The Iran- Iraq War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Iran- Iraq War - Research Paper Example The Iran- Iraq War The United States covertly supported Iraq, even as they had arm dealings with the Iranian government. However, by the end of the war, neither Iran and Iraq, nor the United States got any benefits from this war. This paper aims at analyzing this war, and discussing the United State’s involvement and role in this war. Saddam Hussein had steadily risen to become Iraq’s most powerful leader by the mid 1970s (Yetiv 79). In 1979, he forced the country’s incumbent leaders to step down, and hold a meeting of the Ba’ath party’s leadership, where he arrested and executed his imagined and key political opponents. His position as Iraq’s dictator was an insecure one in 1980 since he had just grabbed power in bloodthirsty fashion. He, however, did not consider himself one of the thug-life dictators who were in power in most third world countries. He saw himself as an enlightened and modern leader whose purpose was to make Iraq the Middle East’s leading country. While he would sometime lean on religious rhetoric, especially in his battles with the US in later years, his regime was secular (Yetiv 80). His party’s ideology grounded itself on socialism rather than Islamic teachings. His government took to many reforms, including the secularization of Iraq’s legal code, which was opposed by a majority of the Iraqi’s on grounds of religion. While Saddam and his men were Sunni Muslims, a vast majority of Iraqi’s were Shia’s, which bothered Saddam who distrusted their loyalty.