General Discussion

jaysunb

(11,856 posts)

4. No doubt...

Wed Feb 4, 2015, 10:55 PM

Feb 2015

he fought Iran to a standstill on behalf of the USA. No reason to think he'd have been any less of a valuable asset throughout the region today.
What the hell could Bush (GHWB # 41) have been thinking.

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Nobody wants to admit this: Saddam Hussein would be our ally against ISIS [View all] bluestateguy Feb 2015 OP

I'll admit it. Coventina Feb 2015 #1

Couldn't have said it better forest444 Feb 2015 #18

+ 100 zappaman Feb 2015 #59

And amazingly, Christians under Saddam avebury Feb 2015 #61

Living proof in Tariq Aziz, Saddam's Christian Foreign Minister. Coventina Feb 2015 #66

I agree 99.9999% and have only one minor disagreement with your post. arcane1 Feb 2015 #2

this was my thought. barbtries Feb 2015 #30

100% n/t arcane1 Feb 2015 #37

Well, he was our ally against Iran... Wounded Bear Feb 2015 #3

Yes, very true, he kept Iran under control, Iran would never have gotten Thinkingabout Feb 2015 #14

He was testing the wasters since it was recently overthrown JonLP24 Feb 2015 #74

No doubt... jaysunb Feb 2015 #4

I think we can conclude that stability in the ME isn't the goal. ND-Dem Feb 2015 #6

yep. barbtries Feb 2015 #32

The goal was stability under US control. jeff47 Feb 2015 #51

PNAC toddwv Feb 2015 #28

He was a paper tiger to western interests. MohRokTah Feb 2015 #5

The same Saudi "royals" who are funding ISIS today? Those Saudis? BlueCaliDem Feb 2015 #10

And bankrupt the West in every way. Bandar Bush was a traitor, like Ronny Raygun. freshwest Feb 2015 #46

For the oil. grahamhgreen Feb 2015 #50

I admit it, and said so just yesterday. herding cats Feb 2015 #7

True, but so would Stalin, Hitler, Qadafi, and any number of other despots bhikkhu Feb 2015 #8

Though many ISIS members are former Saddam loyalists. nt geek tragedy Feb 2015 #9

ISIS is made up of many of Saddam's Guys, maybe they learned from Saddam and to avoid JI7 Feb 2015 #11

ISIS is not really religious in the way Muslim Brotherhood or even Al Qaeda is JI7 Feb 2015 #12

Agreed Thinkingabout Feb 2015 #15

"they are more of a criminal gang" So, too, is the M.B. AverageJoe90 Feb 2015 #21

There would be no ISIS if Saddam ruled in Iraq. Agnosticsherbet Feb 2015 #13

I admit it. 840high Feb 2015 #16

I'll admit it. He got on the wrong side of Poppy, and that was that for him. MADem Feb 2015 #17

Doubtful if he would have invaded Kuwait without COLGATE4 Feb 2015 #19

Yes, that mess goes down in history as a boneheaded conversation. MADem Feb 2015 #25

To this day, I suspect that Hussein got on the wrong side of Thatcher, who then helped put the KingCharlemagne Feb 2015 #23

Gotta find someone who was in the room! Otherwise, we'll never know... nt MADem Feb 2015 #27

Ay, there's the rub. A lot of 'unknown unknowns' (to quote RummyDummy KingCharlemagne Feb 2015 #31

I meant "In the room with Maggie and Big George!" MADem Feb 2015 #34

Yeah, my mind is jumping around, but I had taken your original meaning. You are bringing back KingCharlemagne Feb 2015 #35

I think your 'private suspicions' would make a great academic thesis, actually! nt MADem Feb 2015 #38

It's been written about, see here yodermon Feb 2015 #55

Wow! Thanks so much for taking the time to find and copy that extract. While I cannot claim to have KingCharlemagne Feb 2015 #57

Would he, though? AverageJoe90 Feb 2015 #20

What if the sun rose in the West? Bin Laden had declared a 'fatwa' against Hussein, in essence KingCharlemagne Feb 2015 #33

Better the Devil You Know shadowmayor Feb 2015 #22

The old British imperialists always said the Baghdad was just a waystation on the road to KingCharlemagne Feb 2015 #36

Please publish this as an OP. raven mad Feb 2015 #56

I second the motion. Excellent read and credible. libdem4life Feb 2015 #68

Bu$h's 2003 invasion was a criminal act. N/t roamer65 Feb 2015 #24

So we should support and prop up ruthless dictators? former9thward Feb 2015 #26

I remember when Realpolitik was seen as a vice in Progressive circles, and I'm not even 30. Nuclear Unicorn Feb 2015 #72

Wel I think one reason that the US went after Saddam Hussein was to de-stabilize that truedelphi Feb 2015 #29

England did NOT help out the South during the American Civil War. The ruling class may have KingCharlemagne Feb 2015 #39

Looking up and down this thread, I am convinced that . . . Jack Rabbit Feb 2015 #40

No doubt about that Jack madokie Feb 2015 #49

I'll admit it. He was a stabilizing presence in the Middle East. calimary Feb 2015 #41

The First Desert Slaughter shadowmayor Feb 2015 #44

Kuwait's slant drilling has gotten lost in the whole following story. pinto Feb 2015 #54

Welcome to DU, shadowmayor! calimary Feb 2015 #63

Thanks for your reply shadowmayor Feb 2015 #65

Hey shadowmayor - some of us WILL NOT forget. Many of us here, within DU, for example. calimary Feb 2015 #75

Thanks again for your thoughts and words shadowmayor Feb 2015 #76

Gaddafi would too. bvar22 Feb 2015 #42

+1000. Gaddafi was influential in all of Africa. polly7 Feb 2015 #67

Don't Drink the Propaganda Kool-Aid . . FairWinds Feb 2015 #43

But the neocons wouldn't have their dreams come true, if they hadn't succeeded in lying this country sabrina 1 Feb 2015 #45

Probably so Turbineguy Feb 2015 #47

The ol' "We have to support dictators to fight the terrorists, communists, etc." is flawed. pampango Feb 2015 #48

So you assert that ISIS would have been the same factor they are now or worse with Hussein in power? TheKentuckian Feb 2015 #52

Probably not. He repressed everyone from terrorists to people who opposed him. pampango Feb 2015 #60

Sure but the thread presented an "if then" question. No endorsement is required to give a straight TheKentuckian Feb 2015 #62

Saddam was not secular and ISIS is not religious AngryAmish Feb 2015 #53

Sure, but some allies are not worth having. n/t Chan790 Feb 2015 #58

yeah, he was a good U.S. dupe puppet bigtree Feb 2015 #64

Wasn't Saddam pulling cords out of incubators? Or do I have the wrong war? n/t libdem4life Feb 2015 #69

Iran is our ally now against ISIS Enrique Feb 2015 #70

Saddam was trying to ethnically cleanse the Kurds, the only ones effectively fighting ISIS. Nuclear Unicorn Feb 2015 #71

Violent oppression by the head-of-state is the cause of this JonLP24 Feb 2015 #73

ISIS would not have come into existence cwydro Feb 2015 #77