When Saddam Hussein took over as the fifth President of Iraq, hardly did the world realize that an era of strife, war and communal violence awaited the entire Middle-East. With the power vested in him, he showed Iraq the vision of a future which, if fulfilled, would have been a reality much envied even by the prosperous West. Indeed, within the first few decades of his reign, Iraq was on a road to such glory that it had not seen in ages. It is often stated that the country witnessed its best and worst days under him. The strategies he employed to settle what seemed like an eternal religious unrest in Iraq were beyond praise and he won great appreciation from both his countrymen and around the world. Illiteracy, unemployment and poverty were long forgotten words during his regime and Iraq’s evolution was on a fast-track. Saddam also basked in the splendor of the economic, social and industrial expansion of his country until the outbreak of the Iraq-Iran war. The days of glory were short lived and soon, owing to never ending conflicts and battles with the neighboring countries, and later with the West, the country was reduced to a barren land.