Altered photos of Saddam Hussein released by CENTCOM

The altered photos of Saddam Hussein below were issued to coaltion troops in Iraq on July 31, 2003, to better help them recognize the wanted former Iraqi leader.

"With the capture of the former dictator, the enemies of a free Iraq have lost their leader and they've lost any hope of regaining power. The nightmare of the Baathist tyranny is finally over."

-- President George W. Bush

Saddam Hussein: Biography

President of Iraq since 1979 (Vice President from 1968-79), Saddam Hussein was born in 1937, and raised near Tikrit, north of Baghdad. At a young age he became an enforcer for the Baath (renaissance) Party, and gained political influence using a combination of intimidation, fear, nepotism, and murder. The Baath party came to political power in Iraq in the 1960s, and by 1969 Saddam had been installed as Chief of Iraq's security services, where he earned the reputation of being a ruthless executioner of opponents and suspected potential rivals. By 1977 the party bureaus, the intelligence mechanisms, and even ministers who should have reported to Iraqi President Ahmad Hasan al Bakr, were reporting to Saddam Hussein. On July 16, 1979, President Bakr resigned, and Saddam Hussein officially replaced him as president of the republic, secretary general of the Baath Party Regional Command, chairman of the RCC, and commander in chief of the armed forces. On July 17, 1979, he was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal.

"The intimidation and fear this man generated for over 30 years are now gone. Many will rest much better tonight knowing Iraq is moving forward to a more secure environment."

-- Maj. Gen Raymond T. Odierno, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division

During his tenure, Saddam Hussein's more notorious actions include:

The 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, which left 150,000 to 340,000 Iraqis and 450,000 to 730,000 Iranians dead

Ordering the use of chemical weapons against Iranian forces in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and against Iraq's Kurdish population in 1988

The invasion and destruction of Kuwait in 1990-91, with 1,000 Kuwaitis killed; this action led to the Gulf War

The 1991 bloody suppression of Kurdish and Shi'a insurgencies in northern and southern Iraq, with at least 30,000 to 60,000 killed

Saddam has been married to the same woman, former schoolteacher Sajida, since 1958. They have five children, three daughters and two sons (both sons deceased).