{"id":71197,"date":"2023-02-24T20:02:13","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T20:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:08:09","slug":"how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/","title":{"rendered":"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For children and adults alike, Star Wars represented the defining film of a generation \u2014 but most children didn\u2019t grow up to lead a paramilitary force as the son of a brutal authoritarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From 1995 until his death in Mosul in 2003, Uday Hussein, the erratic eldest son of the country\u2019s former president, led the paramilitary group Fedayeen Saddam, or \u201cSaddam\u2019s Men of Sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saddam admired science fiction movies like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d but it was Uday who took his admiration of the series to the extreme, infusing elements of the films\u2019 characters into the Fedayeen\u2019s uniforms. Made up of the elder Hussein\u2019s most loyal supporters, the roughly 40,000-strong group adopted one prominent look from the series\u2019 most notable villain \u2014 Darth Vader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHelmets were made of black fibre-glass with a deep neck &amp; ear guard, culminating to a pronounced point to the centre of the peak,\u201d according to a description from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iwm.org.uk\/collections\/item\/object\/30102743\" target=\"_blank\">Imperial War Museums<\/a>. \u201cAbove the right side is fitted a black rubber oval (fitted upside down in this case) showing a silhouette of Saddam Hussein wearing his military style beret.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"672\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP03041402096.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-106144\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP03041402096.jpg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP03041402096.jpg.jpg?resize=300,197 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP03041402096.jpg.jpg?resize=768,504 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. troops walk by scattered helmets and ammunition at the former Fedayeen Saddam headquarters in Kut in April 2003. (Wally Santana\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also on the rubber oval was Arabic writing that translated to \u201cThe Lord, The Homeland, The Leader.\u201d Regardless of appearance, the helmet offered virtually no ballistic value, a lack of protection Darth Vader would no doubt find disturbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The helmets were further described as having an \u201cimpression of being sinister\u201d to the civilian population, an appearance that was reflected in the group\u2019s ruthless attacks on political opponents and extrajudicial killings, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Uday also employed the group to carry out the beheadings of approximately 200 women as part of an anti-prostitution campaign, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/2001-2009.state.gov\/g\/wi\/rls\/18877.htm\" target=\"_blank\">State Department report<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the end, the group\u2019s guerrilla attacks on coalition forces following the 2003 invasion may have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/backgrounder\/iraq-what-fedayeen-saddam#chapter-title-0-5\" target=\"_blank\">surprised military leaders<\/a> and policy makers in Washington, but the Fedayeen Saddam\u2019s efforts would ultimately not prevent the unit\u2019s dissolution. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saddam admired science fiction movies like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d but it was Uday who took his admiration of the series to the extreme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":106142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-post-observation-post","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,24,89,70,16,26,17,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3373],"class_list":["post-71197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-military-culture","category-news","category-newsletters","category-off-duty","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6CPMHEQRPBDUXHLGCGHXEOYYJA","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"observation-post","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Saddam admired science fiction movies like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d but it was Uday who took his admiration of the series to the extreme.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Saddam admired science fiction movies like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d but it was Uday who took his admiration of the series to the extreme.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Air Force TImes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-24T20:02:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T15:08:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zamone Perez\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zamone Perez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2023-02-24T20:02:13+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T15:08:09+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 357,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-474072926.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"Military Culture\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Off Duty\",\n\t                \"Your Air Force\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq - Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-474072926.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2023-02-24T20:02:13+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T15:08:09+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Saddam admired science fiction movies like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d but it was Uday who took his admiration of the series to the extreme.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-474072926.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/GettyImages-474072926.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/24\\\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Off Duty\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"off-duty\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Military Culture\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/off-duty\\\/military-culture\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"military-culture\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 4,\n\t                    \"name\": \"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Air Force TImes\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq - Air Force TImes","description":"Saddam admired science fiction movies like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d but it was Uday who took his admiration of the series to the extreme.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq","og_description":"Saddam admired science fiction movies like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d but it was Uday who took his admiration of the series to the extreme.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/","og_site_name":"Air Force TImes","article_published_time":"2023-02-24T20:02:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T15:08:09+00:00","author":"Zamone Perez","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zamone Perez","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq","datePublished":"2023-02-24T20:02:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T15:08:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/"},"wordCount":357,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-474072926.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Home","Middle Column","Military Culture","News","Newsletters","Off Duty","Your Air Force"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/","name":"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq - Air Force TImes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-474072926.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-24T20:02:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T15:08:09+00:00","description":"Saddam admired science fiction movies like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d but it was Uday who took his admiration of the series to the extreme.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-474072926.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-474072926.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2023\/02\/24\/how-star-wars-influenced-uday-husseins-paramilitary-unit-in-iraq\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Off Duty","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/","ad_zone":"off-duty"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Military Culture","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/","ad_zone":"military-culture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"How Star Wars influenced Uday Hussein\u2019s paramilitary unit in Iraq"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","name":"Air Force TImes","description":"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization","name":"Air Force TImes","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","caption":"Air Force TImes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Air Force TImes","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-474072926.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71206,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71197\/revisions\/71206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71197"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=71197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}