In the Middle East and Greece, the phrase “the mother of all” has been used to describe the biggest or ultimate example of something for over two thousand years.
But it wasn’t a commonly used phrase in the United States until Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein uttered his famous line “The mother of all battles” shortly before the First Gulf War in 1991.
A few months previously, in August 1990, Saddam had ordered Iraqi troops to invade Kuwait.
For the next five months, the United States and United Nations tried using sanctions and threats to get Saddam to withdraw, ultimately giving him a mid-January deadline.
Saddam was not impressed. On January 6, 1991, in a speech marking the 70th anniversary of the modern Iraqi Army, he boasted that Kuwait was eternally part of Iraq and predicted a long struggle in the Persian Gulf against the “tyranny represented by the United States.”
“The battle in which you are locked today is the mother of all battles,” Saddam told the people of Iraq. “Our rendezvous with victory is very near, God willing.”
News reports about this speech immediately made “the mother of all battles” a famous quote and soon gave rise to many variations.
On January 17, 1991, American military forces and troops from a coalition of other countries, launched Operation Desert Storm, with massive airstrikes on Iraq.
That day, Saddam claimed to be confident that Iraq would repel the coalition forces. Once again he used his newly famous phrase, boasting “The great showdown has begun; the mother of all battles is under way!”
Saddam went on to predict that “the dawn of victory nears as this great showdown begins...The evil and satanic intentions of the White House will be crushed and so will all the blasphemous and oppressive forces.”
Of course, Saddam was wrong. Iraq lost the First Gulf War, rather quickly.
However, President George H.W. Bush decided not to force Saddam out of power. That miscalculation later resulted in a second Gulf War, which started in 2003 and may or may not yet be ended (depending on what you call what U.S. forces are doing there now).
The Second Gulf War also resulted in Saddam’s capture and eventual execution by hanging.
But, in addition to being remembered as a ruthless dictator, he will continue to be noted as the father of all modern “mother of all” clichés.
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