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> Since when is spending trillions to attack a nation justified by its leader being an asshole? He's more than just an asshole, he lead a genocide against the

> Since when is spending trillions to attack a nation justified by its leader being an asshole? He's more than just an asshole, he lead a genocide against the Kurdish people [1] and invaded Kuwait. And, I didn't say any of that justified our entrance circa 2001. > Saddam was mild compared to many other regimes at the time and was a US ally for years prior. He was a killer. That's not mild. I can't say why Reagan would've considered him an ally while he was gassing the Kurds. There are a lot of variables in play in foreign relations. Trump wants to be buddies with Russia while they've essentially admitted to messing with our elections [because we fund pro-democracy NGOs in Russia]. Who knows how Trump envisions the future of American foreign relations. He's certainly doing some unexpected things. > the idea that Saddam's personality had anything to do with it is absurd. You feel personality causes a person to kill thousands of people and invade other countries? Okay. Hitler had a shitty personality too, but that's not a particularly useful descriptor when talking about dictators. Lots of people have lousy personalities. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_chemical_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_chemical_attack

grandalf 9y ago
> He was a killer. George W. Bush killed more Iraqi people than Saddam ever did and caused massively increased suffering throughout the region for decades after. > You feel personality causes a person to... No, my point is that personality has nothing do do with it. Nations act out of national interest. Psychoanalysis of "enemy" leaders is what the US does to help the American population hate that person enough to go to war. We're told that any foreign leader we're supposed to hate has a diagnosable psychiatric illness. Not only is that false (they are typically rational and just acting in their own interests) it is disrespectful of people who actually do have mental health challenges.
- unityByFreedom 9y ago
  > George W. Bush killed more Iraqi people than Saddam ever did and caused massively increased suffering throughout the region for decades after. Let's say there's a hostage situation at a bank robbery. The police manage to catch or kill the two robbers, but in the process five civilians are killed. Who's at fault there? What if nobody in the community responds, and the attackers get away with money and kill all the hostages? You think the robbers will just stop after one bank, knowing that they can get away with it? > No, my point is that personality has nothing do do with it Then why did you bring it up? Everyone else was talking about Saddam's actions. You're the one who simplified it to his personality. If you don't believe his invasion of Kuwait and killing of the Kurdish people make him a bad guy, worse than Bush, then I simply disagree.

grandalf 9y ago

> He was a killer. George W. Bush killed more Iraqi people than Saddam ever did and caused massively increased suffering throughout the region for decades after. > You feel personality causes a person to... No, my point is that personality has nothing do do with it. Nations act out of national interest. Psychoanalysis of "enemy" leaders is what the US does to help the American population hate that person enough to go to war. We're told that any foreign leader we're supposed to hate has a diagnosable psychiatric illness. Not only is that false (they are typically rational and just acting in their own interests) it is disrespectful of people who actually do have mental health challenges.

unityByFreedom 9y ago
> George W. Bush killed more Iraqi people than Saddam ever did and caused massively increased suffering throughout the region for decades after. Let's say there's a hostage situation at a bank robbery. The police manage to catch or kill the two robbers, but in the process five civilians are killed. Who's at fault there? What if nobody in the community responds, and the attackers get away with money and kill all the hostages? You think the robbers will just stop after one bank, knowing that they can get away with it? > No, my point is that personality has nothing do do with it Then why did you bring it up? Everyone else was talking about Saddam's actions. You're the one who simplified it to his personality. If you don't believe his invasion of Kuwait and killing of the Kurdish people make him a bad guy, worse than Bush, then I simply disagree.