Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor – 6

By Mojtaba al-Hosseini
Translated into Farsi by: Mohammad Hossein Zavar Kabeh
Translated into English by: M.B. Khoshnevisan

2025-11-23

Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War Doctor – 6

By Mojtaba al-Hosseini
Translated into Farsi by: Mohammad Hossein Zavar Kabeh
Translated into English by: M.B. Khoshnevisan

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C-Saddam images

The Ministry of Propaganda printed and distributed numerous color images of Saddam, as well as medals featuring his likeness. Students were forced to pin these medals to their chests upon entering school. Additionally, images of Saddam were placed under the glass of wristwatches, and statues depicting him in various poses were created and installed at the entrances of major cities. The campaign did not stop there—people were also compelled to display Saddam’s images inside their homes. Finally, 5-dinar coins bearing Saddam’s portrait were minted, replacing the previous three-horse design.

D-Festivals

The Ministry of Propaganda also organized several cultural and artistic festivals in Iraqi cities, particularly Baghdad, Mosul, and Ḥilla, to celebrate pre-Islamic civilizations such as the Babylonians and Assyrians and to create a connection between Saddam’s regime and these ancient cultures. The most prominent of these was the “Nebuchadnezzar” festival in Ḥilla, which opened under the slogan: “Nebuchadnezzar yesterday, Saddam Hussein today.” Alongside these festivals, extravagant and morally questionable gatherings were held, while even minimal attention was given to the restoration of mosques and sacred tombs, which were on the verge of collapse.

Saddam’s audacity went so far that he allowed Amin Iskandar, a Christian Egyptian journalist, to publish a book about his life, in which a fabricated genealogy linking Saddam to Imam Ali (peace be upon him) was included. Who, then, had the courage to challenge this blatant falsification of history or speak the truth about Saddam’s real identity and lineage? I do not know!

E-Radio and television

These tools were used to praise and glorify Saddam, depicting his gestures, demeanor, and speeches, while simultaneously broadcasting false news and reports about the Islamic Revolution and its leaders. With complete shamelessness, they insulted the Revolution and its leaders, targeting Imam Khomeini, Mr. Beheshti, Mr. Khamenei, and Mr. Rafsanjani with relentless propaganda attacks. However, Bani-Sadr and his associates were not subjected to the same level of verbal abuse. At the time, I did not understand the reason for this. But when I arrived in Iran and became more familiar with these figures, the purpose behind this selective propaganda became clear. I personally heard from Nizar Al-Samurai, a high-ranking Ba’athist and head of propaganda for the Ba’ath Party’s newspaper Al-Thawra, that he said: “Directives were issued from Saddam’s office to the Ministry of Propaganda not to severely insult Bani-Sadr.” These facts were later revealed by Bani-Sadr’s betrayals during the war.

F-Popular poetry congresses

These congresses were among the most prominent propaganda activities against Imam Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution, serving as platforms for praising Saddam and his regime. A group of local poets from various parts of Iraq—many of whom were known for immoral behavior—would participate and present satirical and vulgar poems in the format of folk verse. They expected to receive rewards such as cash, cars, or residential land in return for their sycophantic performances. The themes of these poems typically revolved around praising and glorifying Saddam while inciting the Iraqi people against the Iranian nation and Imam Khomeini. It is worth asking what became of the so-called “Law for Preserving the Authenticity of the Arabic Language.” There was a time when the communists and the Ba’athists were aligned within the National Front. One of their political activities was promoting folk poetry, giving attention and encouragement to poets like ‘Ariyan Seyed Khalaf’ and ‘Muzaffar Nawwab,’ who were praised for composing such poems. However, when the Ba’athists sensed the danger of communist influence among the masses, they issued a law banning the printing and distribution of folk poetry under the slogan of “Preserving the Authenticity of the Arabic Language.” Their justification was that folk poetry used local dialects, supposedly threatening the purity and eloquence of classical Arabic. But this was merely a pretext. The opportunistic Ba’athists, relying on the idea that “the end justifies the means,” exploited the very propaganda tools the communists had pioneered to advance their own goals. They completely abandoned their earlier concern for the Arabic language and its authenticity. The folk poetry congresses were revived and placed directly under the same ministry that had originally pushed for the ban. These congresses played a significant role in deceiving naive citizens and stirring their emotions in favor of the regime and against the Islamic Revolution of Iran and Imam Khomeini.

8-Military Preparations

A few months before the outbreak of the war, the discharge of soldiers from military service was halted. Men born in 1949 were called up for reserve duty. Decisions were made to grant residential land and luxury cars to officers and non-commissioned officers at very low prices and on installment plans, and the law allowing army graduates to be hired in civilian agencies was revoked. Meanwhile, a large number of Iraqi army divisions and brigades carried out military maneuvers. In these exercises, unlike in the past, the “mock enemy” was Iran—not Israel. The Iraqi forces practiced the very operational plans they later executed during their invasion of Iranian territory, a fact well known to personnel of the Third Corps.

A noteworthy point here is the involvement of Iranian officers loyal to the deposed Shah in planning this invasion. This shows the extent of their hostility toward the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Undoubtedly, this war was launched not only by the Ba’ath regime of Iraq but by all the enemies of Islam against the Iranian Revolution and Islam itself. The Shah’s fugitive officers provided the Ba’ath regime with information about Iran’s military and defensive situation. One of my friends, Abd al-Ghani Somaysim, who worked in the administrative department of the al-Bakr Military Academy, shared this with me. One day in June 1980 (Khordad 1359), he came to see me at Karama Hospital and said: “I have extremely important and confidential news, but you must promise not to reveal it anywhere!”

I asked him, “What is this news?”

He replied, “Iraq intends to attack Iran from the south in order to separate the Arabistan region (Khuzestan).”

I said, “You must be joking.”

He answered, “No, it’s completely serious.”

I asked, “What proof do you have?”

He said, “Saddam, along with the defense minister and senior military officers, held several days of meetings at the al-Bakr Military Academy with four high-ranking Iranian officers. Afterward, orders were issued to print and distribute dozens of military maps of the border strip between Iran and Iraq, especially the Arabistan region. Many soldiers from Tikrit, Mosul, and Samarra who were with us know about this.”

Abd al-Ghani Somaysim was arrested and executed in early 1981 (1360).

Another point is that Iraqi military units did not return to their barracks after the maneuvers; instead, they were deployed to the Iran–Iraq border. This clearly shows their prior intent to launch the invasion.

To be continued …

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