As we all know, Iraq today is a war-torn and extremely volatile country. Many Iraqis are even more naked and hungry, and to this day, Iraq still gives the impression of a country full of gunfire and dangers everywhere, as if all that country left was artillery fire and poverty.
Decades have passed since the Iraq war, but the country's economy has not been well rebuilt, and until 2019, 1/5 of Iraq's population is still below the poverty line.
However, what everyone does not know is that Iraq, which ranks among the top three refugees in the world, was once the existence of the rich side, and the Iraqi people at that time not only had cars and houses in every household, but even the per capita GDP was three times that of the Korean people, and it was ranked ahead of China.
But what made Iraq, once a glorious oil empire, look desolate today?
Picture 丨 Once glorious Iraq
1. Yesterday's glory under Saddam Hussein's leadership
Iraq's economy was at its peak between the 1970s and 1990s, when President Saddam Hussein was in power. It can be said that this powerful president has led the Iraqi people step by step towards a better life.
On April 28, 1937, saddam hussein was born in a small village in Baghdad, Iraq. The future leader has had great ambitions since he was a child, and his life experiences are extremely colorful and intriguing.
What a person does in his life is actually closely related to his own personality, and looking back at Saddam's life, it is not difficult to understand the various motives for decisions he made later.
Pictured by Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein joined the Baath Party at the age of 20, and although the Arab Ba'ath Party at the time was still in hiding underground, this was the beginning of Saddam's career in political power, and Saddam Hussein also relied on the strength of the Arab Ba'ath Party to complete many important political change activities.
Since Saddam Joined the Ba'ath Party, he has not concealed his ambitions and desires, he is brutal and brave, and constantly uses violent means to remove obstacles on his way to the throne. In 1958, Saddam Hussein was arrested and imprisoned for brutally killing his brother-in-law, but after less than half a year in prison, Saddam hussein used the strength of the Ba'ath Party at the time to successfully escape from prison.
After his release from prison, Saddam Hussein not only did not restrain his attack, but immediately began to plan the assassination of Qasim, the Iraqi power at that time. Although the assassination was unsuccessful, saddam himself was seriously injured and fled, Saddam still did not give up on this goal.
Pictured by young Saddam Hussein
After four years of obscurity, Saddam Hussein launched a coup again, this time Qasim was no longer so lucky and died in the coup. After Qasim's death, Saddam's purpose was clearly more than half achieved, and he was eager to gain control of the country by launching another coup d'état.
But things did not always go as expected, this deliberate coup was discovered by the Iraqi authorities at the time, and began to hunt down and suppress Saddam Hussein, such a figure who was like a time bomb to the government, let the leaders at that time feel worried, afraid that the knife of the coup would stab him, so the pursuit was very fierce.
Saddam was also successfully captured, causing saddam to begin his second prison life. As a result of Saddam Hussein's first two violent coups, he also won the unanimous approval of Ba'ath Party personnel, which led him to be elected deputy secretary of the Ba'ath Party's regional leadership body even though he was in prison.
Pictured by Saddam Hussein with his first wife
More Ba'ath party members recognized the deputy secretary and helped Saddam Hussein escape from prison, looking forward to the deputy secretary's release from prison to continue to lead the baath party to prosperity. Saddam Hussein did not disappoint his party members, and after a successful prison escape, he continued to rise in the position of the state polity, and finally was elected president of the Republic of Iraq in 1979.
It was then that Saddam Hussein began his 23-year presidency, writing one of the most glorious pieces of Iraq's history. After Saddam Hussein came to power, in order to better manage the country and promote economic and political development, he carried out many unprecedented measures.
Tu 丨 and friends drink afternoon tea Saddam Hussein
He began by drastically cutting out government officials, who were originally conservative and labeled by Saddam Hussein as "an attempt to overthrow his counterrevolutionary cabal." For a time, many officials were arrested and imprisoned, and some of them were executed directly, leaving no way back, although these people also included members of the Ba'ath Party who had given him strong support.
Of course, Saddam Hussein knew that only by force of suppression could not truly rule the country, so after the killing, Saddam Hussein adopted a policy of gentleness, and began to co-opt and appease the remaining government officials, so that they could truly submit to him. It also directly improved the welfare policy of Iraqi government officials at that time, and "pardoned the world" like the ancient emperors when they first took office.
A large number of political offenders and some military personnel who had fled the country were released. Whether as a monarch or a leader, the development of his own power is what the ascendants will do from ancient times to the present, and Saddam Hussein has vigorously supported his baathist subordinates loyal to himself after taking office, and has let his family and friends serve by his side.
Figure丨 Listen to the opinion of Saddam Hussein
Secret bodyguards were also sent to protect the safety of these people, which shows that Saddam Hussein values his confidants. Between this punishment and the cultivation of power, Saddam Hussein completely squeezed the Iraqi regime in his hands, ensuring Saddam's unshakable leadership in the later period.
After taking all the power into his own hands, Saddam Hussein began his own drastic political reforms, and began to work on the improvement of the country's economic strength and the consolidation and improvement of the military's strength. The power that was firmly grasped in the early stage also allowed Saddam Hussein to do these reforms without any resistance and smooth sailing.
Saddam Hussein first set out to improve Iraq's national economic development, and oil resources are the capital that Iraq is proud of, and Saddam Hussein, as the leader of the country, naturally values this. However, it is not enough to have abundant oil resources, only sophisticated enough technology can realize the monetization of oil resources and let it drive the national economy.
Pictured by Saddam Hussein speaking
Therefore, Saddam Hussein vigorously introduced the advanced foreign technology at that time, and transformed the foreign oil companies at that time into State-owned enterprises in Iraq, and put forward the economic development strategy of "high-speed and comprehensive development" centered on the petroleum industry.
However, no matter how advanced the technology is, it also needs the use and processing of corresponding talents to make it continue to develop. Saddam Hussein discovered this, so at that time, this very far-sighted leader proposed the national compulsory education system, which at that time seemed to be a very advanced system.
But because of this system, the primary school enrolment rate in the Iraqi country at that time was almost 100%, and the higher education rate reached 56%. That is to say, more than half of the Iraqi people at that time were college students and had received higher education! This is still an astonishing achievement today, providing a glimpse into the highly civilized social system of Iraq at that time.
Picture 丨 Iraqi children
Saddam Hussein also made a lot of efforts to ensure the people's livelihood, first investing a lot of money in the construction of social infrastructure to ensure the perfection of infrastructure construction, and then proposing to give the Iraqi people a basic food security allowance, ensuring that every Iraqi family does not have to worry about food and can eat enough, which is very luxurious in modern society!
It is precisely these policies that make a lot of money because of oil exports, and the Iraqi people do not have to spend too much money on daily living expenses, so everyone has more savings. The extra savings are naturally used to buy houses, land and cars, and many of us now have not been able to live a life of having a car and a house, which was achieved in Iraq decades ago.
The roads in Iraq are full of cars
Before the war broke out, Iraq was making a lot of money by producing oil. According to relevant statistics, in 1980, Iraq's gross national product accounted for the 32nd place in the world, and the per capita GDP was about 3 times that of South Korea.
At that time, South Korea was one of the best countries in Asia, which shows how good the Iraqi people lived at that time! Without worrying about food and clothing, having a car and a house, everyone enjoying the right to education and medical security, and the country is strong and rich, the happiness of the Iraqi people at this time should be the strongest period!
However, it is unexpected and regrettable that after the famous "Iran-Iraq War", all this no longer exists.
Picture 丨 Once beautiful Environment Of Iraq
2. Success is also Saddam, defeat is also Saddam
In fact, from Saddam's early life experience and various behaviors after ascending to the throne, it is not difficult to see the explosiveness and excesses hidden or occasionally expressed by this great leader. Great leaders are not too bad at military attainment, and so is Saddam Hussein.
During his reign, he implemented a series of measures to develop the national army, and he invested a lot of money in army building, greatly improving the welfare system of military personnel and strengthening the construction of militias, so that the Iraqi soldiers were strong and strong, and the young people of the right age dragged every one to fight! Such military strength gave Saddam Hussein the courage to launch a war, which can also be said to be the foundation for the Iran-Iraq War.
On September 22, 1980, due to the perennial border dispute between Iraq and Iran, Saddam Hussein sent troops into Iran and launched the eight-year Iran-Iraq War. Saddam Hussein was very confident in the economic strength and military level of his country.
Pictured a residential building devastated by war
He was like a male lion that had just come out of the cage, holding the inevitable attitude of winning this newly invaded land and wanting to reclaim a city, and frantically attacking. Perhaps war blinds people's eyes and turns a president who has made extraordinary contributions into a "tyrant" who only has to kill and invade in his eyes, or it may be that Saddam Hussein is so natural that he finally shows his true face when the war breaks out.
During the eight-year war, both Iraq and Iran were devastated. The people of both countries have been greatly harmed, and the country's economic strength has also been damaged to varying degrees.
Iraq, in particular, lost hundreds of thousands of people and countless sophisticated equipment during the war, and many of its oil fields were destroyed during the war, which is undoubtedly a huge trauma for Iraq, which has always relied on oil exports to make profits!
Picture 丨 Former Iraqi city
And during the war, saddam Hussein continued to pour oil revenues into army building, despite the country's debt, which brought Iraq's economy to a standstill after the war. Saddam Hussein, as the leader of a country, has lost himself in an eight-year war.
Ming had accepted the Republic's cease-and-go agreement, but still dragged the war until March 28, 1988. Even more inhumane use of chemical weapons in Iran, the massacre of the local residents of the Kurdish town of Hala Abia, resulting in the death of more than 5,000 civilians, this move undoubtedly attracted the scorn and anger of all countries!
Moreover, the harm of these chemical weapons during the war is not only the suffering of the Iranian people, but also the Iraqi people, who have been deeply dissatisfied with the president. However, the end of the Iran-Iraq War did not stop Saddam Hussein, which may have been just the beginning for Saddam At that time.
Pictured saddam Hussein mobilizing soldiers
In 1990, Saddam Led the Iraqi Army to invade Kuwait, triggering the Gulf War, Saddam Wanted to alleviate the high debts that Iraq already owed at that time, so Iraq at that time sent a large number of military equipment and advanced weapons to break Kuwait in one fell swoop.
However, this non-stop initiative to launch a war finally aroused the dissatisfaction of the United Nations and began to sanction Iraq's war of aggression. The United States, which had long been dissatisfied with Iraq, took the lead in launching a coalition attack on Iraq on January 17, 1991.
Forced by powerful U.S. artillery fire, Saddam Hussein had to halt his attack on Kuwait, which was liberated within a month. After the war, Iraq's already bad economic situation was exacerbated, and the situation in the country that had just stabilized collapsed like a landslide after the war.
Picture 丨 The US military shot
The high additional debt that was already owed was not alleviated, but the foreign debt was even higher. At this time, Iraq's consumer goods were scarce, prices were soaring, factory operating rates were greatly reduced, unemployment had increased sharply, and iraq's electricity, fuel and other supplies were seriously insufficient due to the turbulent situation.
For a time, Iraq was like hell on earth, the oil fields were destroyed, the roads no longer existed, the original beautiful homeland, only a ruin remained, the Iraqi people fell from heaven to hell, living in the depths of the water, worried about their own safety at any time, thousands of people were homeless, living on the streets, not to mention being able to fill their stomachs.
Iraq, which has been hit hard, clearly no longer poses any threat, but the United States does not want to let go of this former oil-producing powerhouse so easily. In 2003, when Iraq's economy was already in jeopardy, the United States launched a military strike at An Iraqi leadership target near Baghdad.
Pictured on the streets of Iraq devastated by war
The United States bypassed the United Nations Security Council and unilaterally launched a military strike against Iraq on the grounds that Iraq harbored weapons of mass destruction and secretly supported terrorists. A war was fought, and the rich and powerful United States faced Iraq, which had suffered heavy losses, and the war was completely crushing.
In the end, the U.S. army easily won the first victory of the Iraq War at the cost of less than 200 dead, and successfully captured Baghdad. What is unimaginable is that when the US army entered Baghdad, the people took the initiative to tear down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad City, cheering for the arrival of the US army, as if welcoming their own savior.
The desperate Iraqi people have seen the U.S. military, which was originally the aggressor, as the final salvation. However, when the US military really entered Iraqi territory, the Iraqi people realized that the original imaginary salvation had not come, and the imaginary peace and stability was even more of a luxury, and the US military brought only more chaos in the social order.
Picture 丨 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq
The Iraqi people began to resist, wanting to expel the U.S. military from their homeland, and began a long war of U.S. military expulsion. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who sparked all this, was arrested near Tikrit on December 14, 2003, the same year the U.S. military started the war, and was executed three years later.
All the merits and deeds are left to posterity, leaving only the Iraqi people who are still suffering. During Saddam's arrest, the army found a tape recorded before he fled at Saddam's residence. In the tape, Saddam Hussein told the Iraqi people that the US military is the biggest enemy of Iraq, and the Iraqi people must fight the United States to the end.
During the eight-year-long Iraq War, Iraq's economy was in a slump, and the originally rich country was left with only ruins and artillery fire, and looking back at Iraq's economic rise and stagnation, it seems that they are inseparable from President Saddam Hussein. It can be said that it is also Saddam Hussein, and it is also Saddam Hussein who is defeated.
Pictured: Refugees in Iraq
3. After the war, how can I go back to the past?
The war in Iraq lasted until August 2010, when U.S. combat forces withdrew from Iraq, a period of more than seven years and eight years, when the U.S. military did not find weapons of mass destruction, only to end the war on the grounds that Saddam's regime had already destroyed the relevant witnesses and documents.
It was not until December 18, 2011, when the Iraqi government said that Iraq had the strength to ensure the security of its own territory and did not need outsiders to intervene, that all U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq. Many people call this war a waste of money, but it is actually just a war caused by the United States to maintain the hegemony of the dollar.
We do not know the truth, but successive wars and artillery fire have indeed devastated Iraq, a country with bright prospects and abundant oil resources, and the damage caused by it is irreparable. The wounds of the war suffered by the Iraqi people are also irreparable, and Iraq's economic and state-building is a real problem.
Picture 丨Reimples of the wall after the war
At a time when Iraq's economy was booming, $1 could be exchanged for 3.5 dinars (Iraqi currency), but now Iraq's extreme inflation has caused prices to soar, and in 2014, $1 could be exchanged for 1166 dinars. Changes in currency exchange rates show that Iraq's economy has been hit hard.
After the war, due to the serious shortage of education funds in Iraq, the shortage of teachers, and the people who have suffered heavy losses from the war have no conditions to enter schools to receive education, after all, the people even have a very difficult life, so the enrollment rate of school-age children and young people in Iraq has dropped significantly.
Education has been seriously declining, and it is completely impossible to return to the grandeur of Saddam's time. Not to mention that the university education rate of Saddam Hussein's time reached 56%, which seems like a fantasy in Iraq today.
Pictured: The grieving Iraqi people
Of course, there is more to it, and now Iraq, whether it is social infrastructure, highways, basic quality of the population, etc., can no longer reach the height of the Saddam era. How to rebuild the glory of the Saddam era is a question that deserves serious consideration and urgent needs to be solved by the Iraqi authorities and government.
When it comes to Iraq's once great president, there are many opinions and mixed opinions. His wrong decisions led to the suffering of the Iraqi people for more than a decade, and also caused the loss of countless lives, which was infuriating. But the development and contribution he made to Iraqi society during his reign cannot be ignored.
Pictured: Iraqis marching
At the same time, as Yu Guoqing, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: Saddam Hussein cannot leave his era, but on the whole, he is "too much to do" than to do. He was once the richest side of Iraq, but the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War he launched have plunged the Iraqi people into a difficult predicament.
His repression of rival political parties in the country is also rare, and it can be said that he is the direct producer of domestic tyranny in Iraq. When we comment on our predecessors, we need to maintain dialectical thinking to analyze, not just to see one side of him and make subjective assumptions, but to make a comprehensive evaluation, recognize the contribution he made, and reflect on the wrong decisions he made.