Saddam Hussein is dead. The former Iraqi dictator went to the gallows before sunrise Saturday morning in Baghdad, with a Quran in one hand, crying for justice. In death as in life, he divided his country: Shiites danced in the streets and fired guns in the air, while Sunnis mourned the passing of a martyr for their religion and their nation. While it is tempting to say Hussein's death marks the end of an era, Iraq -- and the region -- is still coping with his legacy and the instability that followed his removal from power.
Hussein was a mid-level army officer when he seized power with several other Ba'ath party members in 1968. Eleven years later, after working behind the scenes to purge any suspected opposition to the regime, Hussein seized the presidency when it became clear that he was next to be eliminated. That provided an excuse for another wide-ranging purge in the army and the party, ensuring that both would henceforth be populated by puppets, sycophants and family members. It also made plain that Hussein styled himself after Saladin, the 12th-century Arab warrior and statesman, meaning that the president's rule would be based on fear and brute strength.
Hussein was a Sunni in a country in which Shiites were a majority. Just as worrisome, he was a secularist when religious fundamentalists were proving successful at exploiting grievances against the failures of modernization. Thus, a year after becoming president, he sent Iraqi troops into Iran to exploit the instability that followed the seizure of power by Shiite Muslims led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. That vainglorious effort was motivated by the twin desires to crush religious opposition at home and to beat back a challenge to Iraq's pre-eminence in the Persian Gulf region. The invasion launched an eight-year war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides, drained both economies and destroyed Hussein's plans to lead the region. The bloody stalemate blackened the image of Western powers who were eager to supply Hussein with weapons to head off an Iranian victory. There was ample evidence that Hussein was prepared to go to any length -- including the gassing of civilians -- to win.