--- title: "Why Saddam Hussein’s Fedayeen troops wore Darth Vader helmets" description: "The Fedayeen Saddam were the regime's shakedown artists. They had no heavy weapons. Just fanatical loyalty and absurd helmets. " date: "2021-10-17" modified: "2026-05-12" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/fedayeen-darth-vader-helmets/" categories: - "History" - "Iraq War" - "War History" tags: - "Iraq War" --- # Why Saddam Hussein’s Fedayeen troops wore Darth Vader helmets ![]() The Fedayeen Saddam were loyal to one man: Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Established in 1995, the Fedayeen Saddam was an irregular unit designed to protect the Ba'athist regime and the Iraqi president himself. Other Middle Eastern personalities had their so-called "Fedayeen" forces, notably Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, but neither of those had the Sci-fi panache of the Fedayeen Saddam. **Also Read: [Why Saddam Hussein buried Iraq’s air force in the desert]()** As Saddam's personal guard and army, the Fedayeen was a significant force of 30-40,000 troops (approximately the size of an American corps) all wearing a completely black combat uniform, black ski masks, and some familiar-looking helmets. ![darth vader helmet]() *... familiar to fans of the original "Star Wars" trilogy, anyway. (Imperial War Museum)* Yes, Saddam's Fedayeen, Arabic for "Men of Sacrifice," wore enormous Darth Vader helmets. Their commander, Hussein's son Uday, was a huge Star Wars fan. The above picture is [an actual example from the Imperial War Museum]() in London. While this may look ridiculously absurd to Western eyes, the shape of the helmet carried all the evil weight of Darth Vader's helmet in the eyes of the Iraqi people—including its political elite. They were the regime's enforcers, recruited from Saddam Hussein's home region around Tikrit, and reported directly to the presidential palace, over the heads of the regular army. ![fedayeen saddam wearing Darth Vader helmets]() *Imagine going to war wearing that and not being a Sith lord.* Members were recruited into the Fedayeen Saddam as young as age 16. They received [no specialty training or heavy weapons]() and were not members of the regular Iraqi military. So, as awesome as watching a fighting Darth Vader in "Rogue One" was, their Iraqi doppelgängers were not so awesome. Still, they were fanatically loyal to Saddam Hussein, despite essentially being shakedown artists and cannon fodder. From its inception, members of the Fedayeen Saddam were intended to carry out the president's dirty work, and even the dirty work of his extended family. Its troops were recruited from the stocks of neighborhood toughs and bullies and operated outside of regular Iraqi law, so they had no problem with executing criminals and dissenters in their own homes. ![Darth Vader helmets worn by Fedayeen Saddam]() *I hope it's 102 degrees in this photo.* The reality of life in the Fedayeen was that they were mainly used to stop smuggling in Iraq, and then [later became the smugglers](), extortionists, torturers, and whatever else the Husseins had them do. It was all good as long as they didn't shake down government officials. Though U.S. military planners knew about the existence of the Fedayeen Saddam before the 2003 invasion, they weren't sure what the Iraqi military would use them for once the shooting started. The best estimate was that they would be used as [guerrilla fighters behind U.S. lines](), which is what generally happened in urban areas. It was the Fedayeen Saddam, after all, who ambushed U.S. Marines in Nasiriyah under a flag of surrender in 2003. Even after the regular army and Republican Guard forces crumbled away, the Fedayeen Saddam harassed U.S. troops through April 2003. Uday and Qusay famously [met their gruesome end]() with a few members of the Fedayeen Saddam that same year. ![Darth Vader helmets worn by Fedayeen]() *That helmet serves no other purpose than to make this unintentionally hilarious.* ### Don’t Miss the Best of We Are The Mighty **• [Sailors relive the 1980s ‘Tanker War’ amid today’s Hormuz Crisis]()** **• [Operation Tapeworm: How the US Army’s most elite hunted down Saddam’s sons]()** **•** [**21 facts about the First Gulf War**]() ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()