![]() He ran a repressive authoritarian government, which several analysts have described as totalitarian, although the applicability of that label has been contested. 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. Saddam formally took power in 1979, although he had already been the de facto head of Iraq for several years. Positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunni Arabs, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population. Through the 1970s, Saddam consolidated his authority over the apparatus of government as oil money helped Iraq's economy grow rapidly. 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. Member of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional BranchĪs 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. ![]() Regional Secretary of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch Secretary General of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ![]() Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum (as Acting President of the Governing Council of Iraq) Jay Garner (as Director of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance of Iraq)Ĭhairman of the Revolutionary Command Council
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