The Story of Saddam Hussein's Early Life

The story of Saddam Hussein's early life is a very interesting one. I believe that it explains partially why Saddam acts the way he does now. Hussein was born on April 28, 1937, outside of the small village of Tikrit in Iraq. The story of his childhood is a sad one as his father either died or left the family five months before his birth. Shortly after Saddam's father left the family his brother died of cancer and his mother was left by herself, still being pregnant with Saddam. Saddam's mother chose to name her son Saddam because of its meaning. The name Saddam means "one who comforts." However, one can say that he did not live up to his name as he brought more pain and suffering to his people rather than comfort.
Saddam's mother remarried later on in her life to a man named Ibrahim al-Hassarvn. Unfortunately, Saddam's new step father did not help his life to be any better. Ibrahim treated Saddam terribly, abusing him and forcing him to steal chickens and sheep to be resold. Saddam left home when he was ten years old and went to live with his uncle, Khayrallah Tulfah. His uncle lived in Baghdad and was a Sunni Muslim which was a new set of beliefs that Saddam was introduced to. Saddam said that he learned his most important lessons from his uncle, including the belief that he should never surrender to his enemy, no matter what his situation is. Saddam attended a secondary school of nationalistic views which affected his thinking and beliefs a great deal. At the age of twenty, Saddam excitedly signed himself into the pan-Arab Ba'ath Party under the influence of his uncle. Saddam was beginning to move into the world of adulthood still under the care and teaching of his uncle with the background of brutality, stealing, and not being loved and cared for as a usual child is.