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[BocoDragon]

I was just dining with a prison guard the other night, and he told me a few stories about the inmates.

All guards will build rapport with prisoners. It's inevitable.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

This is like reverse Stockholm Syndrome.

Lima Syndrome

 

[Nemesis121]

A monster pretending to be human, the premise to Attack on Titans...

 

[buttery fistful]

Damn humans and our innate desire to interact with and bond to our fellow man

 

[victreeb3l]

Extremely fascinating article.

 

[Always-honest]

Lima Syndrome

Damn son, you're providing some nice appropriate info throughout threads.
You magnificent beast.

 

[Acyl]

When you're reading a thread about Saddam and someone spoils the Walking Dead for you seasons in advance. Like, what?!?!

 

[Wenger'sBakedBaguettes]

While Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator responsible for over 250,000 deaths in his various purges and genocides, the Iraq War claimed an estimated 150,000 - 600,000 Iraqi civilian lives in the first four years, over 5000 American soldiers, 30,000 Iraq soldiers and lead to the birth of ISIS which lead to countless more deaths. (Source: Wiki)

So, when America intervened in the name of "weapons of mass destruction', "freedom" and "democracy", the death toll and cost of human misery was much higher than anything Saddam Hussein did himself. We're not even counting the deaths from the War in Afghanistan, which was at least somewhat more justified. So yes, Bush was a monster, even though he might seem like a kindly painting Grandpa now. Or at the very least, the American political-military establishment that empowered Bush to destroy countless lives and continues to perpetuate human misery, leading to a cyclical rise in more terrorism around the world, is a monster.

The Baath leadership in Iraq was brutal from day one. For a more recent example that's still alive look how the Syrian Baath leadership has treated it's population throughout the decades. Not as bad as Saddam Hussein but it has the same patterns. Much of ISIS was created and is ran by Baathist who are Saddam loyalists. That's pretty clear for any Iraqi from the fact that the torture and execution methods used in ISIS strongholds are the very same methods famously used under Saddam's reign. It's not uncommon to find posters of Saddam Hussein in those strongholds, or the fact that those strongholds were infected with Baathists and Baathists sympathizers before ISIS took over. Did you just conveniently also skip the religious radicalization of Baathist Saddam's regime carried out in the 90's? Not a pyschopath lol. Any other way you want to shit on Iraq and Iraqis? Maybe you should try and speak to an Iraqi who lived under the Baath regime regardless of whether it was pre and post-Saddam...or just talk to an Iraqi that was directly/indirectly affected by it. Just a thought.

P.S

No it doesn't make Bush any better. He's a war criminal.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

While Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator responsible for over 250,000 deaths in his various purges and genocides, the Iraq War claimed an estimated 150,000 - 600,000 Iraqi civilian lives in the first four years, over 5000 American soldiers, 30,000 Iraq soldiers and lead to the birth of ISIS which lead to countless more deaths. (Source: Wiki)

So, when America intervened in the name of "weapons of mass destruction', "freedom" and "democracy", the death toll and cost of human misery was much higher than anything Saddam Hussein did himself. We're not even counting the deaths from the War in Afghanistan, which was at least somewhat more justified. So yes, Bush was a monster, even though he might seem like a kindly painting Grandpa now. Or at the very least, the American political-military establishment that empowered Bush to destroy countless lives and continues to perpetuate human misery, leading to a cyclical rise in more terrorism around the world, is a monster.

Now go look up the Iran-Iraq war.....

 

[Karsticles]

Tyrants are often painted as monstrously cruel beings on a moment-to-moment basis. When they aren't killing, we don't even know how to portray them - certainly, not as humans. Our popular media regularly depicts supervillains sitting on a grand throne waiting around for evil things to happen. To come to find that these people are humans like ourselves throws an unexpected twist on our perspective. I think this kind of response is expected.

 

[Chuck Norris]

Like countless other rulers who get rebranded as dictators, his true crime was trying to keep Iraq's oil wealth for his own country.

He definitely committed human rights violations, but I don't believe for a second he is unique in that regard to a lot of world leaders.

 

[the_id]

Everyone can be human, and everyone can be a monster. When the man can no longer be a monster, the human returns.

They saw him at his lowest point and were there around the clock so I can understand the deep connection.

Why does this remind me sooo much of the Green Mile?

 

[EmiPrime]

When you're reading a thread about Saddam and someone spoils the Walking Dead for you seasons in advance. Like, what?!?!

I'm still really pissed off about it. Getting TWD spoiled in a Saddam Hussein thread...

I didn't even click on the spoiler tag, I put 2 and 2 together instantly. The art style is instantly recognisable.

 

[Cairax]

I read about Saddam and those soldiers years ago when this happened. I kind of felt he knew that he wasn't coming out of this alive and used this time to make peace with himself. It seemed that he had a genuine interest in the soldiers and their lives. He wanted to know about their wives and girlfriends, he often gave advice on their "love lives", and he also wanted to know about US pop culture in general and wanted to talk to them about movies and beer

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I read about Saddam and those soldiers years ago when this happened. I kind of felt he knew that he wasn't coming out of this alive and used this time to make peace with himself. It seemed that he had a genuine interest in the soldiers and their lives. He wanted to know about their wives and girlfriends, he often gave advice on their "love lives", and he also wanted to know about US pop culture in general and wanted to talk to them about movies and beer

Must have regretted living the life of a genocidal tyrant.

 

[Obliterator]

There is nothing wrong or surprising about this. And it also doesn't make the guards naive. This happens in standard prisons all the time where guards become close with the inmates.

Saddam was a murdering piece of shit but he also was likely very different with all his power taken from him. These guards spent large amounts of time with him and weren't seeing the evil side of him just as there's been plenty of prison guards that start to care for violent criminals.

 

[Nordicus]

A reminder of Saddam Hussein's history by the late great Hitch https://youtu.be/OynP5pnvWOs

Chilling

 

[Avalanche]

Maybe the WMDs were the friends we made along the way.

 

[M.J. Doja]

When you're reading a thread about Saddam and someone spoils the Walking Dead for you seasons in advance. Like, what?!?!

Yeah, I was interested in this thread but that guy's just an asshole or an idiot for not knowing how to use a spoiler tag. Whatever.

 

[Ether_Snake]

And they probably all wish he had remained in power considering the hell that country, and others as a result since, has become.

 

[duckroll]

I don't think this is weird or unexpected. He's a human being, they're human beings. Forced to spend enough time together and without any reason left for hostile intent, what else is there to do but to bond? That doesn't excuse any of the things he did or make him less of a terrible person in the context of his crimes, but as a prisoner with nowhere left to go knowing that it will probably end with execution, he's just a lonely old guy. Anyone with empathy will feel something for that. If anything, the reaction some of the guards have tell me that even as a trained military soldier, it is far easier to kill enemies in the heat of battle when you are fighting for your life, than you see the enemy as an actual human being and then witness their execution in a controlled environment.

 

[NewGame]

Lots of people in this thread seem to think killing him was some great justice, some virtuous slaying that righted all the wrongs in the world. He died like Guevara

"I know you've come to kill me. Shoot, you are only going to kill a man."

And that's what they did, kill some old guy. Terrorists are still here; worse than ever before. Killing Saddam was a token gesture of power and a weak attempt to send a warning to anyone else that opposed "freedom and democracy".

 

[Jacob]

Vietnam didn't ignite the whole region.

Vietnam didn't destabilize the entire Middle East and lead to groups like ISIS

It's not even close

The Vietnam War absolutely destabilized SEA and played a significant role in the rise of the Khmer Rouge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laotian_Civil_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh_trail
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_Civil_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian_genocide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodian-Vietnamese_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War

That's not to say that the US was wholly responsible for the Indochina Wars anymore than you could say that about ISIS, especially since France was more involved for the first decade of war, but as far as miscalculations go Vietnam killed a lot more people.

 

[BennyBlanco]

He was a grandpa many times over. You can't expect real life human beings to be 1 note comic book villains.

 

[LifEndz]

Were these soldiers given this detail without any training? Wtf. A goddamn office and parting gifts? Sickening.

 

[Dalek]

Were these soldiers given this detail without any training? Wtf. A goddamn office and parting gifts? Sickening.

I believe when I heard the interview the author stated that these were indeed fresh troops. They all signed up after 9/11 and were anxious to see some action-and next thing you know they're guarding Saddam.

I don't think this is weird or unexpected. He's a human being, they're human beings. Forced to spend enough time together and without any reason left for hostile intent, what else is there to do but to bond? That doesn't excuse any of the things he did or make him less of a terrible person in the context of his crimes, but as a prisoner with nowhere left to go knowing that it will probably end with execution, he's just a lonely old guy. Anyone with empathy will feel something for that. If anything, the reaction some of the guards have tell me that even as a trained military soldier, it is far easier to kill enemies in the heat of battle when you are fighting for your life, than you see the enemy as an actual human being and then witness their execution in a controlled environment.

And this is exactly what I took from it too. The fact they they went to war ready to fuck shit up and then end up crying when the main enemy is killed.

 

[Gleethor]

People expect an "evil" person to be a cartoon villain 24 hours a day.

I know, Trump has really spoiled us.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

I understand this phenomenon completely. Mainly because dictators don't think they are dictators. And people are people. Taking another life is traumatic. Hell, the literal guy that shot bin Laden was on suicide watch afterwards.

Can't wait for the movie, we even have the title already.

Yup. It's gonna happen.

 

[MattKeil]

When you're reading a thread about Saddam and someone spoils the Walking Dead for you seasons in advance. Like, what?!?!

The show and the comic bear almost zero resemblance to one another other than character names and rough characterizations at this point. The odds that that scene will occur in the show are quite low.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

I remember a Norm MacDonald joke where he said he wouldn't go back in time to kill Hitler because he was afraid he'd "fall under the spell of his fucking beautiful eyes."

He was joking, obviously, but there's some truth to it. These people don't just fall into power, they're incredibly charismatic.