Comments by "Dennis" (@Dennis-nc3vw) on "Saddam Hussein: The Butcher of Baghdad" video.

  1. Fun fact: Saddam said he intentionally acted like he had WMDs to scare Iran. Boy did that backfire.
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  2. Right. The Iraq War was a mistake, but I will never ever fault my country or my leaders for assuming the world would have been better off without him.
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  3. It was not just "the West" who supported Saddam.
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  4. The CIA trained him to fight in a coup in his 20s. That was it.
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  5.  @gruweldaad  FINALLY someone besides me who was actually paying attention during the war.
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  6. When we do mind our own business people make movies like Hotel Rwanda calling us cowards.
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  7.  @grants5554  No, when people say we steal oil they have no idea what they are talking about. It's just a fashionable talking point. The US military doesn't handle resource extraction.
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  8.  @kanaabijulius5416  Syria was in a Civil War for years before the US intervened and Libya was in the midst of populist uprising against a dictator who had shot protestors from fighter jets and pulled the plug on hospitalized dissidents. As for countries that were peaceful after America invaded? Germany, Japan, Italy, Grenada, and Panama.
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  9. America is only "The Butcher of the World" because we are the only country on Earth who gets blamed for the crimes of our mortal enemies. 87% of civilian deaths in Iraq were not caused by coalition forces (src: Iraq Body Count) and in Afghanistan 80% of civilian casualties were caused by the Taliban according to the UN. You probably also think America killed 3 million Vietnamese even though that's a war total in a war we didn't even start.
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  10. That's because Americans are the only people who can get blamed for the crimes of our our mortal enemies. Iraq Body Count showed 87% of civilians in Iraq were killed by the people Americans were in Iraq to kill and capture, not coalition forces.
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  11. Because Bush is blamed for the crimes of his mortal enemies while Saddam isn't. About 90% of civilians killed in Iraq were killed by "insurgents, militia, and terrorists" according to Iraq Body Count.
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  12. Afghanistan's population doubled during the 20 years the US was there, and a UN report showed 80% of civilians were killed by the Taliban. And don't blame Bush for something 85% - 90% of Americans supported at the time.
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  13. I'm sure saying that makes you feel like a bad ass who's sticking it to the man, but the vast majority of innocent Iraqis killed during the war were killed by the people you wanted Bush and Blair to appease and hand Iraq over to. Iraq Body Count shows 85%+ of civilians were not killed by coalition forces. They were killed by the people coalition forces were there to kill and capture, and no doubt a large reason insurgent factions wrought so much havoc on Iraq was because they knew people like you would blame their atrocities on their Western enemies. How else do you explain bizarre events like the July Soccer Bombings which seemed to target no one in particular and were just to "get attention"? I'll wait.
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  14. Our crime was not assuming we knew better than the Iraqis what was best for Iraq then. An April 2004 Gallup Poll showed 2/3rds of Iraqis felt the war was "worth it" to oust Saddam. It wasn't until sectarian violence kicked into high gear in mid-2006 that you can see Iraqi opinion start to change. Research it yourself.
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  15. 87% of civilians in Iraq were not killed by coalition forces. They were killed by the "freedom fighters" you were rooting for because they knew people like you would blame their atrocities on their American enemies.
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  16. Loved by everyone around the world? Give me a break. Even Iraqi blogger Raed Jarrar, who started blogging against the war as soon as Saddam fell, admitted most Iraqis were against Saddam.
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  17. 87% of civilians in Iraq who died during the war were not killed by coalition forces. America is the only power in the world that's ever blamed for the crimes of our mortal enemies.
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  18. Because the US is the only country on Earth that gets blamed for the crimes of its mortal enemies. 87% of civilians killed in Iraq were not killed by coalition forces according to Iraq Body Count.
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  19. Because Bush is blamed for the crimes of his mortal enemies while Saddam is not. 90% of Iraqi civilians were killed by the people Bush had our troops there to kill and capture, but you blame him because he "destabilized the region". Yet conveniently, the chain of causation ends there. You don't blame Saddam for what Bush did, even though America never would have invaded if not for his "pretend I have WMDs to scare Iran" roost. Isn't it interesting how it works? Americans can be blamed for crimes their mortal enemies committed based on indirect responsibility, but people like Saddam can't. How convenient.
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  20. Non-Iraqi Arabs loved him for sticking it to the West and Israel.
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  21. He disappeared 10,000 people a year according to Human Rights Watch estimates and an April 2004 Gallup Poll showed more than 2/3rds of Iraqis thought the invasion was "worth it" to oust Saddam. It wasn't until sectarian violence kicked into high gear in 2006 that they started getting nostalgic and angry that Saddam was deposed.
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  22. 87% of civilians in Iraq were not killed by coalition forces according to Iraq Body Count. They were killed by our enemies, in large part because they knew people like you would blame America for those atrocities and give their acts propaganda value. How else do you explain events like The July Soccer Bombings?
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  23. 87% of civilians in Iraq were not killed by coalition forces (src: Iraq Body Count). They were killed by people who knew people like you would blame their Western enemies for their atrocities. You incentivized their senseless carnage.
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  24. That's because Bush, unlike Saddam, gets blamed for the crimes of his enemies. The vast majority of Iraqi innocents were killed by insurgents, militia, and terrorists, (source; John Sloboda of Iraq Body Count, but anyone following the war closely knew this) the very people US forces were there to kill and capture. Funny how that works, isn't it? Saddam isn't responsible for the crimes of America, yet America is responsible for the crimes of the insurgents.
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  25. An April 2004 Gallup Poll showed Iraqis believed the invasion was "worth it" to overthrow Saddam. They only changed their tune around early 2006, when sectarian violence kicked into high gear (ie they started mass murdering each other).
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  26.  Ahmad Hijaz  Non-Iraqi Arab who never had to live under Saddam.
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  27.  @RealSupaHotFireVEVO  I'm sure saying that makes you feel like a real badass who's sticking it to the man, but people in Panama, Kuwait, Grenada, Israel, South Korea, Hong Kong, etc. are pretty grateful for America's Presidents. Even Vietnam, supposedly Exhibit A in American brutality, is literally the most pro-American country on Earth today according to a Pew Research Center survey. Of course your evidence of America's evil is usually something like "America gave pocket change to Dictator X several decades ago so you are obviously the sole reason he's in power."
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  28. America is the only country on Earth that is blamed for the crimes of our mortal enemies. 85%+ of Iraqi Civilians, according to Iraq Body Count, were not killed by coalition forces. They were killed by the people we were there to kill and capture. Part of that was because people like you provided a perverse incentive for insurgent faction to wreak as much carnage as possible, by blaming their Western enemies for everything they did.
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  29.  @soundofshamash  Thank you for that deep, thought provoking, well researched rebuttal.
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  30. America gave him a whopping 1% of his arms.
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  31. There was no "occupation." Iraq was an independent democracy which allowed the US to stay until 2008 and then kicked us out in the 2008 SOFA. You might as well say the US is "occupying" Germany right now.
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  32. No, the CIA trained him to fight in a coup when he was in his 20s. That's it.
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  33. Because only Americans are blamed for the crimes of our mortal enemies "In total, over 150,000 people have been killed and 80 percent of them – more than 122,000 – were civilians, said the IBC. [...] According to a 2010 assessment by John Sloboda, director of Iraq Body Count, U.S. and Coalition forces had killed at least 22,668 insurgents as well as 13,807 civilians in the Iraq War, with the rest of the civilians killed by insurgents, militias, or terrorists."
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  34. Afghanistan: The population doubled during America's 20 year presence in the country. 80% of civilians were killed by the Taliban according to the UN. Syria: Syrian Civil War was waging for years before the US got involved. Libya: Libya was already in the midst of a popular uprising against a dictator who was shooting protestors from jets. If the US didn't intervene the country would have likely gone the way of Syria.
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  35. Non-Iraqi Arabs LOVED Saddam because they saw him as someone who stood up to the West. Iraqis who actually had to live under him hated him.
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  36. No, even if we grant that questionable "1 million" estimate credence, the overwhelming majority of those Iraqis were not killed by the USA, but the people the USA was there to kill and capture and you wanted us to appease and hand Iraq over to. Iraq Body Count estimated 85%+ of Iraqi civilians were not killed by coalition forces. Part of the reason they did it was no doubt because they knew people like you would blame the West for their atrocities. How else do you explain bizarre events like the July Soccer Bombings which seemed to target no one in particular?
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  37. The US gave Saddam Hussein literally only about 1% of his arms according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. But I know bashing America is more fun than facts.
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  38.  @Bartdm2086  Germany, Brazil, France, India etc. all sold Saddam weapons and supported him. In fact 13% Saddam's arms came from France according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. But of course neither you nor the OP wants to talk about that because hating America is fashionable and hating those other countries isn't.
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  39. Because Bush is blamed for the crimes of his mortal enemies and Saddam isn't. The overwhelming majority of Iraqi civilians were killed by the people Bush had our troops there to kill and capture, but you say its still his fault because his war brought them there. Okay, well by that logic, all the blood on Bush's hands is Saddam's fault, because he brought the Americans to Iraq with this "pretend I have WMDs to scare Iran" roost. But of course no one says that. Americans have agency not only over own behavior but the behavior of others, while the people in the Middle East have neither.
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  40. "robber of iraq and its wealth" Even you don't know what you mean by that.
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  41. You said "their", so you're not Iraqi either but YOU are judging Saddam.
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  42. Because you blame us for the atrocities of the people we were there to kill and capture. "In total, over 150,000 people have been killed and 80 percent of them – more than 122,000 – were civilians, said the IBC. [...] According to a 2010 assessment by John Sloboda, director of Iraq Body Count, U.S. and Coalition forces had killed at least 22,668 insurgents as well as 13,807 civilians in the Iraq War, with the rest of the civilians killed by insurgents, militias, or terrorists." You don't have to blame Saddam for the crimes of his mortal enemies to make him a butcher.
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  43. 87% of civilian casualties in Iraq were not killed by coalition forces according to Iraq Body Count. Americans are simply the only people who can be blamed for the crimes of our mortal enemies.
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  44. You have no coherent definition of imperialism. America didn't make Iraq part of an empire, but rather let them elect their own government even if that meant Sadrists serving in parliament and our man Allawi coming in third in country's first election.
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  45. Because we're the only country on Earth that gets blamed for the crimes of our mortal enemies. "In total, over 150,000 people have been killed and 80 percent of them – more than 122,000 – were civilians, said the IBC. [...] According to a 2010 assessment by John Sloboda, director of Iraq Body Count, U.S. and Coalition forces had killed at least 22,668 insurgents as well as 13,807 civilians in the Iraq War, with the rest of the civilians killed by insurgents, militias, or terrorists." In other words, 7/8 Iraqi civilians were killed by the people the USA was there to kill and capture.
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  46. Because only the West is blamed for the crimes of its mortal enemies: "In total, over 150,000 people have been killed and 80 percent of them – more than 122,000 – were civilians, said the IBC. [...] According to a 2010 assessment by John Sloboda, director of Iraq Body Count, U.S. and Coalition forces had killed at least 22,668 insurgents as well as 13,807 civilians in the Iraq War, with the rest of the civilians killed by insurgents, militias, or terrorists."
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  47. The US trained him to fight in a coup decades before he came to power, and then gave him pocket change once he was in power (about 1% of his arms came from the United States according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). That's it. That's the sum total of the "pivotal relationship."
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  48.  @alessandromalinverno7097  The CIA did not "hand pick" Saddam. They trained him to fight in a coup when he was in his twenties, decades before he came to power. That's it.
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  49. Anti-Americanism has got to be the most ruthless force of historical distortion in human history.
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