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I despised Saddam’s police state, but the Islamic State would not exist under his rule
Washington Post ^ | Sept 21 2014 | Saif Al-Azzawi

Posted on 09/21/2014 8:46:09 PM PDT by WilliamIII

When people ask me how I feel about the latest events in Iraq, I tell them I feel sad. All these people — both Americans and Iraqis who have died since 2003 — died for nothing. And as the Islamic State insurgency unfolds, and as Iraq tries once again for a peaceful political transition, I’m mourning not just those who have died over the past decade, but for a country that I haven’t been able to recognize for a very long time.

I grew up in Baghdad in a middle-class family. My father served in the Iraqi Air Force and often traveled internationally; my mother was a math teacher; my siblings all attended college. I graduated from the most prestigious high school in Baghdad before getting my degree at pharmacy school.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: iraq; isis; saddam
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To: PieterCasparzen

Addiction to heroin only matters if you bother to take a shot.


21 posted on 09/21/2014 9:04:42 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Hey Obama: If Islamic State is not Islamic, then why did you give Osama Bin Laden a muslim funeral?)
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To: WilliamIII
Saddam was a Baathist Moose Limb who killed Sunni and Shia Moose Limbs in cold blood.

Sunnis are Moose Limbs who kill Shia and Baathist Moose Limbs in cold blood.

Shia are Moose Limbs who kill Sunni and Baathist Moose Limbs in cold blood.

What is the common denominator?

22 posted on 09/21/2014 9:10:10 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
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To: Gene Eric
Bush won the war. Obama lost the victory. Period!
23 posted on 09/21/2014 9:11:05 PM PDT by Chgogal (Obama "hung the SEALs out to dry, basically exposed them like a set of dog balls..." CMH)
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To: WilliamIII; All
Key phrase from the linked posting:

The notion of democracy is foreign to the Arab world.
I'm too tired to bounce that one around tonight...but others are on that tack.
24 posted on 09/21/2014 9:11:29 PM PDT by logi_cal869
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To: WilliamIII

Sadaam, The Mad Man of Tripoli and Mubarak kept peace in their part of the world.

I just can’t see what the advantage was in deposing them.

The results speak for themselves and I still can’t name the leader of any of these places


25 posted on 09/21/2014 9:12:29 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: WilliamIII
Here is Afghanistan in the 1950s-1960s:


26 posted on 09/21/2014 9:14:59 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; WilliamIII

“I despised Saddam’s police state, but the Islamic State would not exist under his rule”

But are those the only two options - Saddam or ISIS?

People get the government they deserve, and if those are the only choices they see, perhaps that’s what they deserve.

But there are other choices - though they may not come easy. As an example, the people of Egypt have managed to rid themselves of the brotherhood and Mubarek for something that’s perhaps better. I understand it remains to be seen, but at least they’re not being fatalistic. They’ve shed blood to get something they think is better.

At the end of the day, that is what it will take. The people themselves, not a foreign entity, have to fight for the government they want.


27 posted on 09/21/2014 9:16:12 PM PDT by aquila48
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To: a fool in paradise

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/30/afghan-opium-production-explodes-billions-spent-us-report


28 posted on 09/21/2014 9:17:36 PM PDT by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)
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To: aquila48

It’s the Middle East, Saddam was par for the course.


29 posted on 09/21/2014 9:20:31 PM PDT by dfwgator (The "Fire Muschamp" tagline is back!)
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To: WilliamIII
I grew up in Baghdad in a middle-class family. My father served in the Iraqi Air Force and often traveled internationally; my mother was a math teacher; my siblings all attended college. I graduated from the most prestigious high school in Baghdad before getting my degree at pharmacy school...sounds as though this guy and his family were part of the Iraqi elite under Saddam, probably not likely to have been among the tens of thousands he and his sons ran through the plastic shredders and rape rooms each year - he might have thought differently if he had been......
30 posted on 09/21/2014 9:20:39 PM PDT by Intolerant in NJ
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To: Intolerant in NJ

Saddam and his sons brutally killed thousands — of jihadis.


31 posted on 09/21/2014 9:21:47 PM PDT by WilliamIII
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To: aquila48

“The people” don’t decide squat.

People with real power put puppets in government to rule over the “sheeple”.

Saddam started his career as an assassin working for the CIA. He was always an asset of CIA/new world order. He was just disposed of in the second Iraq “war”.

The top of the power structure in the US is Rockefeller interests. That’s why Obama says things are “above his pay grade” - he’s absolutely correct in saying that. He’s just a minion, a face for the public. In 2016, there will just be a new puppet face, with a D or an R by its name.


32 posted on 09/21/2014 9:27:43 PM PDT by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)
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To: WilliamIII

I think Iran was modern and not radical muslim until Carter helped overthrow the Shaw.

This guy talks about how good it was in Iraq until Saddam invaded Kuwait. Saddam also used WOMD against the Kurds in Iraq. So it might have been good for some people, but not all. Saddam was Sunni.


33 posted on 09/21/2014 9:34:39 PM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: Vendome

Saddam was an enemy of the US who had a relatively stable regime, and was consequently a threat to the US. He regularly shot down US aircraft, and had acquired WMDs. Bush’s fault was trying to install a weak democracy in Iraq, which is now a puppet of Iran; Saddam’s government was the correct template, we just needed the leader to be pro-America.

While ISIS is certainly a threat, it would not have happened if the Iraqi region had a dictator who would crush that insurgency. Soetoro’s deliberate funding of ISIS is also a big problem. So the blame can fall on two Presidents, Bush for overestimating Iraqi competence and Soetoro for deliberately wanting ISIS to gain power, but disposing of Saddam was not a mistake.


34 posted on 09/21/2014 9:36:20 PM PDT by Objective Scrutator (All liberals are criminals, and all criminals are liberals)
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To: dfwgator

So was Mubarek, or Mursi... they’re gone.

I don’t know yet if al-Sisi is going to be any better, but so far he’s heading in the right direction.

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21618908-general-has-good-first-100-daysat-cost-political-freedom-al-sisi


35 posted on 09/21/2014 9:38:52 PM PDT by aquila48
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To: WilliamIII

I don’t believe the mostly-Sunni ISIS would be bothering Sunni Saddam all that much, no.


36 posted on 09/21/2014 9:39:14 PM PDT by Bettyprob
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To: Objective Scrutator
Our problem has been getting into “nation building” after we slam them...when we should just get out.

Trying to change cultures and their people is not the way to go....they will and do resist....you will not change the muslim way of thinking..in fact just the opposite...you'll antagonize them....

They'll take all the “help” you offer them...(it's in their ideology)...and then turn against you...just exactly as they do with their own people.

37 posted on 09/21/2014 9:45:51 PM PDT by caww
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To: PieterCasparzen

“Saddam started his career as an assassin working for the CIA. He was always an asset of CIA/new world order. He was just disposed of in the second Iraq “war”.”

And your source for this is what?


38 posted on 09/21/2014 9:47:26 PM PDT by Pelham (California, what happens when you won't deport illegals)
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To: Pelham

The New York Times.


39 posted on 09/21/2014 9:50:59 PM PDT by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)
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To: Pelham; PieterCasparzen

>> “And your source for this is what? <<

.
How about good old common sense?

He was a puppet.

When the puppet got big ideas, he was snuffed.


40 posted on 09/21/2014 9:52:23 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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