Qusay Hussein

Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (or Qusai, Arabic: قصي صدام حسين ‎; c. 1967 – 22 July 2003) was an Iraqi politician and heir. He was the second son of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. He was appointed as his father's heir apparent in 2000. He was also in charge of the military.

On the afternoon of 22 July 2003, troops of the 101st Airborne 3/327th Infantry HQ and C-Company, aided by U.S. Special Forces, killed Hussein, his 14-year-old son Mustapha, and his older brother Uday, during a raid on a house in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Acting on a tip from Hussein's cousin, a special forces team attempted to apprehend everyone in the house at the time. After being fired on, the special forces moved back and called for backup. After Task Force 121 members were wounded, the 3/327th Infantry surrounded and fired on the house with a TOW missile, Mark 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher, M2 50 Caliber Machine guns and small arms. After about four hours of battle (the whole operation lasted 6 hours), the soldiers entered the house and found four dead, including the two brothers and their bodyguard. There were reports that Hussein's 14-year-old son Mustapha was the fourth body found. Brigadier general Frank Helmick, the assistant commander of 101st Airborne, commented that all occupants of the house died during the gun battle before U.S. troops were able to enter.

On 23 July 2003, the American command stated that it had conclusively identified two of the dead men as Saddam Hussein's sons from dental records. Because many Iraqis were skeptical of news of the deaths, the U.S. Government released photos of the corpses and allowed Iraq's governing council to identify the bodies despite the U.S. objection to the publication of American corpses on Arab television. Afterwards, their bodies were reconstructed by morticians. For example, Qusay's beard was shaved and gashes from the battle were removed. They also announced that the informant, possibly the owner of the house, would receive the combined $30 million reward on the pair. Hussein was the ace of clubs in the coalition forces' most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. His father was the ace of spades and his brother was the ace of hearts.

Hussein's service in the Iraqi Republican Guard began in 2000. It is believed that he became the supervisor of the Guard and the head of internal security forces (possibly the Special Security Organization (SSO)), and had authority over other Iraqi military units.

Iraqi dissidents claim that Hussein was responsible for the killing of many political activists. The Sunday Times reported that Hussein ordered the killing of Khalis Mohsen al-Tikriti, an engineer at the military industrialization organization, because he believed Mohsen was planning to leave Iraq. In 1998, Iraqi opposition groups accused Hussein of ordering the execution of thousands of political prisoners after hundreds of inmates were similarly executed to make room for new prisoners in crowded jails.

Hussein's older brother Uday was viewed as their father's heir-apparent until he sustained serious injuries in a 1996 assassination attempt. Unlike Uday, who was known for extravagance and erratic, violent behavior, Qusay kept a low profile so details regarding his actions and roles are obscure.

Hussein played a role in crushing the Shiite uprising in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War and is also thought to have masterminded the destruction of the southern marshes of Iraq. The wholesale destruction of these marshes ended a centuries-old way of life that prevailed among the Shiite Marsh Arabs who made the wetlands their home, and ruined the habitat for dozens of species of migratory birds. The Iraqi government stated that the action was intended to produce usable farmland, though a number of outsiders believe the destruction was aimed against the Marsh Arabs as retribution for their participation in the 1991 uprising.

Hussein was born in Baghdad around 1966 to Ba'athist revolutionary Saddam Hussein, who was in prison at the time, and his wife and cousin, Sajida Talfah. Some sources have said the birth year was 1967 while others have said 1968. As a child, his father would take him and his brother to watch executions. Unlike other members of his family and the government, little is known about Hussein, politically or personally. He married Sahar Maher Abd al-Rashid; the daughter of Maher Abd al-Rashid, a top ranking military official, and had three sons: Mustapha Qusay (born 3 January 1989 – 22 July 2003); Yahya Qusay (born 1991) and Yaqub Qusay (birthyear unknown).