Quote Originally Posted by Del Arroyo
Sadaam was never ever good for Iraq. Iraq's happiest days were before he came to power. The Baath Party did do a number of good things for Iraq-- but as for Sadaam, he fought a losing war against Iran, a disastrous war against the Western coalition, and starved his own people in the name of national pride all the while building bigger and more extravagant Palaces of Pleasure for himself. Dozens of these palaces were built during the years of the sanctions regime, using money that was earmarked to provide food, clothing, and medicine for the Iraqi people.

Sadaam never was and never could be in any way good for Iraq. The disaster which has resulted from the US's wishful thinking is an entirely separate matter.
While all that is true, its not the whole story.

We are never told that he led an extensive modernization program of Iraq that included:

* He redirected the control of Iraqi oil from international monopolies so that Iraq would receive their oil revenues, which caused a huge economic boom to the country.
* Iraq started providing social services to its citizens that were unprecedented in the middle east.
* He established a campaign to eradicate illiteracy from Iraq and free education became compulsory to the highest educational levels.
* The government also supported families of soldiers, granted free health care to everyone, and gave subsidies to farmers.
* Iraq created one of the most modernized public-health systems in the Middle East, earning Saddam an award from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).