Saddam Hussein's Rule of Terror: Part 2
In Part 1, we discussed some of the basics of Saddam Hussein's rule of terror. We touched on how he used terror and fear to hold off his enemies and keep them in line to protect his rule. I mentioned how Saddam had "effectively" used poison gas to hold back the Iranian invasion as well as to control the uprising of Kurds in the northern regions of Iraq. Saddam has shown himself to be brutal, cruel and controlling when it comes to running his country and all this was an effort to help control any attempts that might be made to overthrow himself or the ruling Ba'ath Party.
Now that the war in Iraq is done and the outside world can get a good look at the internal activities of Saddam Hussein's security services and how they performed their torturous acts upon the guilty and the not so guilty. Coalition forces have found various prisons that contain torture chambers used to torture those "enemies" of Saddam's regime. Some former prisoners, who were recipients of Saddam's torture, have also come forward to give details about how they were tortured in these prisons and torture chambers. What they have had to say has been quite chilling as it shows us just how cruel Saddam and his security services really were.
Many ex-prisoners tells horrifying tales of the torture and humiliation they suffered at the hands of the security services. One of the most popular forms of torture for the prisoners was to be bound by his or her hands and then subsequently suspended from the ceiling. When they were ready, the prisoner would be tortured with various instruments such as pokers, electric prods or knives to do damage to the victim. Many victims have suffered permanent damage as a result of this torture.
Often many prisoners would be tortured to get information regarding a conspiracy against the government or against Saddam Hussein. Many of them would not be guilty of such a conspiracy or have any information regarding such. Some would be tortured and forced to sign confessions of guilt despite the fact they were not guilty. Usually signing a confession meant that they would live, spending time in prison but this was not always the case. Many were forced to return home in disgrace, after signing confessions, appearing to everyone as if they were guilty of going against Saddam Hussein, This was something which, publicly wasn't the right thing to do.
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