Chapter Seven - Build a Monster, Burn a Country, Blame Everyone Else

CHAPTER SEVEN

Build a Monster, Burn a Country, Blame Everyone Else

THERE’S A SPECIAL kind of evil in building your own villain—
arming him, funding him, cheering him on—
and then burning his country to the ground because he acted like the villain you trained him to be.

That’s the story of Saddam Hussein.

And it’s not a tragedy.
It’s a case study.

Iraq in the 1970s was modernizing fast.
Secular, educated, and oil-rich.

But when Saddam Hussein took power in 1979, he did so with American approval, not resistance.

Why?

Because the enemy of our enemy is our weapon.
And Saddam hated Iran.

After the Iranian Revolution overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah, America was humiliated.

So when Saddam invaded Iran in 1980, the U.S. didn’t condemn him.
They helped him.

• Intelligence sharing
• Satellite imagery
• Billions in economic aid
• Materials used to produce chemical weapons

Let that sink in.

America helped Saddam build chemical weapons while pretending to be neutral.

Because if Iran lost, the U.S. won.

Saddam didn’t just use those weapons on Iran.
He used them on his own people—the Kurds—in places like Halabja, where thousands died in chemical gas attacks.

The U.S. government knew.
And looked away.

Why?

Because Iraq was still the lesser evil—for now.

After the war with Iran ended, Saddam started making noise again.
He was broke, paranoid, and looking to flex his muscles.
So in 1990, he invaded Kuwait, claiming it was historically Iraqi territory.

Suddenly, the U.S. had a problem.

Kuwait was an oil-rich U.S. ally.
This wasn’t about democracy.
This was about access.

And just like that, Saddam went from “regional ally” to “the next Hitler.”

Operation Desert Storm began with a media blitz and a bombing campaign like the world had never seen.

Saddam’s forces were crushed.
But the U.S. left him in power—crippled, humiliated, and isolated.

Why?

Because a strongman in a cage was still useful.
Until he wasn’t.

After the September 11 attacks—which Saddam had nothing to do with—the Bush administration needed a second war.

Iraq was the target.
Weapons of Mass Destruction were the excuse.

Spoiler: there were none.

But the war went forward anyway.

In 2003, Saddam’s regime was overthrown.
He was captured, tried in a kangaroo court, and executed by hanging.

Iraq descended into chaos.
Civil war.
ISIS.

The U.S. created Saddam, used him, and then destroyed him.

It wasn’t a failed policy.
It was the policy.

Build monsters.
Control them.
Then kill them when they stop listening.

And if a few hundred thousand civilians die along the way?

Collateral.

The Iraq invasion destabilized the entire Middle East.
It gave birth to ISIS.
It destroyed trust in the U.S. government at home and abroad.
And it made a mockery of international law.

But for weapons contractors, oil companies, and think tanks?

It was a gold rush.