Saddam was suppressing a civil war. Brutally, savagely and inhumanely. He was successful, even with US harassment.

Bush is trying to suppress a civil war. Qualitatively the same methods. He is unsuccessful, a complete failure even if copying the same brutality.

A difference in this instance is profound. Police tasked with security killing people because of their religion, not because they are trying to secede. Very much like Hitler killing people only because they were Jews.

Bush says he is trying to turn the security of the country over to the same people who are perpetrating the civil war. Bush is "training", arming and paying the same Shiite government which has a police force and death squads of Ministry of Interior people killing people only because they are Sunni.

There are those who have said with some reason that the Bush administration doesn't care what happens to Sunnis - Saddam was a Sunni, they are all bad. And it certainly seems to work out that way in practice.

Arf