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Saddam Hussein started the Iran-Iraq war, in which Iraq achieved no significant gain, at the cost of between one and two million lives. This war took place in t
by nickff 3y ago
Saddam Hussein started the Iran-Iraq war, in which Iraq achieved no significant gain, at the cost of between one and two million lives. This war took place in the middle of his 40-year tenure as a president who killed hundreds of thousands of his own people with the same military equipment.
- whatshisface 3y agoHow is that an argument in favor of military spending?
- hindsightbias 3y agoIt would almost sound like a noble motivation for all that shock-and-awe spending, except that wasn't the motivation. Nobody cared when he was actually killing Iranians or domestics. Back then, kids of exiled Shah-regimers were protesting US gov't support for Iraq (widely reported overseas, widely ignored in the US) at colleges in CA, Michigan and Texas and getting beat up for their trouble. Plus we were rolling in all that $15/b oil with the flooded oil market so domestic win-win. Except for all those oilmen in TX who went bust. Well, they voted for Ron, so I guess they got what they wanted.
- cycomanic 3y agoYes and who was supplying the weapons and other support during that time? Arguably defence spending in the US and western Europe directly contributed to the deaths.