by Ashley Smith

Created on: February 19, 2010   Last Updated: February 20, 2010

This is a hard question to answer for everyone that has been involved in the war in Iraq, its inhabitants and those that are involved in the invasion. While Saddam was a vicious dictator who persecuted many of his countrymen their were benefits for a proportion of the country. There was less terrorism, less death, less problems with amenities and nearly every one had food. Many people died at his hands or those of his sadistic children but many more have died since the invasion and since he was finally hung. The excuse to invade was the supposed WMDs he had ready and primed, this has been shown as a lie and as such is no justification for being there still. Basically, as a result of his death, very little has changed for the world at large and much has got worse for the majority of the people of Iraq.

Since the invasion the cases of terrorism have multiplied many times over, nearly all of this within Iraqi borders. The terrorism levels around th world has increased but as a direct result of the invasion, an invasion designed to stop terrorism. Its aim failed so badly as the terrorists were attracted to the invading soldiers, a mix of wish to kill and a religious kinship meant they were following the attackers rather then running away. Another example of this is Northern Ireland, the terrorism began after the English went in, not the other way round. Also as the British military levels have dropped and the IRA prisoners have been released, so the attacks have lessened.

Saddam killed many, but so has the invasion and the newly arrived terrorists. The initial excuses were that the country had WMDs and were linked to terrorism such as 9/11. These were both lies but if there was a grain of truth then the invaders killed more Iraqis then the 9/11 killers did within a couple of years. Saddam ensured that the amenities such as power and water were there for far longer, there was more food available and for those of the correct religion life was reasonable. Obviously there were persecuted groups and there was mass murder in many cases but this piece is purely based on numbers and balances. The gas attacks on the Kurds for example was horrific, but so is the attacks on white residents in Zimbabwe and the attacks on personal liberty in China. We went in for the oil revenue expecting an easy exit when Saddam left. The basic mantra is better the devil you know because once you cut the head off a regime or faction hell bent on oppression it simply grows a new head, almost certainly worse then the one there before.

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