978-1-4222-3442-6

I RAQ ’ S H ISTORY TO 1990 59

Saddam Hussein rose through the ranks of the Baath Party, finally seizing absolute power in July 1979 with a chilling, videotaped purge of party members.

though, was Saddam’s desire to make Iraq the leading power in the Middle East, which would require that it overcome its larger rival Iran. The Islamic Revolution had caused great unrest in Iran, and Saddam wanted to exploit what he perceived as a strategic moment of Iranian weakness. He used the long-running Shatt al Arab dispute as an excuse to start a war. In September 1980, Saddam announced Iraq’s claim to the entire waterway, and within a few days Iraqi troops had invaded Iran and captured some territory. The Iran-Iraq War lasted for eight years, during which time neither side was able to make permanent or significant gains. Instead, the war devastated both countries. Each bombed the other’s oil refiner- ies; Iraq’s oil revenues fell from $26 billion in 1980 to $9 billion in 1982. To pay for the war, Saddam borrowed billions of dollars from Arab countries, particularly Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.