The second American war against Iraq began in early 2003 without substantial negotiations. Before the first American war against Iraq, however—the Gulf War launched in 1991—extensive and strenuous diplomatic efforts had been exerted before the United States attacked Iraq.

It was clear to most observers that a country of 23 million people with weak air defenses could not withstand the assault of the greatest military power in the world. If Saddam Hussein did not withdraw his troops from Kuwait, the United States would attack—and Iraq would be devastated. Yet Hussein refused to back down.

When UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar realized that Saddam Hussein would not withdraw his troops from Kuwait—and therefore that his nation would be subjected to a massive assault—he declared: “I cannot imagine that someone wants war for the pleasure of killing his own people.”

We are not accustomed to hearing people use this kind of language in relationship to war. Although it is customary for leaders and nations to send soldiers into battle (where death occurs), I’ve never heard a leader say he was going into war because he enjoyed the fact that his own people would be killed. Saying it this way makes us feel uncomfortable.

However, if we use slightly different language, our discomfort disappears. Let’s put it this way: Leaders and nations wage war—and in the process often find it necessary to sacrifice the lives of their own people.

Saddam Hussein refused to withdraw from Kuwait and the United States initiated a massive attack. As everyone had anticipated, the Gulf War generated monumental death, destruction and suffering within Iraq. However, it does not appear that Hussein conceived of the Gulf War as a bad thing.

Looking back in his speech of January 17, 2000—on the “Ninth Anniversary of the Gulf War”—Hussein praised the Iraqi people for what they had endured. On a “day like today,” he said, evil-ridden humanity had “delegated you to act for it.” Your valiant army, he said, “responded to the call.” Hussein declared with pride that the battlefields had been anointed with the “fragrant blood of men and women believers.”

The value attached to what a man loves, Hussein explained to his people, is measured by the “sacrifices he renders to them.” The noble Iraqi people had fought and sacrificed “all that is dear and precious.” They had shed their blood seeking the love of God in “hope to win His satisfaction.”

It is clear that Saddam Hussein did experience pleasure when reflecting upon the death of his people in the Gulf War. We still hesitate to say that he waged war for the pleasure of killing his people. So let us say that Hussein was happy to discover—once the war had begun—that his people did not shirk their duty to sacrifice their lives—to die—for Iraq. His people had demonstrated that they were honorable and noble--by virtue of the fact that they had died for their country.