Saddam Hussein’s Address: 10th versary of the Day of Days (1988)

President Saddam Hussein’s Address on the 10^th Anniversary of the Day of Days

8 August 1988

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

(If you prayed for victory and judgment, now has judgment come to you, if you desist (from wrong), it will be best for you–Holy Quran, VIII, 19)

Great people…

Valiant members of our armed forces…

Arab men of struggle and jihad, sons of our glorious Nation…

God’s peace, mercy and blessing be upon you…

Ten years ago, on 8 August 1988, a great event in the life of our Nation and our people took place with the announcement of that great and decisive communique. It was in the evening of that glorious day, the day of all days, that the communique of communiques, the seal of all communiques announced throughout the war between Iraq and Iran, was declared.

As a ripe fruit, and as a merit proportionate with their levels, the Iraqis picked the reward of eight years of fighting, patience and endurance.

Ever since that day of crowning glory and of outright victory, the Iraqis, together with the noble sons of our glorious nation, recall with an appreciation of special taste that great day.

Others may recall that day politically, or as a mere historical record of the event, when we remind them of it, or when they browse their diaries, but not as a recall of a lesson learned or a moral drawn.

Why do we then celebrate this day in Iraq? And why do the honourable Arabs react with it with rejoice!?

In the life and history of nations, events of special meanings happen. The more positive the effect of the event is on the life of other nations, apart from the nation concerned, the wider the focus of attention becomes and the more dignified the very event is held.

Judging from what you have come to know of our conceptions which draw a line between sheer force, in the material, professional or technical sense, and power , in its comprehensive meaning and profundity: Is it force or power that triumphed on that day, the day of all days!?

On that day, power turned out victor over force, just as power stood fast, triumphed and is still scoring triumph over force throughout all phases of the confrontation in the eternal Um al-Ma’arek battle (Mother of All Battles). And just as those concerned in Iran failed to predict the limits of confrontation between force and power, having been blinded and intoxicated by their imagination that the course of events was already tilting in their favour, on the basis of a mere comparison between force and force, the Americans and their allies failed to estimate the effectiveness of Iraq’s power in countering their brute force.

Thus, the failure of the opposite party was ensued on the starting line, just as our victory was achieved on the starting line too.

On this basis, the triumph of power, with its well-known factors, freed and will free those concerned in Iran from their brute view of force, with its well-known factors, including fanaticism as compared to an open and fair viewpoint.

Hence, the most important factor of Iran’s weakness in that confrontation was that force, and the illusion of force prevailed in the minds of those who believed in it. Whereas power, which we firmly believe in, with its well-known factors, filled us with certainty and faith and rendered us more balanced and fair towards ourselves and towards our enemies.

Yet, some people, on that day, did not properly realize this truth, neither in Iran nor in the world.

Moreover, those involved in the aggression against Iraq, in the 30-state armies and in the unjust blockade, have also remained ignorant of this fact to the present day. They, in turn, committed and are still committing the same mistake, and their harvest will be, God willing, full of thorns, with its yield more bitter than colocynth in the mouths and souls of those nurtured with evil and aggression.

Hence, the day of all days is not a mere day of victory of an army over armies, nor a mere triumph of a will of determination, on its material basis, over a counter-will with shaken material basis, but rather, an official declaration for those with reason, heralding the birth of a new will, commensurate with the new call in Iraq, the country of challenge, faith, civilization and commitment.

Accordingly, when its main bases were complemented with suffering, forbearance and human, intellectual and psychological sacrifice, the will of power achieved victory over the basis of illusion, fanaticism and brute force, whose bases were shaken by the facts encountered in life in its broad sense, and by the former’s attachment to the values of the Lord of Heavens and Earth, when the confrontation extended over eight years, and when all good-intentioned calls failed to curb or dissipate the illusion of those under its spell, to weaken their covetousness and to defuse their bigotry.

We confronted, at first, what was inside our souls, and we overcame what was negative and discouraging, before we were able to settle once and for all the situation on that memorable day by the use of power and its perspicacious and fair will.

For this reason, brothers, we celebrate this day every year, not only for our sake or for the sake of our coming generations, at present or in the future, but also for the sake of other generations, including Iran’s, because that day has opened, for everyone with insight, a window on life and on goodwill values. In so doing, we hope that the illusion would dissipate gradually so that, instead of hatred, grudge and fanaticism, the elements of love, heartfelt and positive interaction and perception of truth, as it is, with the entire Nation, will prevail.

That is what we wish for Iran. We implore the All-Mighty and All-Powerful to help Iran to live up to it. We do so without having any premeditated purpose nor any construed intention of interference in its internal affairs.

Force held power captive in Iran, whereas power overwhelmed force in Iraq, and everyone knows what was the result.

At any time power finds itself free from force in Iran, Iran will be the victor. And at any time Iraq abandons power in pursuit of the brute force only, God forbid, its loss will be heavy.

Judging from this yardstick, we see that some Arabs have been infected with a new and serious disease. This disease does not fall within the terms of the illusion of force, but it falls within the illusion of weakness. Thus, they have begun to look for force rather than for power to cure their fatal sense of weakness and their hope-dispersing illusions. They have felt fatigued and frustrated when faced with tables of quantities and figures on their part and on the part of their enemies, while comparing force with force.

Since force, in its primitive, brutal sense, does not originate inside the Arabs, except when afflicted with the fatal disease of fanaticism, and since the Arabs are not goaded to fanaticism, except under exceptional circumstances, the material calculations have overwhelmed their state of weakness and have driven some of them down to their pits.

Instead of disembarking on the safe shore, with their own power and the power of their Nation, which God has characterized the Nation with, they went looking for a safe shore by counting on the force of others.

And since others do not help them to any real safe shore, some of them have thrown themselves on their shore as corpselike bodies, or remained suspended, drifted by the whims and schemes of the enemies and the covetous.

Hence, brothers, when Iraq emerged victor on that day, it had, before that, defeated jugglery and imposture with certainty, loss with faith and the cause, disunity with unity, aversion with piousness, grudge with tolerance, hatred with love, egoism with altruism, loneliness of isolation with company and collective work, darkness with light, introversion with extroversion, feeling of weakness with invocation of factors of capability inside oneself, hesitation with decisive resolution, indifference with seriousness and clear stand, laziness with perseverance and work, arrogance with modesty, exaggeration withexactness, igwith knowledge, unbalanced haste with accuracy and patience, negligence with alertness and presence of mind, disruption with continuity, pessimism with optimism, slowness with speed, quantity with the faithful quality, lies with honesty, honesty, and honesty, vagary with truth, fear of foreigner with fear of God, obedience of foreigner with love of our people amidst the Nation and humanity, with full trust in the people and in oneself, after our trust in God.

Hence, the victory on the day of all days was not a traditional military victory according to the standards of victory of one army over other armies, when only the technical and professional preponderance is in favour of the victor party. By the same token, it was not a victory for Iraq only, but for all what is contrary to weakness and feebleness, which we have mentioned and which is well known to everyone. This victory, apart from being a victory for Iraq and the Nation, on the basis of these conceptions, is also a victory for those who believe in these conceptions in Iran. Indeed, it is a victory even for those who are still in need of someone to lift for them the veil and burden of illusion, darkness and aversion with these conceptions in Iran.

Therefore, the war ceased. It would not, otherwise, have stopped, without all that had happened, when the grand battles of liberation, having ripened on the battlefields, further intensified after the liberation of the dear city of Faw, as a fruit of all the generous sacrifices and great jihad throughout eight years.

Thus, when the Iraqis were freed from the weakness which afflicted some segments of the Nation, Faw was liberated, as was every part of Iraq usurped by the Iranians and on which calculations of their known illusion were built. On the basis of their well-known cover or covers of illusion and aversion, they formulated part of them in the shape of slogans for Iranian warriors, when they misled them into believing that (a pilgrimage to Kerbela’ can only be made through the occupation of Baghdad and then Kerbela’), and not through establishing proper relations with Baghdad to reach Kerbela’. Against this background of the past, we see that some well-known quarters in Iran still hesitate to visit Baghdad and Kerbela’, now that such a visit has been made possible to those who want to make it peacefully, as the people of Baghdad and Kerbela’ have accepted that with their own free will.

Hence, Iran had been victorious twice throughout its history, despite its military defeat: once, when the Arab Moslem armies killed the leaders of war, arrogance and aversion in the first battle of Qadissiya, Nehawand and other battles, such as Hormuzan, Rustum and finally the King of the infidels Kisra Yazdejird. The second time was in the second Qadissiya. So, we shared with Iran two victories, over ourselves and our common enemy: viz., the two victories at the two battles of Qadissiya.

Then, just as the victory at the first Qadissiya was a victory for humanity and a victory for faith, so too the day of all days at the second Qadissiya was a great victory for humanity and faith.

Therefore, it is on this basis and for those great meanings that we recall, first of all, the sacrifices made by the noble martyrs and by the living, and celebrate this glorious day.

If some quarters in Iran abandon what is not praiseworthy of the past, they will see and find that the Arabs, including Iraq, have abandoned this and left it behind long time ago. They will also find every righteous, beneficial cooperation from the Arabs, first and foremost, Iraq.

The Arabs, notably Iraq, are not expecting the officials in Iran to break a chain for them, nor relieve a burden on them or to get involved in battles which are the responsibility of the Arabs, in the first place, though this does not fall beyond the responsibility of those who have pronounced faith and guided aright.

The Arabs, including Iraqis, hope and call upon the officials and peoples of Iran not to become a tool in the hands of covetous foreigners to harm Arabs, primarily Iraq. The Shah of Iran Mohammed Riza Pehlevi did that in the past, and so did his father and others before him. Iraq and the Arabs were subjected to serious harm after 1979. The war broke out and continued for eight years, despite incessant attempts by all parties concerned, mainly by Iraq, to put an end to it.

The accelerated calls for the use of force, for harming Iraq and for launching aggression against it, until the war started on 4 September 1980, the persistent continuation of war, and the call for all that run counter to and contradict peace, are all matters that can hardly be interpreted except by saying that Iran had gone astray, taking a direction contrary to all that could help man achieve victory inside his soul and in his environment, over the elements of evil and over failure and weakness.

Has Iran, in whole or in part, recovered from this!? We pray to God, the Most Exalted, to help the peoples of Iran and its officials to attain this. Our laboratory, whose tests can never fail, will be the relationship between Iraq and Iran. This is because, while the factor of geography makes Iraq the most capable of observation and verification, other additional factors: historical, social and spiritual make it the most capable of understanding Iran and the reality there as it is, and not as projected every now and then.

Arab brothers…

Moslem brothers…

Throughout eight years, we were of the opinion, believed and worked on the basis that our objectives would be materialized in peace. Therefore, we called for it. Whereas the officials in Iran, until the last days or last months prior to the victory on the day of all days, were of the opinion that their objectives would be materialized in war and aggression. Our evidence, on our side, is all the legacy of the glorious Qadissiya, of what was said or done in public, day and night.

On Iran’s side, it is all their legacy of what was said or done in public, day and night, including the last official address by the highest-level official who accepted the ceasefire, which, once in effect, spared further bloodshed. He said: I wish I were dead before I announced or ordered a ceasefire… He also said in the same address that (his acceptance of Security Council resolution was for him more lethal than poison). On our part, the Iraqis, in the forefront of whom the officials, celebrated the end of the war and of the bloodshed on both sides, rejoicing that day and thanking God, the Most Mighty and Exalted, for his grace, from the farthest point in the north to the farthest point in the south in Iraq, for seven days and nights.

Greetings of appreciation, with the most profound meaning of glory and faith, to our noble martyrs, the martyrs of the glorious Qadissiya. May their souls dwell in heavens.

Greetings of appreciation to the day of all days, the day of victory and peace.

Greetings to the day we look forward to when the foundations of Arabs’ relations, including Iraq’s, with Iran are laid on their proper ground.

God is the greatest…

Long live Iraq…

Long live our glorious Nation…

Long live Palestine, a free and Arab country…

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Saddam Hussein’s Address: 10th anniversary of the Day of Days (1988)