The first ring which is violence against neighbors includes murderers and robbers. Hussein, without a doubt, fits in here very well. Hussein suits this circle because he was a killer of mass proportions, or as Dante would’ve called him a ‘satan himself in disguise.’ He committed genocide against his own people. He is the reason that "his" country has suffered the way it did for so long. He is a murderer and a thief, who was willing to kill anyone that tried to get in his way. He used poison gas many years ago to kill Kurds in Iraq. He was ruthless in suppressing anyone against his rule. He crushed the Kurdish and Shia rebellions after the 1991 Gulf War. He used weapons of mass destruction, in this case chemical weapons in the form of poison gas, not once but twice. He used it in the Iran/Iraq war and he used it against the Kurdish minority in northern Iraq. And he also used to use human targets to test weapons, or when his army would parade for him. Due to all of these sins that he committed, he adequately fits in the first ring in circle 7.
The punishment for Hussein, according to Dante, would’ve have been that Hussein should’ve been submerged in the river of blood. This makes sense because since he took away thousands of innocent lives and also shed their blood, now he himself would be submerged in blood forever.
Hussein also fits in the third ring of circle 7 which is violence against God. Hussein thought and said that he followed his religion and obeyed God, but in reality he never did. People call him an extremist, but to me, he didn’t even belong in this religion (Islam). Usually the extremists in Islam, interpret the word ‘jihad’ wrongly, but Hussein was just completely ignorant and used religion as his excuse for his killings. By doing this, he not only spoilt his name, but the name of Islam and the all the Muslims in the world. Because of him now, whenever the word ‘terrorism’ is heard, the first thing that comes in most minds is ‘Islam.’
According to Dante, Hussein should’ve been stretched supine and naked upon the ground under the burning rain. Hussein should be in circle 7 and be punished in both the first and the third rings for his atrocious sins.
