ABSTRACT
Examining the formulation and implementation of Iraqi public policy under Saddam Hussein suggests that the government is Saddam Hussein. In the period of military coup and countercoup Saddam was imprisoned from 1964 to 1966, but by then he had developed a reputation as the leading member of the Baath Party and a revolutionary hero with impeccable credentials. The Kurds, who lived in northern Iraq, had resisted domination by the Baghdad government. In 1980, prior to the Iran-Iraq War, the government enacted a social welfare law that was generally viewed as progressive. While the Western coalition prepared for a land invasion of Iraq, Saddam's forces systematically pillaged Kuwait. Saddam Hussein's leadership of postwar Iraq focused on responding to the economic dislocations connected with the trade sanctions, the constant pressure from UNSCOM, and American and British domination of the skies over the no-fly zones.
