Jimmie. Saddam was a monster, not a monster of epic proportions, but a monster all the same. Here's a few points to consider though.
We support or have supported far worse monsters. We supported Saddam Hussein during the period of time he committed most of the atrocities we're having him tried for now.
He was not an Islamist, he was a socialist (baath party) committed to destroying Islamists. Nearly all of his atrocities were committed against Islamic fundamentalists... they hated him. He hated them. Had he given them WMDs, he would likely have been their first target.
Right now there is a pitched battle going on between Sunni and Al Qaeda... We're not fighting the Borg here, these are individuals with long histories and agendas which quite often don't involve us.
The comparison to Hitler's Wehrmacht is laughable. Hitler had an Army the like of which the world had not seen. Do you remember running into any Rommels on the road to Baghdad? Given time they wouldn't have bred any either. The regime was cornered and unable to move. We contained the Russians for 40+ years. Hussein wasn't going to take that long.
Lastly... and this may come as a real shock. Iraq didn't attack us on 9/11. You might say the Saudis did, with help from the Pakistani Secret Service. You also might say they were backstopped in some measure by the Bush Crime Family, or so it would seem.
