Where's Saddam Hussein When the U.S. Needs Him?

[Lakhota]

John Kerry was doing his best "Casablanca" impersonation, pretending to be police Capt. Renault and was just shocked that Egypt is still a brutal military dictatorship despite our newly revived "historic partnership."

A day after chatting it up in Cairo on Sunday with now-elected dictator Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, who, Kerry assured the world, "gave me a very strong sense of his commitment (to) a re-evaluation of human rights legislation (and) a re-evaluation of the judicial process," the secretary of state felt compelled to release a statement condemning that process.

Although the U.S. government has managed to overlook the Egyptian military's brutal destruction of the Arab world's most significant attempt at accommodating religious, ethnic and tribal differences through representative government, the stiff sentences meted out Monday to three Al-Jazeera journalists, all veterans of Western news organizations, have finally shocked the media establishment. They also embarrassed Kerry, who had come to Cairo to curry favor with the military dictatorship. The State Department released the following statement of condemnation under his name:

Today's conviction and chilling, draconian sentences by the Cairo Criminal Court of three Al Jazeera journalists and 15 others in a trial that lacked many fundamental norms of due process is a deeply disturbing set-back to Egypt's transition. Injustices like these simply cannot stand if Egypt is to move forward in the way that President al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry told me yesterday that they aspire to see their country advance.​

From Egypt, it was off to Baghdad for Kerry to see whether Iraq's bold effort in democratic nation building could be resuscitated in the face of imminent collapse. The problem there is that Kerry will have trouble locating a military strongman to back. The nostalgic choice might be someone like Saddam Hussein. He too was a secular military strongman who very effectively controlled religiously motivated parties, but he's no longer available.

MORE: Where's Saddam Hussein When the U.S. Needs Him?*|*Robert Scheer

Saddam Hussein kept a lid on that cesspool of religious tribal lunatics in Iraq.

 

[Lakhota]

As the OP states, Saddam "was a secular military strongman who very effectively controlled religiously motivated parties".

 

[Two Thumbs]

Actually we need Condi back. Shit like this didn't go on when she was working.



but seriously

How terrible is our leadership, that one of their rabid own fluffers, wants to bring back a truly evil man to power b/c he kept people living in fear of the government.

just another tic mark in the libs love tyranny column

 

[Bush92]

This is what regime change without forethought gets you. After having spent time in Middle-East and Western Asia during 1st Gulf War I got a real education on why we left Saddam weakened but in power. I was against 2nd war from the get-go for just the reasons that are happening now in Iraq. Saddam and his sadistic son's would have kept law and order there. Perhaps not democracy. Perhaps with often great cruelty. But order none the less. We created chaos and a civil war waiting to happen. All these people know is a strong hand. All they have ever known. In his lifetime Mohammed created a religion, raised and army, and fought wars. Jesus was not revered until he died on the cross for the sins of mankind. In Islamic world the mosque is the center of civil and religious order. Muslims do not see separate states sharing a common religion. They see a common religion separated by states.

 

[tinydancer]

Well the looney left is at least letting it all hang out if they think Saddam Hussein is a nostalgic choice who effectively controlled religiously motivated parties.

He was a dictator. He controlled parties and the populace by terrorizing the opposition and the general populace with such tools as wood chippers.

Figures you left wing whack jobs are having fond memories and wishing him back in power.

Good grief.

 

[Bush92]

Well the looney left is at least letting it all hang out if they think Saddam Hussein is a nostalgic choice who effectively controlled religiously motivated religious parties.

He was a dictator. He controlled parties and the populace by terrorizing the opposition and the general populace with such tools as wood chippers.

Figures you left wing whack jobs are having fond memories and wishing him back in power.

Good grief.

Well I am not a liberal. But having Saddam there to take care of business and whack people is better than Islamic fundamentalist like ISIS.

 

[Lakhota]

Actually we need Condi back. Shit like this didn't go on when she was working.



but seriously

How terrible is our leadership, that one of their rabid own fluffers, wants to bring back a truly evil man to power b/c he kept people living in fear of the government.

just another tic mark in the libs love tyranny column

Apparently you don't know jack shit about Maliki's exploits and how he has terrorized Sunnis and Kurds.

 

[Stephanie]

lakhota, you're a joke piece of work...... now wishing to bring back a vicious dictator who gassed 5000 of what you and that stupid writer Sheer called, "religious fanatics" which included men, women and CHILDREN

And the writer of that article Sheer.... is just looking for anyone to blame for Iraq falling today and shift it away from , Kerry, Obama .....the real persons TO BLAME

Kerry might not want to get off his plane...he might get 1000's of shoes thrown at him

 

[CrusaderFrank]

John Kerry: War Criminal

 

[Stephanie]

Well the looney left is at least letting it all hang out if they think Saddam Hussein is a nostalgic choice who effectively controlled religiously motivated parties.

He was a dictator. He controlled parties and the populace by terrorizing the opposition and the general populace with such tools as wood chippers.

Figures you left wing whack jobs are having fond memories and wishing him back in power.

Good grief.

I didn't think they'd stoop this low for Obama and Jon Heinz-Kerry, but boy was I wrong

Just sickening amazing

 

[DriftingSand]

As the OP states, Saddam "was a secular military strongman who very effectively controlled religiously motivated parties".

America put Saddam into power then America took him out of power. America likes to play god but has proven to do a pretty piss-poor job of it. Another poor choice by Amerigod was kicking Mubarak out of power. At least there was some semblance of stability in the region when we allowed him to play king. Oh well, I really don't have a dog in the fight. We have PLENTY of problems of our own to worry about.

 

[BlindBoo]

lakhota, you're a joke piece of work...... now wishing to bring back a vicious dictator who gassed 5000 of what you and that stupid writer Sheer called, "religious fanatics" which included men, women and CHILDREN

And the writer of that article Sheer.... is just looking for anyone to blame for Iraq falling today and shift it away from , Kerry, Obama .....the real persons TO BLAME

Kerry might not want to get off his plane...he might get 1000's of shoes thrown at him

In Saddam's view the Kurdish Rebel had joined with Iran and were traitors. Using chemical weapons on them was SOP and was routinely ignored by Saddam's main supporter, President RayGun. So it was for those poor folks in that Kurdish town......Thanks Ronnie.

The reason Iraq is falling apart is that is was never really a country anyway. It's borders were draw in a far way place by people who didn't give a damn about ethnic line or this tribe or that.......

When the occupation government disbanded the Iraqi Army and set loose hundreds of thousands of unemployed Iraqis it was only a matter of time before the Civil War started.

 

[Lakhota]

The U.S. supported Saddam until Bush 41 suckered him into invading Kuwait.

 

[Dayton3]

This BS about "Saddam Hussein would've been better" is revisionism that is mindnumblingly mindless.

1) What makes anyone think that Saddam Hussein would've survived this long? for all we know he and his regime might've been swept out of power and we would have the chaos all the same.

2) What makes anyone think that Saddam Hussein wouldn't have provoked another war with the U.S. and its allies by now? He was continually provocative (trying to shoot down U.S. and British planes over the no fly zones).

 

[Lakhota]

This BS about "Saddam Hussein would've been better" is revisionism that is mindnumblingly mindless.

1) What makes anyone think that Saddam Hussein would've survived this long? for all we know he and his regime might've been swept out of power and we would have the chaos all the same.

2) What makes anyone think that Saddam Hussein wouldn't have provoked another war with the U.S. and its allies by now? He was continually provocative (trying to shoot down U.S. and British planes over the no fly zones).

Saddam was pissed after Daddy Bush suckered him into invading Kuwait. Then, a few years later Boy George invades Iraq a second time.

How Bush 41 Tricked Saddam Into Invading Kuwait

Saddam Hussein: not Bush-Cheney business partner any more

TRANSCRIPT: U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie and Saddam Hussein Meeting on July 25, 1990

 

[rdean]

Actually we need Condi back. Shit like this didn't go on when she was working.



but seriously

How terrible is our leadership, that one of their rabid own fluffers, wants to bring back a truly evil man to power b/c he kept people living in fear of the government.

just another tic mark in the libs love tyranny column

You mean when Republicans sent in the military to point guns at the Iraqi's?

 

[Dayton3]

This BS about "Saddam Hussein would've been better" is revisionism that is mindnumblingly mindless.

1) What makes anyone think that Saddam Hussein would've survived this long? for all we know he and his regime might've been swept out of power and we would have the chaos all the same.

2) What makes anyone think that Saddam Hussein wouldn't have provoked another war with the U.S. and its allies by now? He was continually provocative (trying to shoot down U.S. and British planes over the no fly zones).

Saddam was pissed after Daddy Bush suckered him into invading Kuwait. Then, a few years later Boy George invades Iraq a second time.

How Bush 41 Tricked Saddam Into Invading Kuwait

Saddam Hussein: not Bush-Cheney business partner any more

TRANSCRIPT: U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie and Saddam Hussein Meeting on July 25, 1990

Ah, this old nuttery going back to 1990 I see.

 

[Lakhota]

This BS about "Saddam Hussein would've been better" is revisionism that is mindnumblingly mindless.

1) What makes anyone think that Saddam Hussein would've survived this long? for all we know he and his regime might've been swept out of power and we would have the chaos all the same.

2) What makes anyone think that Saddam Hussein wouldn't have provoked another war with the U.S. and its allies by now? He was continually provocative (trying to shoot down U.S. and British planes over the no fly zones).

Saddam was pissed after Daddy Bush suckered him into invading Kuwait. Then, a few years later Boy George invades Iraq a second time.

How Bush 41 Tricked Saddam Into Invading Kuwait

Saddam Hussein: not Bush-Cheney business partner any more

TRANSCRIPT: U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie and Saddam Hussein Meeting on July 25, 1990

Ah, this old nuttery going back to 1990 I see.

Yep, 1990. That's when Daddy Bush started this mess.

 

[Lakhota]

YES!

 

[blackhawk]

Yeah Saddam keep a lid on things by doing stuff like this to the Kurds among others.