Iraq’s Economy
Was Saddam a Communist?
By D.W.

One of the most interesting things that I learned while I was serving in Iraq was that Saddam Hussein had a communist economy in Iraq, even though he did not make any claims of being one. And hardly any of the major media sources ever reported it that way either.

Saddam expressed absolutely no concern for the workers of the world and he did not fund any communist movements for ideological reasons. In fact, he was a brutal dictator with little genuine interest for his own people’s welfare, as evidenced by his regime’s genocidal tendencies and the abuses of the UN sponsored Oil for Food Money program.

Dictators like Stalin of the former Soviet Union and Mao of China displayed the same ruthless behavioral qualities but each had their own personal ambitions to establish communism throughout the world. On the other hand, although Saddam was technically a member of the Arab Socialist Baath party, he wasn’t really all that interested about the unity of the Baath party or in promoting it throughout the Middle East. And he obviously wasn’t interested in any of the democratic aspects of socialism.

When my unit assumed responsibility for our sector shortly after the invasion of Iraq, we and the local Iraqis were deeply troubled about the food supply in the area. All the residents of Baghdad had received about three month’s worth of provisions prior to the beginning of the war and undoubtedly, they were going to start running out.

We had also made a curious observation in that there were no grocery stores in Baghdad aside from a few markets in the elite Baathist Mansour District and a few nasty farmers markets. The liberation did bring about a rapid establishment of independent food vendors who did not exist under Saddam. And come to think of it, there were also not very many stores at all in Baghdad, which is extremely weird considering its size.

And shortly afterwards, we had to begin an extensive study about food distribution so that any potential catastrophe could be averted especially since the U.N., as usual, wasn’t going to be of much help.
 

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We discovered that the citizens of Baghdad were issued food coupon books on an annual basis and they retrieved their rations from various warehouses throughout the city. The amount and variety of food they were allocated depended upon the size of their family and most notably, their political standing.

The foodstuff consisted mostly of rice, flour, sugar, tea, coffee, and other dry goods of this nature and it was free.

Now most socialists would jump for joy at this arrangement but they would also fail to realize how terrible this system was. If a person angered the regime, their coupons were taken away so they would then have to fend for themselves; dissent could mean starvation. For the average Iraqi, the variety and quality of the food received wasn’t open for negotiation. You got what you got and you couldn’t complain.

And the Iraqi’s couldn’t drive down to the Super Wal-Mart if they didn’t like the government’s freebees. As a result, their quality of life wasn’t so great.

The Iraqi economy under Saddam was a command economy with central planning done in a grand Stalinist style. Saddam and his cronies planned out its financial system and there was no private property at all since everything belonged to him. And he could also give it away and take it away as he pleased, which is why there is a very severe housing shortage in the country. Many Iraqi’s live in small dwellings oftentimes with 15 to 20 extended family members because they had no real alternatives until recently.

Now if Saddam was an angel who had a true interest in the welfare of his people, Iraq could have been a workers paradise like North Korea and Cuba. Of course, Saddam was only concerned about himself and maintaining power for his own personal benefit. The economy, like his secret police, was a tool for absolute rule.

People who are totally dependent on the state for food, a job, and housing and just about everything else have a real need to be obedient. Totalitarian control of the economy is great way to gain and maintain power.

In addition, life is great when all property is your own private property; it grants you godlike powers that are apparently addictive. Saddam ran a communist economy not because he believed in the moral qualities of the Marxist system, but because it happened to serve his interests exceptionally well. I am doubtful that Stalin and Kim Jong III were true believers in the communist system as much as they were megalomaniacs employing Marxist principles for their benefits.

Saddam’s complete control of the economy also allowed him to maintain support for his military’s miserable performance during the Iran/Iraq war. When faced with the choice of guns or butter he chose both and with a command economy he could do it. And during that time, financial support from the Kuwaitis and Saudis also helped. He heavily subsidized the staples of life using funding from supportive governments in an effort to prevent a revolt by the people and the military that would have led to a victory by Iran.

Now this type of arrangement is not unusual during wartime economies but Saddam found it addictive because a Marxist system is not a free system and it lends itself well to authoritarian control.

A true Free Market economy makes it very difficult for a would-be dictator to gain and maintain absolute rule. If you don’t like the services the government offers you, one could buy alternative services elsewhere. If you have rights over your private property you don’t have to worry about pleasing the political leaders who might want to confiscate it and redistribute it to their political supporters.

But wait, the U.S. Supreme Court just opened up the door for this in a recent ruling. If a dictator wants to be godlike, he can declare God as an opiate of the masses and ban religion so he has no divine competition. Why would Saddam choose an economic system that would interfere with his ability to maintain control?

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