What would have happened if Saddam had been left in power..?

[kentuck]

..and there had been no invasion? I think he would have been age 70 in April? He was getting up in years. How much longer would he have been able to maintain power? Would his sons have taken over? Would the people or the military have overthrown his sons? Would there have been a similar war as what is happening now if Saddam had died of natural causes? Those are questions we will never know.

[madeline_con]

1. The U.S. media would have been told to spin the "He's not

really such a bad guy after all" angle.

We would have lifted the sanctions, and started buying oil from him. Well, openly, since he really wasn't suffering from the supposed sanctions. Halliburton, being there already, would have been in on the ground floor of profiting from the whole deal either way.

It sems to me this thing panned out even better for them, since they can take billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars for "rebuilding", "security" and laundry services. :eyes:

[tridim]

2. No American soldiers would be dead,

and we'd still be respected as a country.

[liberal N proud]

3. One of his sons would most likely have taken over when he would no longer be able to rule

But one thing, Iraq would be a much less violent place than it is today.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. We would have saved a trillion dollars & 10's of thousands

would still be alive. Oil would be flowing to beat the band since Saddam would have agreed to every condition to lift the sanctions by now. Basically it would like heaven on earth. Instead with Mr Meatball as "commander in chief" we are stuck with an unending shit pot.

[NJCher]

5. good question

If you look at what Ricks has to say in his book Fiasco, "containment" was working extremely well. That's if you believe Saddam was a threat in the first place. I don't happen to be in that camp.

I look forward to what other DU-ers have to say in answer to this question.



Cher

[MrPrax]

6. Hear Hear

That's if you believe Saddam was a threat in the first place. I don't happen to be in that camp.

Word...

There is NO threat to the world's most advanced civilization except from within.

[Bake]

26. There are some potential threats, however

Less-than-friendly nuclear powers like China and possibly N. Korea. There are always threats in the world. The question is, how does the US respond to them?

Bake

[TheFarseer]

18. according to Condi and Colin Powell

at a 2001 hearing with the UN, containment was working extremely well.

[Warpy]

7. My best guess?

He'd have died within a decade or so, either of natural causes or poisoned by one of his sons. The country would never have accepted either son, so civil war would have ensued.

I've run this guess past quite a few people from the region, and other than speculation that he was too mean to die, they've agreed with me.

Colonial powers drew their borders and those borders had absolutely no respect for the people who lived within them. A struggle was inevitable. Stupid just rushed the schedule and complicated the fight by trying to occupy the country.

[kentuck]

10. Yep...

Probably so...

[mdmc]

8. 3000 fewer American deaths

[Rob H.]

9. The world would't hate us now

Although I'm sure Bumblefuck Bush would've managed to accomplish that somehow, anyway.

[MasonJar]

11. 100s of 1000s of Iraqis would be alive...ironic, isn't it?

[gula]

12. Thank you very very much

I never understood why so many DUers count every US casualty yet ignore the tens of thousands of Iraqi dead.

[qwlauren35]

22. Not sure...

I agree that Saddam Hussein's death and the end of the regime would trigger some mess.

Just not the mess we have now. But it's definitely hard to say, with the legacy of mass murder that exists in Iraq, whether the numbers would have been drastically different.

I just don't know.

[ddbaj]

13. We'd prolly be in Iran now, instead. N/T

[Telly Savalas]

14. Saddam would have already completed spaceships

to send Americans to Mars as slave laborers.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

15. One of his brat children would have taken over.

Qusay. (He's the one who wasn't a lunatic sadist.)

[liberal renegade]

16. mushroom

:nuke: :sarcasm:

[kentuck]

17. So you think Saddam would get the bomb??

or is that just :sarcasm: ??

[liberal renegade]

21. remember what

kindasleezy said. we're not waiting for a mushroom cloud. no I don't believe he would have gotten the bomb, let alone have the capacity to hurl one our way....

[IndianaGreen]

19. Had we kept Saddam on the payroll, and lifted sanctions, Iraq would have contained Iran

Saddam was secular thug, but he was an avowed enemy of the Islamic fundamentalists and Al-Qaeda. He was our guy, handpicked by CIA to route the Reds, and he should have remained our guy. Saddam asked for permission to invade Kuwait, and our ambassador April Glasbie gave him the green light.

By getting rid of Saddam and siding with the Shias, we have fucked ourselves for good!

[ieoeja]

25. What the IG said!

Sure, Saddam was a monster. But he was OUR monster.


Remember 9/11. Forget Iraq.

[MadMaddie]

20. They would have eventually had a civil war....

or a military assasination....

* just hastened the civil war....

We have no business there, he was no more a threat to the US than many of the other dicators...

[bdamomma]

23. there would more Iraqis living, and living with electricity and water.

[raccoon]

24. Ali Ismail Abbas would still have his arms. And his family. nt

[paulk]

27. what good does this kind of speculation do?

We have to deal with Iraq as it is now.

[Imagevision]

28. 660,000 Iraqi's would still be alive and most would even have a home

[IndyBob]

29. An interesting "what if"

Good for argument's sake if nothing else. Kind of like "what if Hitler has not invaded the USSR?"

Containment was effective, but how many deaths can be attributed to the UN sanctions? Certainly Saddam did not personally suffer. At some point the sanctions would have been lifted.

Certainly there would not be 25k US war casualties, nor the 1/2 trillion in additional debt, and fewer Iraqi dead as well.

Not yet mentioned is the fact Bush would not have been re-elected in 2004. Bin Laden would be captured or dead. Perhaps Kerry, with a true coalition, would have dealt with Iraq in a much more effective and sane manner. Perhaps NK would not have the bomb, and Iran would be dissuaded from pursuing nuclear weapons - if that is what they are doing.

[No Exit]

30. DICK CHENEY'S AND GEORGE W. BUSH'S PERSONAL PROFITS WOULD BE THREATENED!!!

MY GOD! Forgive me for shouting, but how can you even CONTEMPLATE such a horror??????

[jarab]

31. Would probably have anniliated that sob - OBL- by now, too. nt.

...O...