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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: WilliamIII

Brutal despots are the only kind of ruler that can maintain control where ever islam exists. It’s shariaa compliant!


61 posted on 09/21/2014 11:24:49 PM PDT by rawcatslyentist (Jeremiah 50:32 "The arrogant one will stumble and fall ; / ?)
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To: Objective Scrutator
>"had acquired WMDs"

from Rumsfeld. We knew exactly what and how much he had because we sold it to him in the first place. Of course this ditnt fit the nwo agitprop so it never gets reported.

62 posted on 09/21/2014 11:30:53 PM PDT by rawcatslyentist (Jeremiah 50:32 "The arrogant one will stumble and fall ; / ?)
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To: Organic Panic
>"Just everyone getting their Bush’s fault to take all blame from King Putt I."

It undeniably IS Bush's fault!

W had the time, resources, and STANDING, to expose Hussein (Soebakara) as the ineligible illegal alien he is, and did NOTHING!

W FAILED to Uphold, Protect, and Defend, the Constitution from a Foreign enemy, masquerading as a US citizen!

If it's NOT Bush's fault, who's fault is it for W forsaking his oath?

63 posted on 09/21/2014 11:37:59 PM PDT by rawcatslyentist (Jeremiah 50:32 "The arrogant one will stumble and fall ; / ?)
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To: a fool in paradise

You are right, but I think it was the deaths of American soldiers which turned people against the war, not panties on the head.


64 posted on 09/21/2014 11:38:26 PM PDT by PghBaldy (12/14 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15 - 1030am - Obama's advance team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: WilliamIII

I was told exactly this by an Iraqi Christian pal yesterday


65 posted on 09/21/2014 11:44:01 PM PDT by wardaddy (Ferguson MO...but i thought blacks went north to escape the racism of mean ol southerners)
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To: PieterCasparzen

“He was an assassin by 1958, and he was working for the CIA by 1962-3.”

So who did “CIA assassin” Saddam Hussein kill in 1958? The natural target would have to be Abd al-Karim Qasim who somehow managed to live unscathed until 1963.

You have been conflating the coup of 1958 and that of 1963 in order to create the impression that the CIA hired Saddam Hussein to be an assassin. Your own source makes no mention of CIA involvement with the Ba’ath party prior to 1963.

The Ba’ath party did stage the coup in 1963 and they did execute Qasim/Kessem, but since they broadcast his execution and there’s no indication that Saddam was the shooter that isn’t going to help your story.

But your story runs into more trouble because after staging the coup the Baath party couldn’t gain control of Iraq. The military and the Arab Socialist Union ran it until 1968.


66 posted on 09/22/2014 1:29:03 AM PDT by Pelham (California, what happens when you won't deport illegals)
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To: Vince Ferrer

Brought to you by islam. Miserable, satanic death cult.


67 posted on 09/22/2014 2:23:02 AM PDT by ScottinVA (If it doesn't include border security, it isn't "reform." It's called "amnesty.")
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To: wardaddy

Christians were far better off during Saddam’s regime. They didn’t experience the persecution that they did after the fall of the Ba’athists.


68 posted on 09/22/2014 2:26:07 AM PDT by ScottinVA (If it doesn't include border security, it isn't "reform." It's called "amnesty.")
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To: WilliamIII

Yes. Saddam kept the savages down, under his brutal rule. Giving them “democracy” was a farce. Savages don’t know how to use democracy. They need a brutal dictator.


69 posted on 09/22/2014 4:03:23 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible. Complicit in the destruction of this country.)
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To: WilliamIII
...but for a country that I haven’t been able to recognize for a very long time.

I know how you feel, Saif.

70 posted on 09/22/2014 4:24:34 AM PDT by TangoLimaSierra (To win the country back, we need to be as mean as the libs say we are.)
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To: Arthur McGowan; 2ndDivisionVet
Exactly. As well, also from the link:

What’s happening in Iraq today is merely a continuation of the failure of democracy. And a failure of the United States to understand the psyche of Iraqis.

That's a telling statement. The fact is, some people have an innate desire 'to be led'.

Furthermore, the linked article irks me: Had the colonists (US) shown as much cowardice as the Iraqis that abandoned their country and continue to 'give up', this would be a much different conversation.

71 posted on 09/22/2014 4:49:23 AM PDT by logi_cal869
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To: logi_cal869
The notion of democracy is foreign to the Arab world.

The problem isn't "Arab," it's "Muslim". Islam as a political ideology will never produce a free country. The Muslim-majority countries that have been even a little bit free have all been secular; they're free in spite of Islam, not because of it.

72 posted on 09/22/2014 5:10:44 AM PDT by Campion
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To: WilliamIII

Why were these terrorists camps growing in Iraq prior to Bush’s invasion then? People forget so quickly.


73 posted on 09/22/2014 5:33:55 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Pelham

he heard it in the souk from a group of men drinking sweet mint tea

It is true, by the beard of the prophet!

sarc


74 posted on 09/22/2014 5:58:23 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
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To: Caipirabob

and what if Saddam’s intelligence service had managed to pull off its assassination of Bush 41 (along with other members of the Bush family including Barbara Bush and Laura Bush who were traveling with him)

or are former US presidents throwaways to be assassinated by foreign dictators??


75 posted on 09/22/2014 6:02:59 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
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To: Campion

I read the use of the word ‘arab’ as a pseudonym for ‘muslim’. The author almost paints himself secular, but states he never heard a ‘call to prayer’ until 1990. That’s a curious statement, given his apparent anger at the ‘witch hunt’ against the Sunnis running the country.

The article was intended to deflect blame from the Puppet for the Iraq situation (obviously, though much of what’s written in that respect is accurate). I find the author inconsistent and, frankly, dishonest about himself. Whether it was ‘on edit’ or not, he can’t even bring himself to criticize Islam (I believe the article was, in fact, heavily edited).

Regardless, his birth country is disintegrating, he’s here (not at home fighting) whining about it in a liberal rag and being used to support the Rats. He never identifies why he really left Iraq. I find him truly pathetic.


76 posted on 09/22/2014 6:27:13 AM PDT by logi_cal869
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To: PghBaldy
More US losses occurred in Afghanistan under President Obaama than President Bush and we didn't see a huge outcry "against the war". The so-called peace movement/anti-war movement was a lie. Those libtards were heavily communist and are decidedly PRO-Palestinian war.

Innocent housewives and college kids may have gotten caught up with the anti-war movement over Vietnam but those organizing groups (including SDS which spawned the Weather Underground) were Commie fronts.

77 posted on 09/22/2014 6:47:38 AM 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; GeronL
"Sometimes, I watch old YouTube videos that show the way Iraq used to be. But the Iraq I loved and was proud of — the country I lived in before 1990 — doesn’t exist anymore. And I don’t see that changing in my lifetime."

Yeah, I say the same thing about MY country - USA.

78 posted on 09/22/2014 6:48:56 AM 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: PieterCasparzen

Legalize it and tax the hell out of it is the chorus among some...


79 posted on 09/22/2014 6:49:42 AM 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: Objective Scrutator

He regularly shot down planes?

Not that I’m aware of, though he did light em often and shoot at them.

In regards to deposing plicks.

Should’ve been one plick at a time. I completely agree with Sadaam’s removal but, he really should have kept his head about him.

Over throwing The Best Dressed Mad Man with the Most hotties, and using Libya as a FOB to send arms to Syria in an attempt to over throw Assad is one country too many.

And losing Mubarack only imperiled Israel, Peace in the Middle East and created plenty of room for groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS.

I completely disagree about Mubarack.

We had our plate and dance card full with Iraq and Crapgahnistan.

Shoulduh managed them to maturity before moving on other countries.


80 posted on 09/22/2014 9:08:34 AM 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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