[justa-hairyape]

If Saddam was left in power, there would have been a war between Iraq and Syria. Saddam was the old ISIS without all that Islamic trapping.

[Theoria]

Saddam as a whole, was a stabilizer. He kept Iran and Syria in check. Once he was taken out, this is the obvious result. The ME and Iraq has never been kept in check unless with mass slaughter. War works, yet we don't do that these days.