"I wonder what we'll say in a year's time, if we live through this."

What in the hell are you talking about!!?

Here's one little suggestion- find better news sources.
You keep on posting these articles from this online newspaper that has low watt bulbs for journalists. For example, from what I gather, this Martin van Creveld seems to think only Saddam can keep Iraq intact. Which would imply that if you don't want horrible civil wars from erupting, you then should generally be a supporter of Saddam- in order to preserve peace, Saddam was the right man for the job and did everything right. He thinks Saddam is the man with the "right stuff". And if this Martin character isn't merely some vicious bigot, then we can assume he would like to broaden this kind of leadership (i.e., the rape rooms, minders, and unmarked mass graves) so it's more widespread throughout the world- for instance, Canada could find more enlightenment & joy by attempting to copy Saddam's wise leadership.