If you were not part of the governing minority you got brutally suppressed. If you dared to voice a different opinion you got send into prison for a nice round of torture. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The invasion of Iraq was a shit show, but let's not get into history rewriting here: Living in Iraq before the invasion was not some kind of utopia. He was a brutal dictator. And people suffered for it.
No it wasn’t some utopia of course not, but at least the country functioned on a basic level, like it had reliable electricity and services, education and medical services (including research) and wasn’t ruined by war.
How often do you see Iraqi scientists or doctors these days participate in international conferences? Whereas that used to be commonplace.
>If you were not part of the governing minority you got brutally suppressed. If you dared to voice a different opinion you got send into prison for a nice round of torture. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
And after the invasion millions more suffered for it even more. Including those suffering under Saddam. Who do you think are targeted mostly by IS? The formerly oppressed majority. The invasion made everything worse for everyone. No, you are not officially repressed by the state anymore. Instead you are oppressed by your local friendly militia.
As long as we are clear on that, yes, Iraq under Saddam was shit. That's no excuse to make it worse.
The invasion of Iraq was a shit show, but let's not get into history rewriting here: Living in Iraq before the invasion was not some kind of utopia. He was a brutal dictator. And people suffered for it.