By Seth J. Frantzzman
No Mr Faisal Abbas at Al-Arabiya; Maliki is not a new Saddam (see link below)…Saddam was a leader; Saddam understood his military; Saddam waged a successful war against Iran; Saddam was a fighter who enjoyed the fanatic loyalty of his generals and soldiers; Saddam was loved and admired by many people (to this day); Saddam was an expert politician who outmaneuvered his enemies; Saddam crushed and slaughtered and destroyed whole ethnic groups; he cleansed masses of people; he used chemical weapons; he engineered air raids that surprised the Ayatollah; drank whiskey, built nuclear weapons, built chemical weapons; built bunkers; tried to build a mega-gun; he hoodwinked international communities; he fought the Kuwaitis and humiliated the Saudis; he brought the Gulf Arabs almost to their knees; he had a great mustache…he rained scud missiles on Israel; he dominated the Middle East; he thought he was a cross between Saladin and Stalin; he enjoyed spending time with his soldiers at the front; he was charismatic and dapper; he was secular and also admired by religious Muslims; he fought the Western powers; he was….in a sense…a man; maybe not a good one; and no, Malaki is not 1 percent of what Saddam was.
Seth J. Frantzman - author - analyst 