Wtf was that man even a muslim? Why did he say the shahada right before he bit his tongue?
Saddam was a Muslim but he wasn't religious. He had an extremely tribal mindset. All he cared about was conquering the world.
Put in mind, he was heavily affected by Arab nationalism and socialism. He was Iraq's Franco but more authoritarian and less religious.
Religion was never an integral part of his governance. The founder of the Baath party and Saddam's mentor,
Michel Aflaq was Christian.
There are videos of Saddam on YouTube scolding his party members for going to the mosque and telling them "A Baath party member has more inviolability than Amr Bin Al-Khattab".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX5WixqfSWsIn fact his brother Sabwai who was head of internal security in 1984 prohibited all internal security personnel from praying while on the job or going to the mosque.
Here is a video of Sabwai threatening to jail one of his officers for performing Athan in the mosque (watch from 00:58):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXcIyOtrSyQOne of his closest advisers, Tariq Aziz, who held many ministerial posts including Minister of Foreign Affairs is Christian.
He used to invite the prominent Christian clergy every Christmas and Easter. He visited churches on more than one occasion.
He also posthumously decorated Iraqi Jewish statesman
Heskel Sasson .
Even on a personal level he hasn't shown any sign of piety. None of his daughters and wives wore Hijab. He had many mistresses. He drank alcohol openly among his friends and used to enjoy barbecuing boars (wild pigs). [I can't reveal my sources].
There are exceptions. He would visit mosques and Islamic shrines and prays in them.
He extended Islamic Education classes to elementary schools and made them a compulsory part of the National Baccalaureate Exam. And he once had somebody write the Quran with his blood.
Generally speaking, Saddam did use religion to his own purposes. He would quote the Quran to flare up the enthusiasm among the religious section of the Iraqi people.
But he didn't do that because he was religious or because he was attracted to Islamism. In fact he brutally repressed any religious moment if it threatened his rule.
Personal anecdote: my father is a civil engineer and worked in construction. He had a regular crew of construction workers whom he trusts and employs. In 2002, one of them didn't show up for 3 days in a row and they were worried about him. Anyway, they went to his house and his mother told my dad that he was arrested by Saddam's internal security because he had a beard and Islamist literature in the house. He was released two weeks later after they shaved his beard, beat him up, and confiscated his books.
Saddam-- now there's a dude I woulda liked to have partied with.
Well if you're into antique rifles & swords, hunting, drinking, and sitting in a tent while an Iraqi folkloric singer plays and hot
Kawliya (Iraqi gypsies) belly-dancers shake their asses, you would have loved to party with Saddam and his posse.
Speaking of Kawliya, here is a video of Saddam's son Qusay drinking Whisky while Kawliya girls dance (he's the guy in the corner wearing the white sweater):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lwR0WJeYEg&NR=1And here's a video of Saddam's cousin, Chemical Ali, with Kawliya dancers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLQCS_kIHEg&feature=relatedYou know, this why it makes me laugh when Hitchens says Saddam was an Islamist !!!
Topic: Food, Food, Glorious Food - what you having for dinner?