Saddam has dropped off the world's stage. It's very good news. At a gathering of some friends the other day, someone remarked that the 'chaos' in Iraq today is far worse than the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. I have to say, I can never understand this widely held view:

1980-88: Iran-Iraq war left 150,000 to 340,000 Iraqis and 450,000 to 730,000 Iranians dead.

1983-1988: Documented chemical attacks by Iraqi regime caused some 30,000 Iraqi and Iranian deaths.

1988: Chemical attack on Kurdish village of Halabja killed approximately 5,000 people.

1987-1988: Iraqi regime used chemical agents in attacks against at least 40 Kurdish villages.

1990-91: 1,000 Kuwaitis were killed in Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

1991: Bloody suppression of Kurdish and Shi'a uprisings in northern and southern Iraq killed at least 30,000 to 60,000. At least 2,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed during the campaign of terror.

2001: Amnesty International report: "Victims of torture in Iraq are subjected to a wide range of forms of torture, including the gouging out of eyes, severe beatings and electric shocks... some victims have died as a result and many have been left with permanent physical and psychological damage."

Human Rights Watch: Saddam's 1987-1988 campaign of terror against the Kurds killed at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 100,000 Kurds.

Refugees International: "Oppressive government policies have led to the internal displacement of 900,000 Iraqis."

Iraq's 13 million Shiite Muslims, the majority of Iraq's population of approximately 22 million, faced severe restrictions on their religious practice.

I think it's much better to have the bad guys skulking around in the shadows, living in fear for their lives, rather than sitting comfortably as the supreme power of the land. But that's just me, I guess. People who are nostalgic for the supposed 'stability' of pre-invasion Iraq forget that it was forged by the brutal deaths of hundreds of thousands and maintained by an almost unparalleled regime of terror and repression.

Hopefully Saddam's death will help Iraqis put their past disagreements behind them and let them build a better future together.