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Originally posted by drunkmonkey
Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world. Iraq was only formed 60 years or so ago after british demarcation. Iraq has struggled for nationlism since. Saddam has given them nationalism. Brutal rule is relative. Irqi citizen's biggest enemy is the USA. The USA is who keeps them from living the "good life" like they did in the 70s and 80s before the Iranian wars. We are their enemies, not Saddam.
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Excellent point drunkmonkey. The Iraqis, under Saddam, had one of the best standards of living in the middleast, rivaling that of Saudis and Israelis. They enjoyed this standard of living all through the 1970s and 1980s. It was only after the gulf war in 1991 that they began to suffer big time, at the hand of US sanctions.
Yes Saddam is a dictator. But for millions of Iraqis he had been their greatest benefactor for almost twenty years. They view, rightly or wrongly, the US to be their greatest enemy. Don't believe all the propaganda you see on CNN - that the Iraqis want the US to "liberate them". That is bullshit. The Iraqis are going to put up a good fight. The US will still win and may still win relatively quickly. But it will in no way be some walk in the park.