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Article: Saddam Hussein's three-ring circus: power in Baghdad is primarily a family affair. (Showdown in the Gulf)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- September 10, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The ouster of Saddam Hussein would relieve his enemies of the need to decide whether to try to crush his Army, strangle his economy or live with him. But those in a position to oust Hussein are, not coincidentally, those least likely to try - the members of his own clan.
The real power brokers in Iraq are grouped in three rings of an extended family around Saddam Hussein. Like the Corleone family in Mario Puzo's novel, they plot, marry, feud and sometimes kill each other in a never ending quest for greater influence and power. But their godfather, Saddam Hussein, trusts no one. He has murdered a mentor who knew him since infancy, arrested his brothers and killed ...