ABSTRACT
Saddam Hussein—and those around him—base much of their power upon an informal and highly personalized domestic political structure which draws on support from Iraq's Sunni minority, which makes up 32% to 37% of the total population. The key clans and families within the Sunni heartland—which is composed of the four provinces of Baghdad, Takrit, Mosul and Ramadi—form the bedrock of this political power structure although it also includes some proven Shi'ite and Christian loyalists. Iraqis refer to this aspect of Iraqi politics as the "center," which is both a geographic term denoting the Sunni Arab heartland and the capital Baghdad, and a political, socioeconomic and cultural area that is largely Sunni and which has the nation's highest standard of living, economic development, urbanization, and education. The "center" is home to the vast majority of Iraq's large middle-class professionals and intellectuals. Saddam was able to draw heavily upon support from the "center" after the Gulf War.
