“Saddam was a crook and a dictator, but he was no madman, and he kept order in his country.” How do you know that? Were there independent media reports from Fallujah about how safe it was in the 90’s? Have you seen Baghdad police records documenting crime rates? Or do you think that if the tv news and western newspapers didn’t tell you about something, it must not be happening?
That’s no secret, and the “before” and “after” 2003 invasion status is well known.
BEFORE. Corrupt and crooked dictatorship in Iraq. Life was made difficult b/c of the UN-imposed sanctions. These sanctions were imposed b/c of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, so the Iraqis had no one to blame but themselves. No freedom of speech nor free press. Dissidents were harassed, jailed, or worse. UN arm inspectors frequently visited the country to search for biological or nuclear weapons, but never left satisfied b/c the iraqis always pretended to hide something. There was little crime in this police state that controlled everything, but people had running water, electricity, etc. Was I happy with this situation? Of course not, I think that only a full democratic system is acceptable. But this doesn’t mean that we are entitled to impose democracy on them at gun point.
AFTER. Widespread chaos and violence. Running water and electricty infrastructure were destroyed. The National Museum, that housed objects dating back 4,000 and 5,000 years, remnants of the earliest civilizations on earth, were looted in front of the US forces who didn’t care. Shiite and Sunni, who had some degree of coexistence and intermarriage, were suddenly fighting each other, blowing up mosques and people. The fact that the 2003 invasion had been based on lies has only served to recruit fanatics for al-qaeda who now flock to Iraq, which has become an ideal training ground for them. Even today, over 40 months after the invasion, the number of weekly deaths is shockingly high. In addition to sectarian violence among iraqis, and resistance against coallition forces, there is widespread organized crime.
All this is well known. I don’t see how you can suggest that Iraq today is no worse than before the invasion. Saddam, a despicable dictator, was more like a mafia boss than the madman that the dubya-cheney-rumsfeld axis wanted us to believe. He wasn’t completely open with the UN arms inspectors b/c he wanted to keep the Iranians (his enemies) guessing.
Now, to finish, how did Saddam get to achieve and stay in power for so long? After the Iranian revolution in 1979 (which brought down the anti-communist and US friend, the Shah), the Reagan administration thought it would be a good idea to support him to contain Iran. At the same time, in Soviet-invaded Afaganistan, the Reagan people thought it would be a great idea to fund and arm fanatics like Bin Laden to fight the communists. It’s interesting to see how us, in the name of fighting communism, have helped create something infinitely worse.
One lesson is that we should never let our leaders compromise with evil people abroad (even if they are enemies of our enemies). Another lesson is that we shouldn’t let our foreign policy be hijacked by special-interest groups at home.
