The war in Iraq broke out in March 2003 and remains deeply imprinted in people's memories today. United States joined hands with United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia and other countries, and in spite of strong international opposition, invaded Iraq with strong military force and quickly overthrew Saddam's regime. By 2021, 550,000 people had died, including more than 200,000 civilians, and more than 9 million had become refugees, and the situation in Iraq remained volatile.
In terms of the outcome of the war, the United States further maintained the hegemony of the dollar, successfully plundered Iraq's oil, and eliminated Saddam Hussein, which is a major victory. However, from the perspective of the overall strategic situation, United States has lost morality and vividly demonstrated US hegemony.
In this tumultuous war, there is a little-known but significant detail - that is, Saddam's death order before fleeing: to defend the Mosul dam.
The Mosul Dam, a huge project on the Tigris River, was built in 1980 at a cost of $400 million, stored 8 billion cubic meters of water, and has a power generation capacity of 750 megawatts, which is not only an important water conservancy project in Iraq, but also a guarantee for the livelihood of millions of people in the Mosul region.
It provides a valuable source of irrigation water and is the cornerstone of agricultural development; At the same time, it also contributes to Iraq's power supply and supports the stable operation of the country's economy.
At a time when war was on the verge of war, Saddam Hussein was well aware of the importance of the Mosul dam. During the Iran-Iraq war, the Mosul dam was attacked to a certain extent, and it was already scarred, and the foundation was not strong enough because of the fact that there were corner-cutting practices during construction. It was originally intended to be maintained, but it was delayed again because of the Gulf War.
After the war, when United States economic sanctions were encountered, there was no extra money to repair. At this point, he understood that if the dam was damaged, it would have a catastrophic impact on the downstream region, and millions of lives and homes would be at devastating risk. Therefore, before fleeing, he decisively sent 35,000 soldiers to defend this important facility to the death.
In the early days of the war, the US coalition forces did consider bombing the Mosul Dam, but when they learned that Saddam had sent heavy troops to guard it and that Saddam had fled, they felt that the bombing was meaningless, and if a flood broke out, it would not be conducive to the next operation of the US military, so they chose to abandon this plan.
After the war, the United States sent professionals to conduct a detailed survey of the Mosul Dam, and found that it had serious safety risks, and that it could burst at any time, and the United States estimated that if it collapsed, at least 500,000 people would die, and even threaten the capital Baghdad. In order to ensure the safe operation of the dam and protect United States' interests in the Middle East, the United States invested $27 million in repairs and reinforcements.
This incident not only shows that Saddam Hussein attaches great importance to the safety of the lives of the Iraq people, but also demonstrates his decision-making wisdom and foresight at a critical moment. Although he has been controversial in other respects, this move at least shows that Saddam Hussein has a state in mind and is not selfish to the extreme. Even United States was later convinced by this.
During Saddam's leadership of Iraq, the country's economy developed rapidly, the people's living standards improved significantly, and its military power gradually increased. However, his ambitions and thirst for power eventually led to an eight-year war with Iran and tensions with Western countries such as United States. In the end, there was an ending of death at the hands of United States.