The media keeps repeating the misstatement that Saddam Hussein was Sunni, because his tribe was mostly Sunni Muslim. He was in fact a Communist, who would kill anyone who tried to promote religion in Government, Sunni or Shi'ite, unless it served his purpose. For this he was condemned as attacking religious freedom, but as we survey the wreckage of Iraq today, the cruel logic of his actions is obvious. That logic, and understanding of Iraq, made it possible for Saddam's Baathist party to run Iraq, something no party has succeeded at since.
The US doesn't understand Iraq, and though there was much disinterested idealism in our intervention there, the result was more cruel than leaving the Baathists in power. Zealots with weapons, determined to save the world, threaten Iraq more than the cruelest gangster like Saddam. Not long ago, we were the foreign zealots, if we can be forgiven for what we did, it would be for ignorance. Nothing forgives intervention now. We know the horror now. We can't fix this mess.
