The Kurdish part of Iraq did pretty well once Saddam was deposed. The central government is weak, and wasn&#x27;t able to fend off ISIS but at least their human rights record is much better than Saddam&#x27;s. And like, if Saddam still ruled Iraq currently, would he be able to hold back ISIS? I&#x27;d say no. In fact, ISIS would get even more sympathisers because by this time everybody would be sick of Saddam&#x27;s shit. Look at Libya. Khaddafi&#x27;s &quot;strong man&quot; reputation didn&#x27;t mean nothing when people started fighting back against his regime. Look at Syria. Assad is supposedly &quot;strong&quot; but this days, and historically he had very weak control of his country.<p>The idea that these people should be propped up because they are &quot;lesser evil&quot; has no experimental basis. Reminds me of WW2 &quot;appeasement&quot; honestly. It only makes the problem worse in the long run.