Uprisings and coups
Hussein maintains control in Iraq
This is a text adaptation of CNN's Special Report, "The Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm," hosted by Brent Sadler, which debuted on Tuesday, January 16, 2001, on CNN and CNN International.
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Bush urged the Iraqi people to turn against their leader |
(CNN) -- After weeks of suffering the brunt of the coalition air attacks on his country, Saddam Hussein was issued an ultimatum: Withdraw from Kuwait or risk a ground war. Nearly 630,000 allied troops were in the region and on full battle alert. Soldiers from all over the world were ready and waiting to fight.
As the clock ticked, U.S. President George Bush gave one of the most controversial speeches of the war, calling on Iraqis to rise up against their leader.
"There is another way for the bloodshed to stop: And that is, for the Iraqi military and the Iraqi people to take matters into their own hands and force Saddam Hussein, the dictator, to step aside and then comply with the United Nations' resolutions and rejoin the family of peace-loving nations," Bush said on February 15, 1991.
As the air war continued, Bush's call for the Iraqi people to turn on their leader went unanswered. So did the ultimatum given to Hussein. The ground war lasted for 100 hours. It was an unambiguous victory for the alliance. Hussein claimed his troops had been withdrawn from Kuwait; but, in truth, it was a rout.
As his defeated forces limped home, Saddam Hussein had to face opposition from within Iraq. The traditionally rebellious Kurdish tribes in the north, as well
as much of the Shi'ite Muslim community in the south of the country, took up arms against the regime.
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The Iraqis who revolted against Hussein received no outside support |
"The revolt took place with the encouragement of the president of the United States. The words of the president were followed by leaflets and broadcasts. People believed it. And when they rose up, they expected to get help and assistance from allied forces in the region," says Dr. Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress.
But the rebels found themselves fighting alone.
As part of the cease-fire agreement negotiated by Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf, the United States military agreed to let Iraq fly its own helicopters. Iraq claimed they were needed to transport their leaders; instead, they were used as gun ships against the rebels.
"I suggested to Secretary Cheney and to Gen. Powell that we rescind Gen. Schwartzkopf's permission. They said it would be a serious thing to do. It would undermine his command over his forces and so on -- so I didn't pursue it," explains then-National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft. "It was a mistake... If we had taken it to the president, I would have been very strongly opposed to letting them continue to fly."
As the revolt spread, the U.S. -- worried that a fractured Iraq would create more instability in an unpredictable region -- chose not to support the rebellion. With no military assistance, the rebels were overwhelmed and crushed.
In the years that followed, Hussein managed to avoid many challenges to his regime. One of the most intriguing was a 1996 coup attempt, allegedly organized by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), using Iraqi military officers. It didn't succeed, and the CIA won't comment.
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The Iraqi army fled the ground war |
"Saddam's security apparatus penetrated the conspirators," says Said K. Aburish, author of "Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge." "And last minute, as the coup was about to take place, they used the same mobile telephones supplied to the conspirators by the CIA to call the CIA headquarters in Amman, Jordan, and tell them, 'This is the last you would hear from your friends, because we have them, good-bye.'"
Scowcroft says Hussein is "so ruthless and he has three security organizations -- they not only protect him, they watch each other."
Scowcroft, the former aide to President Bush, believes it is unlikely Hussein will ever be overthrown.
"It is virtually impossible for any kind of a plot to get going without him finding out about it and destroying not only the plotters but their families," he says. "So unless there is a portion of the army which revolts almost instantaneously, I think it's very unlikely that he will be toppled."
NEXT: Operation Desert Fox.
In conjunction with CNN Productions, "The Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm" was produced by Jason Williams and Diana Sperrazza and co-produced by Bill Morgan. It should be noted that Iraqi officials refused the producers of this program access to their country.
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