The execution of Saddam Hussein (KOR)

Washington succeeded in eliminating its longstanding adversary, but the weapons of mass destruction cited as justification for the Iraq War were never found.

Roh Jeong-tae

The author is a writer and senior fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.

On Dec. 30, 2006, the day of reckoning arrived. At Camp Justice, a U.S. military base on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, Saddam Hussein stood on the gallows. Captured by U.S. special forces on Dec. 13, 2003, he had been sentenced to death by the Iraqi Special Tribunal on charges related to the massacre of civilians. Hussein had requested execution by firing squad as commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces, but he was instead put to death by hanging.

The ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein faces a judge in a Baghdad courtroom for the first time since his detainment, July 1, 2004. Downcast but defiant, Iraq's deposed dictator Saddam Hussein appeared before an Iraqi tribunal on Thursday, refusing to recognize its authority and saying the ″real criminal″ was President Bush. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

It was a grim end for a man who had ruled Iraq for 35 years after seizing power in a 1968 coup. Saddam Hussein was a dictator. He rose to power through military intrigue and, as vice president, oversaw a period of modernization and economic development. His rule was brutal, yet some acknowledged that living standards improved during those years. The turning point came after he formally assumed the presidency in 1979.

With Iran in turmoil following the collapse of the Pahlavi monarchy and the establishment of an Islamic government, Hussein launched a surprise attack. The Iran-Iraq War dragged on for eight years, leaving hundreds of thousands dead or wounded on both sides. When the conflict ended inconclusively in 1988, Hussein turned his attention elsewhere. Two years later, he invaded neighboring Kuwait.

The United States and the international community intervened. In 1991, Operation Desert Storm was launched, and Kuwait was swiftly liberated. The overwhelming display of U.S. military power was broadcast live on CNN, signaling the arrival of a new post-Cold War international order. A decade later, after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States, gripped by anger, labeled Iraq part of an “axis of evil” and went to war again, ultimately toppling Hussein from power. That war may be seen as an extension of the same trajectory.

Washington succeeded in eliminating its longstanding adversary, but the weapons of mass destruction cited as justification for the Iraq War were never found. Even after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011, peace in the Middle East remained elusive. What once seemed like unchallenged American hegemony has increasingly become a subject of doubt. The execution of Saddam Hussein closed one chapter, but it did not deliver the stability many had expected.

사담 후세인의 처형노정태 작가·경제사회연구원 전문위원

2006년 12월 30일 운명의 날이 밝았다. 이라크 바그다드 북쪽 외곽 도시에 위치한 미군기지 캠프 저스티스의 사형대에 사담 후세인(사진)이 서 있었다. 2003년 12월 13일 미군 특수부대에 의해 체포된 후세인은 이라크 특별재판소에서 민간인 학살 혐의로 사형을 선고받았다. 그는 이라크군의 총사령관으로서 총살당하길 원했지만, 교수형이 집행됐다.

1968년 쿠데타 후 35년 동안 이라크를 지배해 온 남자의 비참한 결말이었다. 사담 후세인은 독재자였다. 군사정변을 통해 정권을 잡았고, 부통령으로서 이라크의 근대화와 경제 발전을 이끌었다. 철권통치였지만 국민의 살림살이가 나아졌다는 점에서 긍정적인 평가가 없지 않았다. 문제는 79년 대통령의 자리에 오른 다음이었다. 후세인은 팔레비 왕조가 무너지고 이슬람 정권이 들어선 후 혼란에 빠져 있던 이란을 기습 공격했고, 두 나라는 8년에 걸쳐 수십만 명의 사상자를 내는 혈투를 벌였다. 88년 이란-이라크 전쟁이 흐지부지 끝나자 2년 뒤엔 인접한 소국 쿠웨이트를 침공했다.

결국 미국과 국제사회가 나섰다. 91년 ‘사막의 폭풍’ 작전이 개시됐고, 순식간에 쿠웨이트가 해방됐다. 미국의 압도적인 군사력이 CNN을 통해 생중계되었고 냉전 이후 새로운 국제 질서의 막이 올랐다. 2001년 9·11 테러로 분노에 사로잡힌 미국이 이라크를 ‘악의 축’으로 지목하고 전쟁을 벌여 후세인을 권좌에서 끌어내린 것도 그 흐름의 연장선에 있는 일이었을지 모른다.

미국은 숙적인 사담 후세인을 제거하는 데 성공했지만 이라크 전쟁의 명분으로 삼은 대량살상무기는 존재하지 않았다. 2011년 5월 9·11 테러를 주도한 오사마 빈 라덴까지 사살했으나 중동의 평화는 신기루처럼 멀어져만 갔다. 절대적인 것만 같았던 미국의 패권도 어느덧 의심의 대상이 되고 있다.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.