AIBU to think Saddam Hussein contained evil?

[LeahSMS]

Did he contain evil? If he hadn’t of been killed would Isis have got this far?

The bare bones of it is that often, in countries with tribal/political/religious factions vying for power, it does take a dictator to keep the rivalries in check. Libya is another case in point. If the dictator is removed, that leaves a void, triggering the power struggles to see it filled, often by something as bad as, or worse than, the dictatorship. It's an insoluble problem which is invariably worsened by the West's interference imo.

"Contained evil"? What does that mean?

If it wasnt for oil we wouldn't give a toss about the middle east. I call it oil wars...

I think the op is referring to ISIS as evil, and questioning whether Saddam Hussain's dictatorship prevented it from flourishing i.e. contained it.

What Watcher said

Well what Watcher said is a guess and though I assume it’s a correct guess the OP makes no sense neither does the title. Also what, we should have left Saddam in power because... what?

Who are the "beneficiaries of WW2"?

He was pretty fucking evil himself, something a lot of people seem to forget due to the nature of his downfall.

the fact he favoured Sunnis and oppressed the majority Shia kept a sort of balance, when the Shias gained power after him it all went to shit. The coalition stayed in their bases at night whilst sectarian murder went unchecked. it could have been prevented but there was no plan

The 'oil' thing is tedious. the US is actually an exporter of Oil

“Contained” evil?

Do you mean that SH was evil OR that he kept evil doers in check in Iraq?

Yes to both, I think.

It’s no different to Lord of the Rings. Sometimes only monsters can beat other monsters.

The US may be a net exporter of oil. It also imports oil and it does import Iraqi oil, to the tune of about $10bn per annum. This will be done cheaply, to pay for ‘security’.

Yes he did.

I met an Iraqi Christian refugee. Their life changed totally with SH going.
SH was not a Christian, but respected the right to practice. The Christian community has now dwindled to almost no one.
This chap left Iraq in the clothes he stood up in the evening after his family was killed in a bomb placed in his house. He'd been receiving death threats for some time because he was a Christian.

Tbh I have heard from few people from ME that they think if he was still there ISIS wouldn't be a problem😮
Obviously this doesn't represent opinion of everyone from there.

Apologies perhaps it made no sense another user suggested would isis have grown to what it is now if he can still in power is correct

I think his death created a power vacuum and without his death the focus would still have been primarily on him, thus keeping ISIS in check to a degree.

Agree that sad to say, it does sometimes take a brutal dictator to keep order - through fear. It was IMO beyond naive to think that western style democracy, with nice orderly polling stations, would just happen as if it were Little Piddleton-on-the-Marsh.

SH was evil though. Years ago my dh did quite a bit of business in Iraq and heard some awful stories from people he gradually grew close to.

One man told him how a brother of only about 17, who'd been engaging in some mild political activity, had been hauled out of the house and shot dead in front of his entire family - who were forced to watch.

The police then made his parents pay for the bullet.

I don’t know if he did but it’s very disheartening to realise that where is always something than surpasses what we thought was the worse.

"the beneficiaries of WW2 are driving it all..."

Hmm, I smell something...

The beneficiaries of WW2 were mostly Japan and German I believe.

At least after the bombs were dropped. Economically I meant much later.

Yes I could smell the same thing with the 'beneficiaries' comment.

Some really nasty prejudiced comments on this thread

Sadam certainly was an evil bastard, but no worse than most of the other leaders in the middle east.