Tariq Aziz

Born 1936

Tell Kaif, Iraq

Iraqi foreign minister during the 1991 Persian Gulf War

"The Kuwaitis acted in an arrogant, irresponsible, provocative manner and that led to the deterioration of the situation."

Tariq Aziz in a interview for "Frontline."

Tariq Aziz was one of the most recognizable officials in the Iraqi government. He served as a top advisor to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for more than twenty years. During this time, he often appeared in the media and met with world leaders to explain Iraq's policies and negotiate political deals. As Iraq's foreign minister during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Aziz defended Hussein's decision to invade Kuwait. He blamed the war on the United States, claiming that the U.S. government and its allies were determined to destroy Iraq.

After the 1991 war ended, Aziz remained a top advisor to Hussein as the deputy prime minister of Iraq. As the 2003 Iraq War approached, Aziz repeatedly insisted that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction. As a high-ranking member of the Iraqi government, he was included among the fifty-five "most wanted" officials following the fall of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. He surrendered to U.S. forces in late April 2003.

Rises through the ranks of the Baath Party

Tariq Aziz was born in 1936 in Tell Kaif, a village near the city of Mosul in northern Iraq. His father worked as a waiter in a restaurant. Aziz's family was Chaldean, meaning that they were part of the small minority of Arabs who practiced Christianity. About 95 percent of Iraq's population was Muslim, meaning that they practiced the Islamic religion. Aziz's name at birth was Mikhayl Yuhanna, but he changed it to Tariq Aziz, which means "glorious past" in Arabic, to hide his Catholic background.

Aziz received a solid education at schools in Baghdad. He earned a degree in English literature from the Baghdad College of Fine Arts. After working for a few years as a teacher, he became a journalist. He took a job on the staff of an Iraqi newspaper called Al-jumhuriyah (The Republic) in 1958. Over the next ten years he rose to the position of editor in chief of the paper.

It also was in the late 1950s that Aziz joined the Baath Arab Socialist Party. Baathism was a radical political movement that aimed to unite the Arab world and create one powerful Arab state. The Iraqi Baath Party was a small, disorganized splinter group of this larger movement. It was made up primarily of violent and ruthless men who were willing to do anything to take control of the government.

Aziz joined the Baath Party because he opposed Iraq's leader, King Faisal II, who had been placed in power by British authorities when Iraq was created following World War I (1914–18). "Most of the young people of my generation were not satisfied with the current situation at that time—the British colonial influence on Iraq, the backwardness of our country," he explained in an interview for "Frontline." "When I learned about the Arab Socialist Party, I felt from the very beginning that that's the best choice. It seeks independence and Arab unity."

In 1963 the Baath Party overthrew the Iraqi government. But the Baathists held on to power for less than a year before they were overthrown by the Iraqi military. At this point the Baath Party splintered into factions, and Aziz aligned himself with a group of rebels that included future Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. When the Baathists returned to power in 1968, Hussein's cousin Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr became president of Iraq and Hussein became the head of the government's internal security. Aziz accepted a position as editor of the Baath Party journal, Al-thawra (The Revolution).

Aziz gradually rose through the ranks of the Baath Party over the years. In 1974 he was appointed minister of information in Bakr's government, and in 1977 he became a member of the powerful Revolutionary Command Council. When Hussein became president of Iraq in 1979, Aziz was named deputy prime minister. Throughout his rule, Hussein often used violence to eliminate his political opponents and ensure that he would remain in power.

Despite such violence, Aziz claimed that Hussein's government had ambitious goals of turning Iraq into a modern nation for the benefit of the Iraqi people. "Our ambition was to turn Iraq into a very, very developed country, with industry, services, technology, and education," he recalled in the "Frontline" interview. "We genuinely believe that we deserve that, and believe that we can do that. We have the talent as a nation to be a developed country."

Speaks for Iraq on the world stage

In 1982 Aziz added foreign minister to his many duties in Iraq's government. He served as one of Hussein's top advisors on matters of foreign policy. Thanks to his excellent command of English, he also became the main international spokesman for the Iraqi government. He frequently appeared in the media to explain Iraq's policies to the world. He also played the role of a diplomat at key times in Iraq's history, working to negotiate solutions to political problems between Iraq and other nations.

Given his Chaldean background, some people were surprised that Aziz rose to such an important position in Iraq's government. He was the only Christian member of Hussein's administration, which was made up primarily of Sunni Muslims. But other people noted that Aziz's religious background may have helped him become such a valuable advisor to Hussein. As a Christian, Aziz could count very few supporters among the population of Iraq and thus posed no threat to Hussein's rule. This may have made Hussein feel more comfortable about placing Aziz in positions of authority.

In 1980 Iraq became involved in a bitter war against Iran, its neighbor to the east. Iran was a non-Arab state that had recently been torn apart by revolution. A group of Islamic fundamentalists (people who adhere strictly to the principles of the Islamic religion) under a religious leader called the Ayatollah Khomeini had overthrown the government. Khomeini was a Shiite Muslim and an outspoken opponent of Hussein and his Sunni Muslim government. Hussein claimed that he went to war with Iran in order to defend the Arab world against the spread of Islamic fundamentalism.

Aziz emerged as the main Iraqi spokesman on the world stage during the Iran-Iraq War. In fact, his position was so prominent that he became the target of an assassination attempt by Iranian radicals in 1984. The Iranians set off a bomb in Baghdad that killed seven people, but Aziz survived the attack. Later that year Aziz met with U.S. President Ronald Reagan. He convinced the American leader to reestablish diplomatic relations with Iraq and to provide military assistance in its war against Iran. Aziz also negotiated with France to buy fighter planes and established an economic alliance with the former Soviet Union.

Defends Iraq's invasion of Kuwait

In 1988 Aziz traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to negotiate a treaty to end the Iran-Iraq War. Though the war had left Hussein with a tough, battle-hardened military, the eight-year conflict also left the Iraqi economy in ruins. In fact, by the time the war ended Iraq owed $80 billion to other countries. Hussein's government desperately needed money to help the country recover from the effects of the war.

In Aziz's view, American leaders began to view Iraq as a threat following its victory in the war with Iran. He claimed that the United States resented Iraq's military and political power and worried that it might cause instability in the Middle East. "The United States didn't want Iraq to win that war [against Iran], but it didn't want Iraq to lose it, because Iraq losing the war was a great setback to their allies in the region," he stated in the "Frontline" interview.

As time passed and Iraq's economic problems continued, Hussein began making threatening statements toward his neighbors in the Middle East. In July 1990, for example, he threatened to use force against any Middle Eastern country that pumped excess oil. Many countries in the Middle East contain some of the world's largest underground oil reserves. These countries make money by pumping and exporting oil (selling it to other countries around the world). In 1960 the world's major oil-producing countries formed the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) in order to coordinate their efforts. OPEC sets limits, or quotas, on the amount of oil its members pump each year in order to ensure stable oil prices in world markets.

Hussein's threat was clearly aimed at Kuwait, which had been pumping more oil than was allowed under OPEC agreements. Kuwait's actions contributed to a decline in oil prices from $20.50 per barrel in early 1990 to $13.60 per barrel in July. Every dollar drop in the price per barrel of oil cost Iraq an estimated $1 billion per year. Hussein thus blamed Kuwait for making Iraq's financial problems worse. "The Kuwaitis started to dump oil," Aziz explained in the "Frontline" interview. "Of course, Iraq was concerned, because that was going to impoverish us. It was going to undermine our economy. Because we came fresh from the war, we had a lot of loans to pay, and we needed some money for our people."

Aziz met with Kuwaiti government officials in an attempt to convince them to stop pumping excess oil. "We did our best to warn them in a friendly, brotherly, responsible manner that they were hurting Iraq very badly and we wanted them to stop," he recalled. "[But] the Kuwaitis acted in an arrogant, irresponsible, provocative manner and that led to the deterioration of the situation." Aziz and other members of Hussein's government came to believe that Kuwait and the United States were working together to destroy Iraq. "We felt there was a plan to undermine Iraq—to conspire against Iraq—because if you break the Iraqi economy at that time, it will end Iraq," he told "Frontline."

In August 1990 the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait. The invasion set in motion a series of events that ultimately led to the Persian Gulf War. Countries around the world condemned the invasion and demanded that Hussein immediately withdraw his troops from Kuwait. Many of these countries then began sending military forces to the Persian Gulf region as part of a U.S.-led coalition against Iraq. In November 1990, the United Nations (UN) Security Council established a deadline of January 15, 1991, for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait or face war.

Throughout the months between Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the start of the Persian Gulf War, Aziz frequently appeared in the media to explain the Iraqi side of the situation. He claimed that the invasion was a defensive action taken to protect Iraq from Kuwait's attacks on the Iraqi economy. Aziz also made a round of visits to foreign capitals to try to gather support for a diplomatic solution. A few days before the UN deadline, Aziz met with U.S. Secretary of State James Baker (see entry). The two men talked for several hours but failed to reach any agreement. During the meeting, Aziz refused to accept a letter for Saddam Hussein (see entry) from U.S. President George H. W. Bush (see entry). After reading the letter, he told Baker that it contained threats rather than the type of respectful correspondence that should take place between two heads of state.

Argues over UN weapons inspectors

When Iraq failed to withdraw its troops from Kuwait by the UN deadline, the U.S.-led coalition launched a war. After six weeks of devastating air strikes against military targets in Iraq, coalition ground troops liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation on February 27. The Persian Gulf War ended in a lopsided defeat for Iraq. As part of the agreement that officially ended the war, Iraq agreed to destroy or remove all of its biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. Hussein also agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors to enter the country in order to monitor its progress.

After the Persian Gulf War ended, Aziz gave up his post as foreign minister but kept his title as deputy prime minister of Iraq. As the years passed, Iraq consistently failed to cooperate with the UN weapons inspectors. In fact, Hussein kicked the inspectors out of Iraq in 1998. Aziz complained about the inspection process during several public appearances. He claimed that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction. He said that the UN inspectors refused to acknowledge this fact due to pressure from the United States. "Since the first week or month in 1992, until they withdrew from Iraq in 1998, [the inspectors] didn't find in Iraq a gallon of chemicals or biological weapons, or a functional missile, which means there was nothing of the sort. All were destroyed," he stated in the "Frontline" interview. "But they did not report this major fact to the UN Security Council."

In 2002 U.S. President George W. Bush (son of the former president who had held office during the 1991 Persian Gulf War; see entry) told the United Nations that Iraq posed a significant threat to world security. He claimed that Hussein still possessed weapons of mass destruction and could provide such weapons to terrorists. Although Iraq allowed the UN inspectors to return in late 2002, Bush was not satisfied and threatened to take military action. Aziz continued to insist that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction. He claimed that the United States was determined to invade Iraq in order to control the region's oil reserves. In an effort to increase international opposition to a U.S.-led military invasion, he traveled to Rome to meet with Pope John Paul II. "The Holy Father and the Vatican and the leaders in God—Muslims and Christians—are trying their best to stop this aggression," he stated, as quoted by CNN.com.

After various diplomatic efforts failed to resolve the crisis, the United States launched another war against Iraq in March 2003. Aziz remained defiant, proclaiming that he would rather die than be taken into U.S. custody. In the early days of the war, rumors said that Aziz had been killed or had fled the country. But on April 1 Aziz appeared on Iraqi television to prove that the rumors were false. Following the fall of Baghdad, Aziz's home was looted by angry Iraqi citizens. In late April he began suffering from health problems and decided to negotiate his surrender to U.S. forces. As number forty-three on the coalition's list of the fifty-five "most wanted" Iraqi officials, Aziz was expected to provide valuable information about Iraq's financial resources and the whereabouts of other Iraqi leaders. When Hussein was captured in late December, Aziz was called in to verify the Iraqi leader's identity.

Where to Learn More

"Family Says Aziz Surrendered after Hiding at Relative's House." CNN.com, April 25, 2003. Available online at http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/25/sprj.irq.aziz.custody/index.html (accessed on April 2, 2004).

"Frontline Interview: Tariq Aziz." PBS. Available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/interviews/aziz.html (accessed on April 2, 2004).

"Profile: Tariq Aziz." BBC News. Available online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/2266978.stm (last accessed on April 2, 2004).

"Tariq Aziz Biography." Iraqi News. Available online at http://www.iraqinews.com/people_aziz.shtml (accessed on April 2, 2004).

"Tariq Mikhayl Aziz." Biography Resource Center Online. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2002.