Thirteen years ago, the United States went to war against Iraq s dictator, Saddam Hussein. While the war ended up being a costly and deadly mistake, propelled by lies, Republicans have long held on to the belief that getting rid of Hussein was a huge bonus for the world. Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner for President, though, disagrees. To Trump, Saddam Hussein should have been praised. Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. Right? He was a bad guy, really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn t read them the rights   they didn t talk, they were a terrorist, it was over,  Trump said as many in his audience of about 2,000 laughed on Tuesday evening.  Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism. You want to be a terrorist, you go to Iraq. It s like Harvard. Okay? So sad. Source: Independent UKHere s the video:Republicans aren t at all happy: He was one of the 20th century s most evil people. He was up there. He committed mass genocide against his own people using chemical weapons,  Ryan told Fox News  Megyn Kelly when asked for his reaction.  Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. This isn t the first time Trump has said something similar. Back in October, Trump said if both Muammar Qaddafi and Saddam Hussein were still in power, the Middle East would be a more stable region.He related the situations in both of those countries with what is currently happening in Syria and seemed to endorse a stronger Bashar Assad, even while admitting that he is  probably a bad guy.   You can make the case, if you look at Libya, look at what we did there   it s a mess   if you look at Saddam Hussein with Iraq, look what we did there   it s a mess   it s [Syria] going to be same thing,  the real estate mogul said.Source: MSNBCTrump isn t alone in having that belief. Many Democrats, including Bernie Sanders, share his opinion. Yes, things were more stable during Hussein s regime, but Think Progress makes the point that the Arab Spring, which caused the ousting and death of Muammar Qaddafi, would have still happened, and it would have affected Iraq.The current state of countries like Iraq, Syria, and Libya has been influenced by foreign involvement and regime change, there is no denying that. But even more constructive in the current chaos is a surviving legacy of political repression and brutal torture. Sanders, Cruz, Paul and the like may be using the premise of stability to argue that the Middle East would be better off under such dictators. Yet under such despots, security is fleeting and chaos follows closely.Again, there s no legitimate defense of the Iraq War, and perhaps the region would have less terrorism now if we hadn t overthrown him (although much of the terrorism is related to our occupation, and not to the overthrow of the government). This can all be debated, and will be debated, for possibly decades.However, the most frightening aspect of Trump s comments is his obsession with dictators. Not only has he praised Hussein and Qaddafi, he s also praised Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. That s a frightening hint at how he plans to run the nation.Featured image via Sara D. Davis at Getty Images. 