These were secret police executions out in the desert, tortures in prisons, etc.
I'm talking about sectarian wars, blowing up businesses and civilians every day and the lawlessness that we see and hear every hour.
Yes CNN played nice with Saddam but I don't think that the viciousness we see now wouldn't have leaked to the Internet through the Iranians and Turks.
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I guess you measure "stability" not in how many people die, but how they are killed.