Originally Posted by Pleasurepays

your thread was not about options.. it was about setting people up for an "either/or" answer... as if it is a black and white issue with a clear cut answer. its a fuck story now, it was a fuck story before. there is no perfect answer.

Saddam had more than his share of "vicious sectarian slaughters" himself from full out gassing villages, to draining the marshes to wipe out some of the worlds oldest cultures, to strafing crowds of protesters with helicopter gunships.

you can't say he "kept a lid on violence" as if he was just a firm, but fair guy. there was a "lid on violence" because he was continually killing the opposition.