generated imagery (CGI), the film was completed on time and released on July 3, 1991. "Terminator 2" broke box office records (including the opening weekend record for an R-rated film), earning over $200 million in the North America and being the first to earn over $300 million worldwide. It won four Academy Awards: Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects. It also received nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, but lost both to political thriller "JFK" (1991).


title: James Cameron

text: In subsequent years, Cameron planned to do a third "Terminator" film but plans never materialized. The rights to the "Terminator" franchise were eventually purchased by Kassar from a bankruptcy sale of Carolco's assets. Cameron moved on to other projects and, in 1993, co-founded Digital Domain, a visual effects production company. In 1994, Cameron and Schwarzenegger reunited for their third collaboration, "True Lies," a remake of the 1991 French comedy "La Totale!" The story depicts an American secret agent who leads a double life as a married man, whose wife believes he is a computer salesman. The film co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Eliza Dushku and Tom Arnold. Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment signed a deal with 20th Century Fox for the production of "True Lies". Budgeted at a minimum of $100 million, the film earned $146 million in the United States and Canada. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and Curtis won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. In 1995, Cameron co-produced "Strange Days", a science fiction thriller. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and co-written by Jay Cocks, "Strange Days" was critically and financially unsuccessful. In 1996, Cameron reunited with the cast of "Terminator 2" to film "", an attraction at Universal Studios Florida, and in other parks around the world.


title: James Cameron

text: His next major project was "Titanic" (1997), an epic about , which sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg. With a production budget of $200 million, at the time it was the most expensive film ever made. Starting in 1995, Cameron took several dives to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to capture footage of the wreck, which would later be used in the film. A replica of the ship was built in Rosarito Beach and principal photography began in September 1996. "Titanic" made headlines before its release for being over-budget and exceeding its schedule. Cameron's completed screenplay depicts two star-crossed lovers, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, from different social classes who fall in love amid the backdrop of the tragedy; a radical departure from his previous work. The supporting cast includes Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Victor Garber, Danny Nucci, David Warner and Bill Paxton.


title: James Cameron

text: After months of delay, "Titanic" premiered on December 19, 1997. The film received strong critical acclaim and became the highest-grossing film of all time, holding this position for 12 years until Cameron's "Avatar" beat the record in 2010. The costumes and sets were praised, and "The Washington Post" considered the CGI graphics to be spectacular. "Titanic" received a record-tie of fourteen nominations (tied with "All About Eve" (1950)) at the 1998 Academy Awards. It won 11 of the awards, tying the record for most wins with 1959's "Ben-Hur", and 2003's "", including: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song. Upon receiving Best Picture, Cameron and producer Jon Landau asked for a moment of silence to remember the 1,500 people who died when the ship sank. Film critic Roger Ebert praised Cameron's storytelling, writing "It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted, and spellbinding". Authors Kevin Sandler and Gaylyn Studlar wrote in 1999 that the romance, historical nostalgia and James Horner's music contributed to the film's cultural phenomenon. In 2017, on its 20th anniversary, "Titanic" became Cameron's second film to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.


title: James Cameron

text: After the huge publicity of "Titanic", Cameron kept a low profile. In 1998, he and his brother, John, formed Earthship Productions, to stream documentaries about the deep sea, one of Cameron's interests. He had planned to make a film about Spider-Man, a project developed by Menahem Golan of Cannon Films. Columbia hired David Koepp to adapt Cameron's ideas into a screenplay, but due to various disagreements, Cameron abandoned the project. In 2002, "Spider-Man" was released with the screenplay credited solely to Koepp. In 2000, Cameron made his debut in television and co-created "Dark Angel" with Charles H. Eglee, a television series influenced by cyberpunk, biopunk, contemporary superheroes and third-wave feminism. "Dark Angel" starred Jessica Alba as Max Guevara, a genetically enhanced super-soldier created by a secretive organization. While the first season was moderately successful, the second season did less well, which led to its cancellation.


title: James Cameron

text: In 2002, Cameron served as producer on the 2002 film "Solaris", a science fiction drama directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film gained mixed reviews and failed at the box office. Keen to make documentaries, Cameron directed "", about the German Battleship "Bismarck". In 2003, he directed "Ghosts of the Abyss", a documentary about RMS "Titanic" which was released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, and designed for 3D theaters. Cameron told "The Guardian" his intention for filming everything in 3D. In 2005, Cameron co-directed "Aliens of the Deep", a documentary about the various forms of life in the ocean. He also starred in "Titanic Adventure" with Tony Robinson"," another documentary about the "Titanic" shipwreck. In 2006, Cameron co-created and narrated "The Exodus Decoded", a documentary exploring the Biblical account of the Exodus. In 2007, Cameron and fellow director Simcha Jacobovici, produced "The Lost Tomb of Jesus". It was broadcast on Discovery Channel on March 4, 2007; the documentary was controversial for arguing that the Talpiot Tomb was the burial place of Jesus of Nazareth.


title: James Cameron

text: By the mid-2000s, Cameron returned to directing and producing another mainstream film since "Titanic". Cameron had displayed interest in making "Avatar" (2009) and "" (2019) as early as June 2005 with both films to be shot using 3D technology. He wanted to make "Alita:" "Battle Angel" first, followed by "Avatar" but switched the order in February 2006. Although Cameron had written an 80-page treatment for "Avatar" in 1995, Cameron stated that he wanted the necessary technology to improve before starting production. "Avatar", with the story line set in the mid-22nd century, had an estimated budget in excess of $300 million. The cast includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. It was composed with a mix of live-action footage and computer-generated animation, using an advanced version of the performance capture technique, previously used by director Robert Zemeckis in "The Polar Express". Cameron intended "Avatar" to be 3D-only but decided to adapt it for conventional viewing as well.


title: James Cameron

text: Intended for release in May 2009, "Avatar" premiered on December 18, 2009. This delay allowed more time for post-production and the opportunity for theaters to install 3D projectors. "Avatar" broke several box office records during its initial theatrical run. It grossed $749.7 million in the United States and Canada and more than $2.74 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada, surpassing "Titanic". It was the first film to earn more than $2 billion worldwide. "Avatar" was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won three: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. In July 2010, an extended theatrical re-release generated a worldwide $33.2 million at the box office. In his mixed review, Sukhdev Sandhu of "The Telegraph" complimented the 3D, but opined that Cameron "should have been more brutal in his editing". That year, "Vanity Fair" reported that Cameron's earnings were USD $257 million, making him the highest earner in Hollywood. As of 2020, "Avatar" and "Titanic" hold the achievement for being the first two of the five films in history to gross over $2 billion worldwide.


title: James Cameron

text: In 2011, Cameron served as an executive producer for "Sanctum", a disaster-survival film about a cave diving expedition which turns deadly. Although receiving mixed reviews, the film earned a fair $108 million at the worldwide box office. Cameron re-investigated the sinking of RMS "Titanic" with eight experts in a 2012 TV documentary special, "Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron", which premiered on April 8 on the National Geographic channel. In the feature, the experts revised the CGI animation of the sinking conceived in 1995. In March 2010, Cameron announced that "Titanic" will be converted and re-released in 3D to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the tragedy. On March 27, 2012, "Titanic" 3D premiered at London's Royal Albert Hall. He also served as executive producer of "" and "Deepsea Challenge 3D" in 2012 and 2014, respectively.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron starred in the 2017 documentary "Atlantis Rising," with collaborator Simcha Jacobovici. The pair go on an adventure to explore the existence of the city of Atlantis. The programme aired on January 29 on National Geographic. Next, Cameron produced and appeared in a documentary about the history of science fiction. "James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction," the six-episodic series was broadcast on AMC in 2018. The series featured interviews with guests including Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Christopher Nolan. He stated "Without Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, there wouldn't have been Ray Bradbury or Robert A. Heinlein, and without them, there wouldn't be [George] Lucas, [Steven] Spielberg, Ridley Scott or me".


title: James Cameron

text: "" was finally released in 2019 after being in parallel development with "Avatar". Written by Cameron and friend Jon Landau, the film was directed by Robert Rodriguez, and produced by Cameron. The film is based on a 1990s Japanese manga series "Battle Angel Alita," depicting a cyborg who cannot remember anything of her past life and tries to uncover the truth. Produced with similar techniques and technology as in "Avatar," the film starred Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley and Keean Johnson. The film premiered on January 31, 2019, to generally positive reviews and $404 million at the worldwide box office. In her review, Monica Castillo of "RogerEbert.com" called it "an awe-inspiring jump for [Rodriguez]" and "a visual bonanza" despite the bulky script. Cameron then returned to the "Terminator" franchise as producer and writer for Tim Miller's "" (2019).


title: James Cameron

text: In August 2013, Cameron announced plans to direct three sequels to "Avatar" simultaneously, for release in December 2016, 2017, and 2018. However, the release dates were adjusted due to Cameron's other priorities, with "Avatar" "3", "4" and "5" to be released, respectively, on December 20, 2024, December 18, 2026, and December 22, 2028. "Deadline Hollywood" estimated that the budget for these would be over $1 billion. "Avatar 2" (later given the subtitle ")" and "Avatar 3" began simultaneous production in Manhattan Beach, California on August 15, 2017. Principal photography began in New Zealand on September 25, 2017. The other sequels are expected to begin production as soon as "The Way of Water" and "Avatar 3" are released, but this is still to be decided. Cameron stated in a 2017 interview, "Let's face it, if "Avatar 2" and "3" don't make enough money, there's not going to be a "4" and "5"". "Avatar: The Way of Water" had its world premiere in London on December 6, 2022.


title: James Cameron

text: Lightstorm Entertainment bought the film rights to the Taylor Stevens novel, "The Informationist," a thriller set in Africa with Cameron planning to direct. In 2010, he indicated he would adapt the Charles R. Pellegrino book "The Last Train from Hiroshima," which is about the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Cameron met with survivor Tsutomu Yamaguchi before his death in 2010.


title: James Cameron

text: As of 2012, Cameron and his family have adopted a vegan diet. Cameron states that "by changing what you eat, you will change the entire contract between the human species and the natural world". He and his wife are advocates of plant-based food and have called for constructive actions to produce more plant-based food and less meat to mitigate the impact of climate change. In 2006, Cameron's wife co-founded MUSE School, which became the first K-12 vegan school in the United States. He has also hosted events for Global Green USA, and pushed for sustainable solutions to energy use.


title: James Cameron

text: In early 2014, Cameron purchased the Beaufort Vineyard and Estate Winery in Courtenay, British Columbia for $2.7 million, to pursue his passion for sustainable agribusiness. He sold the vineyard in 2020. In June 2019, Cameron announced a business venture with film director Peter Jackson, to produce plant-based meat, cheese, and dairy products in New Zealand. He suggested that we need "a nice transition to a meatless or relatively meatless world in 20 or 30 years". In 2012, Cameron purchased more than 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of land in remote South Wairarapa, New Zealand; subsequent purchases have seen that grow to approximately 5,000 hectares. The Camerons grow a range of organic fruit, nuts and vegetables on the land. Nearby in Greytown, they run a café and grocery store, Forest Food Organics, selling produce from their land.


title: James Cameron

text: In June 2010, Cameron met with officials of the Environmental Protection Agency to discuss possible solutions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It was reported that he offered his assistance to help stop the oil well from leaking. He is a member of the NASA Advisory Council and he worked with the space agency to build cameras for the Curiosity rover sent for Mars. However, NASA launched the rover without Cameron's technology due to a lack of time during testing. He has expressed interest in a project about Mars, stating "I've been very interested in the Humans to Mars movement [...] and I've done a tremendous amount of personal research for a novel, a miniseries, and a 3D film". Cameron is a member of the Mars Society, a non-profit organization lobbying for the colonization of Mars. Cameron endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for the 2016 United States presidential election.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron has been married five times. He was married to Sharon Williams from 1978 to 1984. A year after he and Sharon divorced, Cameron married film producer Gale Anne Hurd, a close collaborator for his 1980s films. They divorced in 1989. Soon after separating from Hurd, Cameron met the director Kathryn Bigelow whom he wed in 1989, and they divorced in 1991. Cameron then began a relationship with Linda Hamilton, actress in "The Terminator" series. Their daughter was born in 1993. Cameron married Hamilton in 1997. Amid speculation of an affair between Cameron and actress Suzy Amis, Cameron and Hamilton separated after two years of marriage, with Hamilton receiving a settlement of $50 million. He married Amis, his fifth wife, in 2000. They have one son and two daughters together.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron applied for American citizenship in 2004, but withdrew his application after George W. Bush won the presidential election. Cameron resided in the United States, but after filming "Avatar" in New Zealand, Cameron bought a home and a farm there in 2012. He divided his time between Malibu, California and New Zealand until 2020, after which he sold his Malibu home and decided to live in New Zealand permanently. He said in August 2020, "I plan to make all my future films in New Zealand, and I see the country having an opportunity to demonstrate to the international film industry how to safely return to work. Doing so with "Avatar" [sequels] will be a beacon that, when this is over [COVID-19 pandemic], will attract more production to New Zealand and continue to stimulate the screen industry and the economy for years.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron has said he is a "Converted Agnostic", adding "I've sworn off agnosticism, which I now call cowardly atheism". Cameron met close friend Guillermo del Toro on the production of his 1993 film, "Cronos". In 1998, del Toro's father was kidnapped in Guadalajara and Cameron gave del Toro more than $1 million in cash to pay a ransom and have his father released.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron is an expert on deep-sea exploration, in part because of his work on "The Abyss" and "Titanic", and his childhood fascination with shipwrecks. He has contributed to advancements in underwater filming and remotely operated vehicles, and helped develop the 3D Fusion Camera System. In 2011, Cameron became a National Geographic explorer-in-residence. In his role on March 7, 2012, he dived five miles deep to the bottom of the New Britain Trench with the "Deepsea Challenger". 19 days later, Cameron reached the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. He spent more than three hours exploring the ocean floor, becoming the first to accomplish the trip alone. During his dive to the Challenger Deep, he discovered new species of sea cucumber, squid worm and a giant single-celled amoeba. He was preceded by unmanned dives in 1995 and 2009, as well as by Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh, the first men to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench aboard the Bathyscaphe Trieste in 1960.


title: James Cameron

text: In June 2013, British artist Roger Dean filed a copyright complaint against Cameron, seeking damages of $50 million. Relating to "Avatar", Cameron was accused of "wilful and deliberate copying, dissemination and exploitation" of Dean's original images; the case was dismissed by US district judge Jesse Furman in 2014. In 2016, Premier Exhibitions, owner of many RMS "Titanic" artifacts, filed for bankruptcy. Cameron supported the UK's National Maritime Museum and National Museums Northern Ireland decision to bid for the artifacts, but they were acquired by an investment group before a formal bid took place.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron is regarded as an innovative filmmaker in the industry, as well as not easy to work for. "Radio Times" critic John Ferguson described Cameron as "the king of hi-tech thrillers". Dalin Rowell of "/Film" stated, "Known for his larger-than-life creations and unique filmmaking style, director James Cameron is in a league all of his own. With his genre-spanning work, lofty ambitions, and unrestrained energy, Cameron has carved out a name for himself in Hollywood as an artist willing to do anything to see his vision come true." Rebecca Keegan, author of "The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron," describes Cameron as "comically hands-on" and would try to do every job on the set. Andrew Gumbel of "The Independent" says Cameron "is a nightmare to work with. Studios fear his habit of straying way over schedule and over budget. He is notorious on set for his uncompromising and dictatorial manner, as well as his flaming temper". Author Alexandra Keller writes that Cameron is an egomaniac, obsessed with vision, but praises his "technological ingenuity" at creating a "visceral viewing experience".


title: James Cameron

text: According to Ed Harris, who starred in Cameron's film "The Abyss", Cameron behaved in an autocratic manner. Orson Scott Card, who novelized "The Abyss", stated that Cameron "made everyone around him miserable, and his unkindness did nothing to improve the film in any way. Nor did it motivate people to work faster or better". Harris later said, "I like Jim. He's an incredibly talented, intelligent guy", adding that "it was always good to see him" in later years. Speaking of her experience on "Titanic", Kate Winslet said that she admired Cameron but "there were times I was genuinely frightened of him". Describing him as having "a temper like you wouldn't believe", she had said she would not work with him again unless it was "for a lot of money". Despite this, Winslet and Cameron still looked for future projects and Winslet was eventually cast in "Avatar 2". Her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio told "Esquire" magazine, "when somebody felt a different way on the set, there was a confrontation. He lets you know exactly how he feels", but complimented Cameron, "he's of the lineage of John Ford. He knows what he wants his film to be." Sam Worthington, who starred in "Avatar", said that if a mobile phone rang during filming, Cameron would "nail it to the wall with a nail gun". Composer James Horner was also not immune to Cameron's demands; he recalls having to write music in a short time frame for "Aliens." After the experience, Horner did not work with Cameron for a decade. In 1996, they reconciled their friendship and Horner produced the soundtracks for "Titanic" and "Avatar".


title: James Cameron

text: Despite this reputation, Sigourney Weaver has praised Cameron's perfectionism and attention to detail, saying, "He really does want us to risk our lives and limbs for the shot, but he doesn't mind risking his own". In 2015, Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis both applauded Cameron in an interview. Curtis remarked, "He can do every other job [than acting]. I'm talking about every single department, from art direction to props to wardrobe to cameras, he knows more than everyone doing the job". Curtis also said Cameron "loves actors", while Weaver referred to Cameron as "so generous to actors" and a "genius". Michael Biehn, a frequent collaborator, also praised Cameron, saying he "is a really passionate person. He cares more about his movies than other directors care about their movies", adding, "I've never seen him yell at anybody". Biehn, however, acknowledged that Cameron is "not real sensitive when it comes to actors and their trailers, and waiting for actors to come to the set". Worthington commented, "He demands excellence. If you don't give it to him, you're going to get chewed out. And that's a good thing". When asked in 2012 about his reputation, Cameron drily responded, "I don't have to shout any more, because the word is out there already". In 2021, while giving a MasterClass during a break from his work on the "Avatar" sequels, Cameron acknowledged his past demanding behaviour, opining that if he could go back in time, he would improve the working relationship with his cast and crew members by being less autocratic, thinking of himself as a "tinpot dictator"; Cameron stated that when he visited one of Ron Howard's sets, he was "dumbfounded" at how much time Howard took to compliment his crew, aspiring to become "his inner Ron Howard".


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron's work has had an influence in the Hollywood film industry. "The Avengers" (2012), directed by Joss Whedon, was inspired by Cameron's approach to action sequences. Whedon also admires Cameron's ability for writing heroic female characters such as Ellen Ripley of "Aliens", adding that he is "the leader and the teacher and the Yoda".<ref name="http://www.slashfilm.com/film-interview-joss-whedon-writer-director-the-avengers/"></ref> Director Michael Bay idolizes Cameron and was convinced by him to use 3D cameras for filming "" (2011).<ref name="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-bay-reveals-james-camerons-191774"></ref> Cameron's approach to 3D inspired Baz Luhrmann during the production of "The Great Gatsby" (2013). Other directors that have been inspired by Cameron include Peter Jackson, Neill Blomkamp, and Xavier Dolan.<ref name="https://web.archive.org/web/20071225035055/http://tbhl.theonering.net/peter/faq.html"></ref>


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron's films are often based on themes which explore the conflicts between intelligent machines and humanity or nature, dangers of corporate greed, strong female characters, and a romance subplot. Cameron has further stated in an interview with The Talks, "All my movies are love stories." Both "Titanic" and "Avatar" are noted for featuring star-crossed lovers. Characters suffering from emotionally intense and dramatic environments in the sea wilderness are explored in "The Abyss" and "Titanic. The" "Terminator" series amplifies technology as an enemy which could lead to devastation of mankind. Similarly, "Avatar" views tribal people as an honest group, whereas a "technologically advanced imperial culture is fundamentally evil".


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron received the inaugural Ray Bradbury Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1992 for "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". In recognition of "a distinguished career as a Canadian filmmaker", Carleton University awarded Cameron the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts on June 13, 1998. Cameron received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1998, presented by Awards Council member George Lucas. He also received an honorary doctorate in 1998 from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, for his accomplishments in the international film industry. In 1998, Cameron attended a convocation to receive an honorary degree from Ryerson University, Toronto. The university awards its highest honor to those who have made extraordinary contributions in Canada or internationally. A year later, Cameron received the honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton. He accepted the degree at the university's summer annual commencement exercise.


title: James Cameron

text: Cameron's work has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; as one of the few directors to have won three Academy Awards in a single year. For "Titanic", he won Best Director, Best Picture (shared with Jon Landau) and Best Film Editing (shared with Conrad Buff and Richard A. Harris). In 2009, he was nominated for awards in Best Film Editing (shared with John Refoua and Stephen E. Rivkin, Best Director and Best Picture for "Avatar." Cameron has won two Golden Globes: Best Director for "Titanic" and "Avatar".


title: James Cameron

text: In recognition of his contributions to underwater filming and remote vehicle technology, University of Southampton awarded Cameron the honorary degree of doctor of the university in July 2004. Cameron accepted the award at the National Oceanography Centre. In 2008, Cameron received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and a year later, received the 2,396th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On February 28, 2010, Cameron was honored with a Visual Effects Society (VES) Lifetime Achievement Award. In June 2012, Cameron was inducted to The Science Fiction Hall of Fame at the Museum of Pop Culture for his contribution to the science fiction and fantasy field. Inspired by "Avatar", Disney constructed "Pandora – The World of Avatar", at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida which opened to the public on May 27, 2017. A species of frog, "Pristimantis jamescameroni," was named after Cameron for his work in promoting environmental awareness and advocacy of veganism.


title: James Cameron

text: In 2010, "Time" magazine named Cameron one of the 100 most influential people in the world. That same year, he was ranked at the top of the list in "The Guardian" Film Power 100 and in 30th place in "New Statesman's" list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010". In 2013, Cameron received the Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public, which is annually awarded by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In 2019, Cameron was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Canada by Governor General Julie Payette, giving him the Post Nominal Letters "CC" for life.


title: James Cameron

text: In 2020, Cameron was the subject of the second season of the Epicleff Media dramatic podcast "Blockbuster". The audio drama, created and narrated by Emmy Award-winning journalist and filmmaker Matt Schrader, chronicles Cameron's life and career (leading up to the creation and release of "Titanic"), and stars actor Ross Marquand in the lead voice role as Cameron.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam Hussein ( ; ; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and later, the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and its regional organization, the Iraqi Ba'ath Party—which espoused Ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism—Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup (later referred to as the 17 July Revolution) that brought the party to power in Iraq.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: As vice president under the ailing General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, and at a time when many groups were considered capable of overthrowing the government, Saddam created security forces through which he tightly controlled conflicts between the government and the armed forces. In the early 1970s, Saddam nationalised the Iraq Petroleum Company and independent banks, eventually leaving the banking system insolvent due to inflation and bad loans. Through the 1970s, Saddam consolidated his authority over the apparatus of government as oil money helped Iraq's economy grow rapidly. Positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunni Arabs, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam formally took power in 1979, although he had already been the "de facto" head of Iraq for several years. He suppressed several movements, particularly Shi'a and Kurdish movements which sought to overthrow the government or gain independence, respectively, and maintained power during the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War. He ran a repressive authoritarian government, which several analysts have described as totalitarian, although the applicability of that label has been contested. Saddam's rule was marked by numerous human rights abuses, including an estimated 250,000 arbitrary killings and bloody invasions of neighboring Iran and Kuwait.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In 2003, a coalition led by the United States invaded Iraq to depose Saddam. US President George W. Bush and United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair erroneously accused Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction and having ties to al-Qaeda. Saddam's Ba'ath party was disbanded. After his capture on 13 December 2003, the trial of Saddam Hussein took place under the Iraqi Interim Government. On 5 November 2006, Saddam was convicted by an Iraqi court of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'a and sentenced to death by hanging. He was executed on 30 December 2006.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam Hussein was born on 28 April 1937 in Awja, a small village near Tikrit. Saddam's brother and father Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti died of cancer before his birth. These deaths made Saddam's mother, Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat, so depressed that she attempted to abort her pregnancy and commit suicide. Subha "would have nothing to do with him," and Saddam would eventually be taken in by an uncle. His mother remarried, and Saddam gained three half-brothers through this marriage. His stepfather, Ibrahim al-Hassan, treated Saddam harshly after his return, and (according to a psychological profile created by the CIA) beat him regularly, sometimes to wake him up. At around the age of 10, Saddam fled the family and returned to live in Baghdad with his uncle Khairallah Talfah, who became a fatherly figure to Saddam. Talfah, the father of Saddam's future wife, was a devout Sunni Muslim and a veteran of the 1941 Anglo-Iraqi War between Iraqi nationalists and the United Kingdom, which remained a major colonial power in the region. Talfah later became the mayor of Baghdad during Saddam's time in power, until his notorious corruption compelled Saddam to force him out of office.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Later in his life, relatives from his native Tikrit became some of his closest advisors and supporters. Under the guidance of his uncle, he attended a nationalistic high school in Baghdad. After secondary school, Saddam studied at an Iraqi law school for three years, dropping out in 1957 at the age of 20 to join the revolutionary pan-Arab Ba'ath Party, of which his uncle was a supporter. During this time, Saddam apparently supported himself as a secondary school teacher. Ba'athist ideology originated in Syria and the Ba'ath Party had a large following in Syria at the time, but in 1955 there were fewer than 300 Ba'ath Party members in Iraq and it is believed that Saddam's primary reason for joining the party as opposed to the more established Iraqi nationalist parties was his familial connection to Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and other leading Ba'athists through his uncle.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Revolutionary sentiment was characteristic of the era in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. In Iraq progressives and socialists assailed traditional political elites (colonial-era bureaucrats and landowners, wealthy merchants and tribal chiefs, and monarchists). Moreover, the pan-Arab nationalism of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt profoundly influenced young Ba'athists like Saddam. The rise of Nasser foreshadowed a wave of revolutions throughout the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s, with the collapse of the monarchies of Iraq, Egypt, and Libya. Nasser inspired nationalists throughout the Middle East by fighting the British and the French during the Suez Crisis of 1956, modernizing Egypt, and uniting the Arab world politically. His father-in-law, Khairallah Talfah, was reported to have served five years in prison for his role in fighting against Great Britain in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état and Anglo-Iraqi War, and often mentored and told tales of his exploits to the young Saddam.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In 1958, a year after Saddam had joined the Ba'ath party, army officers led by General Abd al-Karim Qasim overthrew Faisal II of Iraq in the 14 July Revolution.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The Ba'ath Party was originally represented in Qasim's cabinet. The party turned against him for his refusal to join Gamal Abdel Nasser's United Arab Republic (UAR). To strengthen his own position within the government, Qasim created an alliance with the Iraqi Communist Party, which was opposed to any notion of pan-Arabism. Later that year, the Ba'ath Party leadership was planning to assassinate Qasim. Saddam was a leading member of the operation. At the time, the Ba'ath Party was more of an ideological experiment than a strong anti-government fighting machine. The majority of its members were either educated professionals or students, and Saddam fit the bill. The choice of Saddam was, according to journalist Con Coughlin, "hardly surprising." The idea of assassinating Qasim may have been Nasser's, and there is speculation that some of those who participated in the operation received training in Damascus, which was then part of the UAR. Per Con Coughlin, "no evidence has ever been produced to implicate Nasser directly in the plot." Saddam himself is not believed to have received any training outside of Iraq, as he was a late addition to the assassination team.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The assassins planned to ambush Qasim at Al-Rashid Street on 7 October 1959: one man was to kill those sitting at the back of the car, the rest killing those in front. During the ambush it is claimed that Saddam began shooting prematurely, which disorganized the whole operation. Qasim's chauffeur was killed, and Qasim was hit in the arm and shoulder. The assassins believed they had killed him and quickly retreated to their headquarters, but Qasim survived. At the time of the attack the Ba'ath Party had fewer than 1,000 members. Saddam's role in the failed assassination became a crucial part of his public image for decades. Kanan Makiya recounts:


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The man and the myth merge in this episode. His biography—and Iraqi television, which stages the story ad nauseam—tells of his familiarity with guns from the age of ten; his fearlessness and loyalty to the party during the 1959 operation; his bravery in saving his comrades by commandeering a car at gunpoint; the bullet that was gouged out of his flesh under his direction in hiding; the iron discipline that led him to draw a gun on weaker comrades who would have dropped off a seriously wounded member of the hit team at a hospital; the calculating shrewdness that helped him save himself minutes before the police broke in leaving his wounded comrades behind; and finally the long trek of a wounded man from house to house, city to town, across the desert to refuge in Syria.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Some of the plotters (including Saddam) quickly managed to leave the country for Syria, the spiritual home of Ba'athist ideology. There Saddam was given full membership in the party by Michel Aflaq. Some members of the operation were arrested and taken into custody by the Iraqi government. At the show trial, six of the defendants were given death sentences; for unknown reasons the sentences were not carried out. Aflaq, the leader of the Ba'athist movement, organized the expulsion of leading Iraqi Ba'athist members, such as Fuad al-Rikabi, on the grounds that the party should not have initiated the attempt on Qasim's life. At the same time, Aflaq secured seats in the Iraqi Ba'ath leadership for his supporters, one of them being Saddam. Saddam moved from Syria to Egypt itself in February 1960, and he continued to live there until 1963, graduating from high school in 1961 and unsuccessfully pursuing a law degree. He studied at Cairo Law School (1962–63).


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Army officers with ties to the Ba'ath Party overthrew Qasim in the Ramadan Revolution coup of February 1963. Ba'athist leaders were appointed to the cabinet and Abdul Salam Arif became president. Arif dismissed and arrested the Ba'athist leaders later that year in the November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état. Being exiled in Egypt at the time, Saddam played no role in the 1963 coup or the brutal anti-communist purge that followed; although he returned to Iraq after the coup, Saddam remained "on the fringes of the newly installed Ba'thi administration and [had] to content himself with the minor position of a member of the Party's central bureau for peasants," in the words of Efraim Karsh and Inari Rautsi. Unlike during the Qasim years, Saddam remained in Iraq following Arif's anti-Ba'athist purge in November 1963, and became involved in planning to assassinate Arif. In marked contrast to Qasim, Saddam knew that he faced no death penalty from Arif's government and knowingly accepted the risk of being arrested rather than fleeing to Syria again. Saddam was arrested in October 1964 and served approximately two years in prison before escaping in 1966. In 1966, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr appointed him Deputy Secretary of the Regional Command. Saddam, who would prove to be a skilled organizer, revitalized the party. He was elected to the Regional Command, as the story goes, with help from Michel Aflaq—the founder of Ba'athist thought. In September 1966, Saddam initiated an extraordinary challenge to Syrian domination of the Ba'ath Party in response to the Marxist takeover of the Syrian Ba'ath earlier that year, resulting in the Party's formalized split into two separate factions. Saddam then created a Ba'athist security service, which he alone controlled.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In July 1968, Saddam participated in a bloodless coup led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr that overthrew Abdul Rahman Arif, Salam Arif's brother and successor. While Saddam's role in the coup was not hugely significant (except in the official account), Saddam planned and carried out the subsequent purge of the non-Ba'athist faction led by Prime Minister Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif, whose support had been essential to the coup's success. According to a semi-official biography, Saddam personally led Naif at gunpoint to the plane that escorted him out of Iraq. Arif was given refuge in London and then Istanbul. Al-Bakr was named president and Saddam was named his deputy, and deputy chairman of the Ba'athist Revolutionary Command Council. According to biographers, Saddam never forgot the tensions within the first Ba'athist government, which formed the basis for his measures to promote Ba'ath party unity as well as his resolve to maintain power and programs to ensure social stability. Although Saddam was al-Bakr's deputy, he was a strong behind-the-scenes party politician. Al-Bakr was the older and more prestigious of the two, but by 1969 Saddam clearly had become the moving force behind the party.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, formally al-Bakr's second-in-command, Saddam built a reputation as a progressive, effective politician. At this time, Saddam moved up the ranks in the new government by aiding attempts to strengthen and unify the Ba'ath party and taking a leading role in addressing the country's major domestic problems and expanding the party's following.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: After the Ba'athists took power in 1968, Saddam focused on attaining stability in a nation riddled with profound tensions. Long before Saddam, Iraq had been split along social, ethnic, religious, and economic fault lines: Sunni versus Shi'ite, Arab versus Kurd, tribal chief versus urban merchant, nomad versus peasant. The desire for stable rule in a country rife with factionalism led Saddam to pursue both massive repression and the improvement of living standards.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam actively fostered the modernization of the Iraqi economy along with the creation of a strong security apparatus to prevent coups within the power structure and insurrections apart from it. Ever concerned with broadening his base of support among the diverse elements of Iraqi society and mobilizing mass support, he closely followed the administration of state welfare and development programs.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: At the center of this strategy was Iraq's oil. On 1 June 1972, Saddam oversaw the seizure of international oil interests, which, at the time, dominated the country's oil sector. A year later, world oil prices rose dramatically as a result of the 1973 energy crisis, and skyrocketing revenues enabled Saddam to expand his agenda.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Within just a few years, Iraq was providing social services that were unprecedented among Middle Eastern countries. Saddam established and controlled the "National Campaign for the Eradication of Illiteracy" and the campaign for "Compulsory Free Education in Iraq," and largely under his auspices, the government established universal free schooling up to the highest education levels; hundreds of thousands learned to read in the years following the initiation of the program. The government also supported families of soldiers, granted free hospitalization to everyone, and gave subsidies to farmers. Iraq created one of the most modernized public-health systems in the Middle East, earning Saddam an award from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).


title: Saddam Hussein

text: With the help of increasing oil revenues, Saddam diversified the largely oil-based Iraqi economy. Saddam implemented a national infrastructure campaign that made great progress in building roads, promoting mining, and developing other industries. The campaign helped Iraq's energy industries. Electricity was brought to nearly every city in Iraq, and many outlying areas. Before the 1970s, most of Iraq's people lived in the countryside and roughly two-thirds were peasants. This number would decrease quickly during the 1970s as global oil prices helped revenues to rise from less than a half billion dollars to tens of billions of dollars and the country invested into industrial expansion.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The oil revenue benefited Saddam politically. According to "The Economist", "Much as Adolf Hitler won early praise for galvanizing German industry, ending mass unemployment and building autobahns, Saddam earned admiration abroad for his deeds. He had a good instinct for what the "Arab street" demanded, following the decline in Egyptian leadership brought about by the trauma of Israel's six-day victory in the 1967 war, the death of the pan-Arabist hero, Gamal Abdul Nasser, in 1970, and the "traitorous" drive by his successor, Anwar Sadat, to sue for peace with the Jewish state. Saddam's self-aggrandizing propaganda, with himself posing as the defender of Arabism against Jewish or Persian intruders, was heavy-handed, but consistent as a drumbeat. It helped, of course, that his mukhabarat (secret police) put dozens of Arab news editors, writers and artists on the payroll."


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In 1972, Saddam signed a 15-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union. According to historian Charles R. H. Tripp, the treaty upset "the US-sponsored security system established as part of the Cold War in the Middle East. It appeared that any enemy of the Baghdad regime was a potential ally of the United States." In response, the US covertly financed Kurdish rebels led by Mustafa Barzani during the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War; the Kurds were defeated in 1975, leading to the forcible relocation of hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam focused on fostering loyalty to the Ba'athists in the rural areas. After nationalizing foreign oil interests, Saddam supervised the modernization of the countryside, mechanizing agriculture on a large scale, and distributing land to peasant farmers. The Ba'athists established farm cooperatives and the government also doubled expenditures for agricultural development in 1974–1975. Saddam's welfare programs were part of a combination of "carrot and stick" tactics to enhance support for Saddam. The state-owned banks were put under his thumb. Lending was based on cronyism. Development went forward at such a fevered pitch that two million people from other Arab countries and even Yugoslavia worked in Iraq to meet the growing demand for labor.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In 1976, Saddam rose to the position of general in the Iraqi armed forces, and rapidly became the strongman of the government. As the ailing, elderly al-Bakr became unable to execute his duties, Saddam took on an increasingly prominent role as the face of the government both internally and externally. He soon became the architect of Iraq's foreign policy and represented the nation in all diplomatic situations. He was the "de facto" leader of Iraq some years before he formally came to power in 1979. He slowly began to consolidate his power over Iraq's government and the Ba'ath party. Relationships with fellow party members were carefully cultivated, and Saddam soon accumulated a powerful circle of support within the party.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In 1979, al-Bakr started to make treaties with Syria, also under Ba'athist leadership, that would lead to unification between the two countries. Syrian President Hafez al-Assad would become deputy leader in a union, and this would drive Saddam to obscurity. Saddam acted to secure his grip on power. He forced the ailing al-Bakr to resign on 16 July 1979, and formally assumed the presidency.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam convened an assembly of Ba'ath party leaders on 22 July 1979. During the assembly, which he ordered videotaped, Saddam claimed to have found a fifth column within the Ba'ath Party and directed Muhyi Abdel-Hussein to read out a confession and the names of 68 alleged co-conspirators. These members were labelled "disloyal" and were removed from the room one by one and taken into custody. After the list was read, Saddam congratulated those still seated in the room for their past and future loyalty. The 68 people arrested at the meeting were subsequently tried together and found guilty of treason; 22 were sentenced to execution. Other high-ranking members of the party formed the firing squad. By 1 August 1979, hundreds of high-ranking Ba'ath party members had been executed.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Iraqi society fissures along lines of language, religion and ethnicity. The Ba'ath Party, secular by nature, adopted Pan-Arab ideologies which in turn were problematic for significant parts of the population. Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Iraq faced the prospect of régime change from two Shi'ite factions (Dawa and SCIRI) which aspired to model Iraq on its neighbour Iran as a Shia theocracy. A separate threat to Iraq came from parts of the ethnic Kurdish population of northern Iraq which opposed being part of an Iraqi state and favored independence (an ongoing ideology which had preceded Ba'ath Party rule). To alleviate the threat of revolution, Saddam afforded certain benefits to the potentially hostile population. Membership in the Ba'ath Party remained open to all Iraqi citizens regardless of background, and repressive measures were taken against its opponents.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The major instruments for accomplishing this control were the paramilitary and police organizations. Beginning in 1974, Taha Yassin Ramadan (himself a Kurdish Ba'athist), a close associate of Saddam, commanded the People's Army, which had responsibility for internal security. As the Ba'ath Party's paramilitary, the People's Army acted as a counterweight against any coup attempts by the regular armed forces. In addition to the People's Army, the Department of General Intelligence was the most notorious arm of the state-security system, feared for its use of torture and assassination. Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam's younger half-brother, commanded Mukhabarat. Foreign observers believed that from 1982 this department operated both at home and abroad in its mission to seek out and eliminate Saddam's perceived opponents.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam was notable for using terror against his own people. "The Economist" described Saddam as "one of the last of the 20th century's great dictators, but not the least in terms of egotism, or cruelty, or morbid will to power." Saddam's regime brought about the deaths of at least 250,000 Iraqis and committed war crimes in Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued regular reports of widespread imprisonment and torture. Conversely, Saddam used Iraq's oil wealth to develop an extensive patronage system for the regime's supporters.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Although Saddam is often described as a totalitarian leader, Joseph Sassoon notes that there are important differences between Saddam's repression and the totalitarianism practiced by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, particularly with regard to freedom of movement and freedom of religion.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: During his leadership, Saddam promoted the idea of dual nationalism which combines Iraqi nationalism and Arab nationalism, a much broader form of ethnic nationalism which supports Iraqi nationalism and links it to matters that impact Arabs as a whole. Saddam Hussein believed that the recognition of the ancient Mesopotamian origins and heritage of Iraqi Arabs was complementary to supporting Arab nationalism.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In the course of his reign, the Ba'athist regime officially included the historic Kurdish Muslim leader Saladin as a patriotic symbol in Iraq, while Saddam called himself son of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and had stamped the bricks of ancient Babylon with his name and titles next to him.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: As a sign of his consolidation of power, Saddam's personality cult pervaded Iraqi society. He had thousands of portraits, posters, statues and murals erected in his honor all over Iraq. His face could be seen on the sides of office buildings, schools, airports, and shops, as well as on Iraqi currency.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam's personality cult reflected his efforts to appeal to the various elements in Iraqi society. This was seen in his variety of apparel: when visited villages, he appeared in the costumes of the Arabs, a thawb which the traditional clothes of the Arab peasant (which he essentially wore during his childhood in his village), and even Kurdish clothing, but also appeared in Western suits fitted by his favorite tailor and hat, projecting the image of a powerful leader. Sometimes he would also be portrayed as a devout Muslim, wearing full headdress and robe, praying toward Mecca.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: He also conducted two show elections, in 1995 and 2002. In the 1995 referendum, conducted on 15 October, he reportedly received 99.96% of the votes in a 99.47% turnout, getting only 3,052 negative votes among an electorate of 8.4 million.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In the 15 October 2002 referendum he officially achieved 100% of approval votes and 100% turnout, as the electoral commission reported the next day that every one of the 11,445,638 eligible voters cast a "Yes" vote for the president.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Iraq's relations with the Arab world have been extremely varied. Relations between Iraq and Egypt violently ruptured in 1977, when the two nations broke relations with each other following Iraq's criticism of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's peace initiatives with Israel. In 1978, Baghdad hosted an Arab League summit that condemned and ostracized Egypt for accepting the Camp David Accords. Egypt's strong material and diplomatic support for Iraq in the war with Iran led to warmer relations and numerous contacts between senior officials, despite the continued absence of ambassadorial-level representation. Since 1983, Iraq has repeatedly called for restoration of Egypt's "natural role" among Arab countries.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam developed a reputation for liking expensive goods, such as his diamond-coated Rolex wristwatch, and sent copies of them to his friends around the world. To his ally Kenneth Kaunda Saddam once sent a Boeing 747 full of presents—rugs, televisions, ornaments.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam enjoyed a close relationship with Russian intelligence agent Yevgeny Primakov that dated back to the 1960s; Primakov may have helped Saddam to stay in power in 1991.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam visited only two Western countries. The first visit took place in December 1974, when the Caudillo of Spain, Francisco Franco, invited him to Madrid and he visited Granada, Córdoba and Toledo. In September 1975 he met with Prime Minister Jacques Chirac in Paris, France.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Several Iraqi leaders, Lebanese arms merchant Sarkis Soghanalian and others have claimed that Saddam financed Chirac's party. In 1991 Saddam threatened to expose those who had taken largesse from him: "From Mr. Chirac to Mr. Chevènement, politicians and economic leaders were in open competition to spend time with us and flatter us. We have now grasped the reality of the situation. If the trickery continues, we will be forced to unmask them, all of them, before the French public." France armed Saddam and it was Iraq's largest trade partner throughout Saddam's rule. Seized documents show how French officials and businessmen close to Chirac, including Charles Pasqua, his former interior minister, personally benefitted from the deals with Saddam.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Because Saddam Hussein rarely left Iraq, Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam's aides, traveled abroad extensively and represented Iraq at many diplomatic meetings. In foreign affairs, Saddam sought to have Iraq play a leading role in the Middle East. Iraq signed an aid pact with the Soviet Union in 1972, and arms were sent along with several thousand advisers. The 1978 crackdown on Iraqi Communists and a shift of trade toward the West strained Iraqi relations with the Soviet Union; Iraq then took on a more Western orientation until the Gulf War in 1991.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: After the oil crisis of 1973, France had changed to a more pro-Arab policy and was accordingly rewarded by Saddam with closer ties. He made a state visit to France in 1975, cementing close ties with some French business and ruling political circles. In 1975 Saddam negotiated an accord with Iran that contained Iraqi concessions on border disputes. In return, Iran agreed to stop supporting opposition Kurds in Iraq. Saddam led Arab opposition to the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel (1979).


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam initiated Iraq's nuclear enrichment project in the 1980s, with French assistance. The first Iraqi nuclear reactor was named by the French "Osirak." Osirak was destroyed on 7 June 1981 by an Israeli air strike (Operation Opera).


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Nearly from its founding as a modern state in 1920, Iraq has had to deal with Kurdish separatists in the northern part of the country. Saddam did negotiate an agreement in 1970 with separatist Kurdish leaders, giving them autonomy, but the agreement broke down. The result was brutal fighting between the government and Kurdish groups and Iraqi bombing of Kurdish villages in Iran, which caused Iraqi relations with Iran to deteriorate. After Saddam negotiated the 1975 treaty with Iran, the Shah withdrew support for the Kurds, who were defeated.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In early 1979, Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution, thus giving way to an Islamic republic led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The influence of revolutionary Shi'ite Islam grew apace in the region, particularly in countries with large Shi'ite populations, especially Iraq. Saddam feared that radical Islamic ideas—hostile to his secular rule—were rapidly spreading inside his country among the majority Shi'ite population.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: There had also been bitter enmity between Saddam and Khomeini since the 1970s. Khomeini, having been exiled from Iran in 1964, took up residence in Iraq, at the Shi'ite holy city of An Najaf. There he involved himself with Iraqi Shi'ites and developed a strong, worldwide religious and political following against the Iranian Government, which Saddam tolerated. When Khomeini began to urge the Shi'ites there to overthrow Saddam and under pressure from the Shah, who had agreed to a rapprochement between Iraq and Iran in 1975, Saddam agreed to expel Khomeini in 1978 to France. Here, Khomeini gained media connections and collaborated with a much larger Iranian community, to his advantage.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: After Khomeini gained power, skirmishes between Iraq and revolutionary Iran occurred for ten months over the sovereignty of the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway, which divides the two countries. During this period, Saddam Hussein publicly maintained that it was in Iraq's interest not to engage with Iran, and that it was in the interests of both nations to maintain peaceful relations. In a private meeting with Salah Omar al-Ali, Iraq's permanent ambassador to the United Nations, he revealed that he intended to invade and occupy a large part of Iran within months. Later (probably to appeal for support from the US and most Western nations), he would make toppling the Islamic government one of his intentions as well.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Iraq invaded Iran, first attacking Mehrabad Airport of Tehran and then entering the oil-rich Iranian land of Khuzestan, which also has a sizable Arab minority, on 22 September 1980 and declared it a new province of Iraq. With the support of the Arab states, the US, and Europe, and heavily financed by the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Saddam Hussein had become "the defender of the Arab world" against a revolutionary Iran. The only exception was the Soviet Union, who initially refused to supply Iraq on the basis of neutrality in the conflict, although in his memoirs, Mikhail Gorbachev claimed that Leonid Brezhnev refused to aid Saddam over infuriation of Saddam's treatment of Iraqi communists. Consequently, many viewed Iraq as "an agent of the civilized world." The blatant disregard of international law and violations of international borders were ignored. Instead Iraq received economic and military support from its allies, who overlooked Saddam's use of chemical warfare against the Kurds and the Iranians, in addition to Iraq's efforts to develop nuclear weapons.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In the first days of the war, there was heavy ground fighting around strategic ports as Iraq launched an attack on Khuzestan. After making some initial gains, Iraq's troops began to suffer losses from human wave attacks by Iran. By 1982, Iraq was on the defensive and looking for ways to end the war.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: At this point, Saddam asked his ministers for candid advice. Health Minister Dr. Riyadh Ibrahim suggested that Saddam temporarily step down to promote peace negotiations. Initially, Saddam Hussein appeared to take in this opinion as part of his cabinet democracy. A few weeks later, Dr. Ibrahim was sacked when held responsible for a fatal incident in an Iraqi hospital where a patient died from intravenous administration of the wrong concentration of potassium supplement.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Dr. Ibrahim was arrested a few days after his removal from the cabinet. He was known to have publicly declared before that arrest that he was "glad that he got away alive." Pieces of Ibrahim's dismembered body were delivered to his wife the next day.Iraq quickly found itself bogged down in one of the longest and most destructive wars of attrition of the 20th century. During the war, Iraq used chemical weapons against Iranian forces fighting on the southern front and Kurdish separatists who were attempting to open up a northern front in Iraq with the help of Iran. These chemical weapons were developed by Iraq from materials and technology supplied primarily by West German companies as well as using dual-use technology imported following the Reagan administration's lifting of export restrictions. The US government also supplied Iraq with "satellite photos showing Iranian deployments." In a US bid to open full diplomatic relations with Iraq, the country was removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Ostensibly, this was because of improvement in the regime's record, although former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Noel Koch later stated, "No one had any doubts about [the Iraqis'] continued involvement in terrorism ... The real reason was to help them succeed in the war against Iran." The Soviet Union, France, and China together accounted for over 90% of the value of Iraq's arms imports between 1980 and 1988.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam reached out to other Arab governments for cash and political support during the war, particularly after Iraq's oil industry severely suffered at the hands of the Iranian navy in the Persian Gulf. Iraq successfully gained some military and financial aid, as well as diplomatic and moral support, from the Soviet Union, China, France, and the US, which together feared the prospects of the expansion of revolutionary Iran's influence in the region. The Iranians, demanding that the international community should force Iraq to pay war reparations to Iran, refused any suggestions for a cease-fire. Despite several calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council, hostilities continued until 20 August 1988.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: On 16 March 1988, the Kurdish town of Halabja was attacked with a mix of mustard gas and nerve agents, killing 5,000 civilians, and maiming, disfiguring, or seriously debilitating 10,000 more. ("see Halabja massacre") The attack occurred in conjunction with the 1988 al-Anfal Campaign designed to reassert central control of the mostly Kurdish population of areas of northern Iraq and defeat the Kurdish peshmerga rebel forces. Claims by Saddam's government and its international supporters that Iran had actually gassed the Kurds at Halabja have been thoroughly debunked.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The bloody eight-year war ended in a stalemate. Encyclopædia Britannica states: "Estimates of total casualties range from 1,000,000 to twice that number. The number killed on both sides was perhaps 500,000, with Iran suffering the greatest losses." Neither side had achieved what they had originally desired and the borders were left nearly unchanged. The southern, oil rich and prosperous Khuzestan and Basra area (the main focus of the war, and the primary source of their economies) were almost completely destroyed and were left at the pre-1979 border, while Iran managed to make some small gains on its borders in the Northern Kurdish area. Both economies, previously healthy and expanding, were left in ruins.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam borrowed tens of billions of dollars from other Arab states and a few billions from elsewhere during the 1980s to fight Iran, mainly to prevent the expansion of Shi'a radicalism. This backfired on Iraq and the Arab states, for Khomeini was widely perceived as a hero for managing to defend Iran and maintain the war with little foreign support against the heavily backed Iraq and only managed to boost Islamic radicalism not only within the Arab states, but within Iraq itself, creating new tensions between the Sunni Ba'ath Party and the majority Shi'a population. Faced with rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure and internal resistance, Saddam desperately re-sought cash, this time for postwar reconstruction.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The Al-Anfal Campaign was a genocidal campaign against the Kurdish people (and many others) in Kurdish regions of Iraq led by the government of Saddam Hussein and headed by Ali Hassan al-Majid. The campaign takes its name from Qur'anic chapter 8 ("al-ʾanfāl"), which was used as a code name by the former Iraqi Ba'athist administration for a series of attacks against the "peshmerga" rebels and the mostly Kurdish civilian population of rural Northern Iraq, conducted between 1986 and 1989 culminating in 1988. This campaign also targeted Shabaks and Yazidis, Assyrians, Turkoman people and Mandaeans and many villages belonging to these ethnic groups were also destroyed. Human Rights Watch estimates that between 50,000 and 100,000 people were killed. Some Kurdish sources put the number higher, estimating that 182,000 Kurds were killed.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The end of the war with Iran served to deepen latent tensions between Iraq and its wealthy neighbor Kuwait. Saddam urged the Kuwaitis to waive the Iraqi debt accumulated in the war, some $30 billion, but they refused. Saddam pushed oil-exporting countries to raise oil prices by cutting back production; Kuwait refused, then led the opposition in OPEC to the cuts that Saddam had requested. Kuwait was pumping large amounts of oil, and thus keeping prices low, when Iraq needed to sell high-priced oil from its wells to pay off its huge debt.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam had consistently argued that Kuwait had historically been an integral part of Iraq, and had only come into being as a result of interference from the British government; echoing a belief that Iraqi nationalists had supported for the past fifty years. This belief was one of the few articles of faith uniting the political scene in a nation rife with sharp social, ethnic, religious, and ideological divides. The extent of Kuwaiti oil reserves also intensified tensions in the region. The oil reserves of Kuwait (with a population of 2 million next to Iraq's 25) were roughly equal to those of Iraq. Taken together, Iraq and Kuwait sat on top of some 20 percent of the world's known oil reserves; Saudi Arabia held another 25 percent. Saddam still had an experienced and well-equipped army, which he used to influence regional affairs. He later ordered troops to the Iraq–Kuwait border.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: As Iraq–Kuwait relations rapidly deteriorated, Saddam was receiving conflicting information about how the US would respond to the prospects of an invasion. For one, Washington had been taking measures to cultivate a constructive relationship with Iraq for roughly a decade. The Reagan administration gave Iraq roughly $4 billion in agricultural credits to bolster it against Iran. Saddam's Iraq became "the third-largest recipient of US assistance."


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Reacting to Western criticism in April 1990, Saddam threatened to destroy half of Israel with chemical weapons if it moved against Iraq. In May 1990 he criticized US support for Israel warning that "the US cannot maintain such a policy while professing friendship towards the Arabs." In July 1990 he threatened force against Kuwait and the UAE saying "The policies of some Arab rulers are American ... They are inspired by America to undermine Arab interests and security." The US sent warplanes and combat ships to the Persian Gulf in response to these threats.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The US ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, met with Saddam in an emergency meeting on 25 July 1990, where the Iraqi leader attacked American policy with regards to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE):


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam stated that he would attempt last-ditch negotiations with the Kuwaitis but Iraq "would not accept death."


title: Saddam Hussein

text: US officials attempted to maintain a conciliatory line with Iraq, indicating that while George H. W. Bush and James Baker did not want force used, they would not take any position on the Iraq–Kuwait boundary dispute and did not want to become involved.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Later, Iraq and Kuwait met for a final negotiation session, which failed. Saddam then sent his troops into Kuwait. As tensions between Washington and Saddam began to escalate, the Soviet Union, under Mikhail Gorbachev, strengthened its military relationship with the Iraqi leader, providing him military advisers, arms and aid.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: On 2 August 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait, initially claiming assistance to "Kuwaiti revolutionaries," thus sparking an international crisis. On 4 August an Iraqi-backed "Provisional Government of Free Kuwait" was proclaimed, but a total lack of legitimacy and support for it led to an 8 August announcement of a "merger" of the two countries. On 28 August Kuwait formally became the 19th Governorate of Iraq. Just two years after the 1988 Iraq and Iran truce, "Saddam Hussein did what his Gulf patrons had earlier paid him to prevent." Having removed the threat of Iranian fundamentalism he "overran Kuwait and confronted his Gulf neighbors in the name of Arab nationalism and Islam."


title: Saddam Hussein

text: When later asked why he invaded Kuwait, Saddam first claimed that it was because Kuwait was rightfully Iraq's 19th province and then said "When I get something into my head I act. That's just the way I am." Saddam Hussein could pursue such military aggression with a "military machine paid for in large part by the tens of billions of dollars Kuwait and the Gulf states had poured into Iraq and the weapons and technology provided by the Soviet Union, Germany, and France."


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Shortly before he invaded Kuwait, he shipped 100 new Mercedes 200 Series cars to top editors in Egypt and Jordan. Two days before the first attacks, Saddam reportedly offered Egypt's Hosni Mubarak 50 million dollars in cash, "ostensibly for grain."


title: Saddam Hussein

text: US President George H. W. Bush responded cautiously for the first several days. On one hand, Kuwait, prior to this point, had been a virulent enemy of Israel and was the Persian Gulf monarchy that had the most friendly relations with the Soviets. On the other hand, Washington foreign policymakers, along with Middle East experts, military critics, and firms heavily invested in the region, were extremely concerned with stability in this region. The invasion immediately triggered fears that the world's price of oil, and therefore control of the world economy, was at stake. Britain profited heavily from billions of dollars of Kuwaiti investments and bank deposits. Bush was perhaps swayed while meeting with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who happened to be in the US at the time.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Cooperation between the US and the Soviet Union made possible the passage of resolutions in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) giving Iraq a deadline to leave Kuwait and approving the use of force if Saddam did not comply with the timetable. US officials feared Iraqi retaliation against oil-rich Saudi Arabia, since the 1940s a close ally of Washington, for the Saudis' opposition to the invasion of Kuwait. Accordingly, the US and a group of allies, including countries as diverse as Egypt, Syria and Czechoslovakia, deployed a massive number of troops along the Saudi border with Kuwait and Iraq in order to encircle the Iraqi army, the largest in the Middle East.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam's officers looted Kuwait, stripping even the marble from its palaces to move it to Saddam's own palace.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: During the period of negotiations and threats following the invasion, Saddam focused renewed attention on the Palestinian problem by promising to withdraw his forces from Kuwait if Israel would relinquish the occupied territories in the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Gaza Strip. Saddam's proposal further split the Arab world, pitting US- and Western-supported Arab states against the Palestinians. The allies ultimately rejected any linkage between the Kuwait crisis and Palestinian issues.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Saddam ignored the Security Council deadline. Backed by the Security Council, a US-led coalition launched round-the-clock missile and aerial attacks on Iraq, beginning 16 January 1991. Israel, though subjected to attack by Iraqi missiles, refrained from retaliating in order not to provoke Arab states into leaving the coalition. A ground force consisting largely of US and British armored and infantry divisions ejected Saddam's army from Kuwait in February 1991 and occupied the southern portion of Iraq as far as the Euphrates.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: On 6 March 1991, Bush announced "What is at stake is more than one small country, it is a big idea—a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law."


title: Saddam Hussein

text: In the end, the Iraqi army proved unable to compete on the battlefield with the highly mobile coalition land forces and their overpowering air support. Some 175,000 Iraqis were taken prisoner and casualties were estimated at over 85,000. As part of the cease-fire agreement, Iraq agreed to scrap all poison gas and germ weapons and allow UN observers to inspect the sites. UN trade sanctions would remain in effect until Iraq complied with all terms. Saddam publicly claimed victory at the end of the war.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: Iraq's ethnic and religious divisions, together with the brutality of the conflict that this had engendered, laid the groundwork for postwar rebellions. In the aftermath of the fighting, social and ethnic unrest among Shi'ite Muslims, Kurds, and dissident military units threatened the stability of Saddam's government. Uprisings erupted in the Kurdish north and Shi'a southern and central parts of Iraq, but were ruthlessly repressed. Uprisings in 1991 led to the death of 100,000–180,000 people, mostly civilians.


title: Saddam Hussein

text: The US, which had urged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam, did nothing to assist the rebellions. The Iranians, despite the widespread Shi'ite rebellions, had no interest in provoking another war, while Turkey opposed any prospect of Kurdish independence, and the Saudis and other conservative Arab states feared an Iran-style Shi'ite revolution. Saddam, having survived the immediate crisis in the wake of defeat, was left firmly in control of Iraq, although the country never recovered either economically or militarily from the Gulf War.