Who was the lesser evil in the Iran-Iraq war

[OSR stands with Israel]

Hard one

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Iran. Of course the US sided with Iraq.

[ElectionsGuy]

Iran. Hussein was the aggressor and a power-hungry maniac. Of course, both sides were terrible and the United States shouldn't have supported a side.

[Thunderbird is the word]

Kind of want to say Iraq only because they at least we're secular but I'm not a Kurd or a political dissident so a pox on both houses.

[Blair]

Uhm it's not close-pre-war I'd argue Saddam since he was secular, pro-western and a moderate who held the region up. But then in 1980 he went crazy, invaded Iran and then proceeded to use chemical weapons when he thought he was going to lose.

Literally killed hundreds of thousands, in the longest war of the 20th century just for oil-oh the irony

[TNF]

Clearly Iraq (not pro-Islamic fundamentalism)

[Cory]

Clearly Iraq (not pro-Islamic fundamentalism)

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Both were terrible. Bathism vs. Shia fundamentalism. But in the end....

Clearly Iraq (not pro-Islamic fundamentalism)

[Nhoj]

This is not a conflict where one should support a side. Especially in retrospect.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

This is not a conflict where one should support a side. Especially in retrospect.

We always pick a side in the middle east , no matter how stupid and inconsistent with the previous sides we've picked.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Iran. Hussein was the aggressor and a power-hungry maniac. Of course, both sides were terrible and the United States shouldn't have supported a side.

Wow, I agree with a post by ElectionsGuy.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Clearly Iraq (not pro-Islamic fundamentalism)

Disagreeing with you. Regardless of how repulsive Iran's ideology was, Iraq was the blatant aggressor.

[SWE]

The one being invaded

[The Mikado]

Iraq invaded Iran in a brutal, unabashed land-grab and the Iranians resisted, despite Iraq's use of chemical weapons banned by treaty for over half a century by that point. Chastised after a bloody stalemate, the Iraqi regime picked a fight against a much weaker neighbor in another unabashed landgrab that was only undone by a massive intervention by the international community. The Iraqi regime had made repeated noises about invading Saudi Arabia and seizing its massive oil reserves as well.

I find it hard to imagine why someone would pick Iraq.

[Mr. Smith]

Iran (actually bothered to read Persepolis)

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

Iran, not that being the "lesser evil" in this conflict meant much.

[Sumner 1868]

Iraq, although in hindsight an Iranian victory would probably be better.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Iraq invaded Iran in a brutal, unabashed land-grab and the Iranians resisted, despite Iraq's use of chemical weapons banned by treaty for over half a century by that point. Chastised after a bloody stalemate, the Iraqi regime picked a fight against a much weaker neighbor in another unabashed landgrab that was only undone by a massive intervention by the international community. The Iraqi regime had made repeated noises about invading Saudi Arabia and seizing its massive oil reserves as well.

I find it hard to imagine why someone would pick Iraq.

Donald Rumsfeld probably had "known unknowns" about how Iraq could be useful as an enemy to fight in 1-2 decades time.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Iraq, although in hindsight an Iranian victory would probably be better.

In hindsight an Iraqi victory would be better since if Suddam captured Iranian oilfields he would not invade Kuwait and threaten Saudi Arabia meaning the Gulf War is avoided and the US doesnt invade in 2003 meaning there is no ISIS today

[Indy Texas]

Iraq, although in hindsight an Iranian victory would probably be better.

In hindsight an Iraqi victory would be better since if Suddam captured Iranian oilfields he would not invade Kuwait and threaten Saudi Arabia meaning the Gulf War is avoided and the US doesnt invade in 2003 meaning there is no ISIS today

Even if that had happened, a major driver for the invasion of Kuwait was Iraq's perilous financial situation after the war. Oil prices were in the gutter in the late '80s and even with the addition of Iranian territory, Iraq wouldn't necessarily be getting enough revenue from oil to fund the sort of spending Saddam was engaging in at that time.

And it would have created the issue of altering the country's demographics to favor Shi'ites even more - ostensibly he would have annexed Iran's Kuzestan province, which has an Arabic-speaking Shia majority. (And the population there still supported their home nation of Iran rather than their ethnic counterpart Iraq, so who knows how they would have handled being forcibly made into Saddam Hussein's subjects.)

Even if there had been no 1991 or 2003 Gulf Wars, Saddam wouldn't have lived forever and it's pretty obvious that his sons were basically spoiled, psychotic brats who sure as hell wouldn't have been capable of running a country. Once Saddam was out of the picture, there would be the same sort of sectionalist issues facing Iraq IRL.

[The Mikado]

Iraq invaded Iran in a brutal, unabashed land-grab and the Iranians resisted, despite Iraq's use of chemical weapons banned by treaty for over half a century by that point. Chastised after a bloody stalemate, the Iraqi regime picked a fight against a much weaker neighbor in another unabashed landgrab that was only undone by a massive intervention by the international community. The Iraqi regime had made repeated noises about invading Saudi Arabia and seizing its massive oil reserves as well.

I find it hard to imagine why someone would pick Iraq.

Donald Rumsfeld probably had "known unknowns" about how Iraq could be useful as an enemy to fight in 1-2 decades time.

How is that related to what I posted?

[OSR stands with Israel]

Bump

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Iraq. Saddam was trying to prevent the Islamic revolution spreading, he saw the dangers of Khomeini. He wanted to seize their oil so they would lose their power.

[Zioneer]

The one being invaded

Iraq invaded Iran in a brutal, unabashed land-grab and the Iranians resisted, despite Iraq's use of chemical weapons banned by treaty for over half a century by that point. Chastised after a bloody stalemate, the Iraqi regime picked a fight against a much weaker neighbor in another unabashed landgrab that was only undone by a massive intervention by the international community. The Iraqi regime had made repeated noises about invading Saudi Arabia and seizing its massive oil reserves as well.

I find it hard to imagine why someone would pick Iraq.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Bump

Why?