Even though Saddam was a terrible man, and had definitely killed many of his own people, people tend to forget the story of the man. Personally, even though I think it's great that he is now dead and we can move on, I felt a bit sorry for him when I saw his last final moments on video.
I may be a bit older then the rest of y'all, so I remember the events of late '80s and early 90's much better.
America somewhat betrayed Saddam. For those who do not remember, Saddam was an American ally before the Iran-Iraq war. As the revolution of 1979 in Iran led to the overthrow of the Shah's regime, and the Islamic Republic and Ayatollah Khomeini (sp?) rose into power, America and the rest of its European allies, alongside other diplomatic, nearby countries, sought to prevent the spread of the Islamic Republic (which, in my opinion, is horrendous. I have many Iranian-born friends and many of them are absolutely disgusted with the current president).
Therefore, America and Saddam had talks. For those who do not remember, Donald Rumsfeld and Saddam had a fantastic relationship at this point in time:
America began to supply Iraq with weapons, ships, tanks, and aircrafts, so that Iraq could launch a successful invasion on Iran, and potentially overthrow the Islamic Republic. Other nearby allies, like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, supplied Iraq with tons of cash to get the job done. And so it began.
Iraq unexpectedly launched an advance into Iranian territory. For a long period of time, Iraq's military was successful. They gained vast ground on Iranian soil, and for quite some time, everyone believed the raid would be a success. However, roughly half way through the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam noticed that the Iranian army was gaining strength. With Ayatollah Khomeni cheering everybody on, even children were literally riding on bicycles, armed with a rocket launcher over their shoulder, and exploding Iraq (American supplied) tanks. With such guerrilla warfare damaging the strength of the Iraq army, Saddam slowly started retreating off the Iranian territory.
On this action, all of Saddam's allies were very disappointed. Saddam tried to explain the situation to them all, but America set forth a new plan. Rumsfeld suggested the use of chemical-biological warfare to wipe out hundreds of Iranian troops. And so, for the first time in history, Iraq gained access to Weapons of Mass Destruction. Supplied by the US.
Even with access to chemical weapons, Saddam failed to advance back into Iranian territory, and eventually the borders returned to their previous state. Ayatollah Khomeni arose and called for a stop to the warfare (surprisingly, Iran and Iraq never officially declared war during the entire length of the fighting), and Saddam accepted.
Now then, Saddam faced a serious issue, one that would eventually lead to his hanging. Nothing had changed in the Iranian government, and billions of dollars worth of equipment and cash had been wasted on a failed war effort to overthrow the Islamic Republic. Iraq's neighboring allies, which had lent him supplies, were all banging on his door for a return on his loans, since he essentially failed his mission. The US now, instead of considering him an ally, placed him on their most wanted list, and cut off all friendly connections with him. Saddam had failed his promise to the US, and now he was going to have to pay for it.
Ten years later, Bush and Rumsfeld have a meeting, and in order to justify an attack on 'terrorism', they claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. And they knew he had them. Why? Because they supplied it! This was their chance to get back at Saddam for failing to win the Iran-Iraq war, for failing to overthrow Iran's Islamic Republic, which America feared nearly as strong as communism. They never found the WOM, however, most probably because they were either shipped out to Syria before US troops landed on Iraq soil, or were simply disintegrated into the ground. And now, Saddam is dead. America prevails (which is good, I love my country and support the government's decisions, as foolish as they may be).
Also, many tend to claim that Saddam killed his own people. He did kill his own people. Those people he killed were revolutionists. Hundreds of Islamic Republic-supporting Iraq citizens. Had he not killed them, he would have been overthrown. Now lets not forget that the Shia hate Saddam, and the Shia were the people that Saddam killed. Shia were also and still are the primary residents and leaders of Iran (aka, pro-Islamic Republic). Saddam was ordered by the US and its respective allies to prevent an overthrow of his own regime, even at the cost of killing his own citizens (who were revolutionists).
Saddam only tried to preserve his regime. Personally, I'd prefer an open, free dictatorship any day over an Islamic Republic or a communist state. Saddam also only tried to make his allies happy. His allies turned on him for not keeping his promise to rid Iran of the Islamic Republic, and he is now dead.
All of these are facts. I was 17-20 years old during those years. I still think Saddam was a cruel man, but he did not deserve to be hanged. And now his once prosperous country is in shambles. Take this for what it's worth.
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