How many people did saddam hussein kill during his reign?

Answer 1

10% of what Bush killed during his reign.

Answer 2

It is difficult to collect a complete set of numbers... esp since in so many cases few if any lived to tell. But in some cases, such as the mass graves that have been partially exhumed we can at least set a MINIMUM number.

But to give you a a start here is one set frrom Human Rights Watch (note some of these numbers are a little old -- the mass graves number below was as of early 2004, and has since increased):

Disappeared' in the 1970s in Iraq: 290,000
The number of Kurds dead in 1988 genocide campaign: 100,000 (182,000 by another estimate)
Unaccounted for Marsh Arabs in 1980's in Iraq: 50,000 - 70,000
Barzani males taken from resettlement camps in 1983: 8,000
Feyli Kurdish males deported to Iran in the 1980's: 10,000 or more
Estimated number of Kurds killed from chemical weapons attacks: 5,000
Kuwaitis disappeared and missing after invasion: 600

Mass grave sites found: 53
Number of dead in mass grave sites: 400,000

Estimated Iraqi dead in Iran-Iraq war: 450,000-950,000 (the lowest estimate is 200,000, and no one knows for sure)

Consider also the number of children starved by the "Oil for Food" scandal (money Hussein was given for oil that was supposed to go to feed children, to alleviate affects of international sanctions, but which he diverted to his own lavish spending and bribes of foreign companies and government agents). This may add several hundred thousand more.

Check out these and other numbers, with some explanation of the different WAYS these folks were killed, at the following links (just a start):
http://ajacksonian.blogspot.com/2006/01/running-with-numbers-and-other.html
http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hussein.html
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=July&x=200407211913032XTkcolluB0.2284967
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2006/12/death-of-butcher-saddam-husseins-final.html
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.aspx?GUID={0F2658E9-6A5E-45E9-ACE5-982C0CA355A1}