# "There are no liberators: the People liberate themselves"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-no-liberators-the-people-liberate-themselves/168002>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [April 11, 2003, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-no-liberators-the-people-liberate-themselves/168002 "2003-04-11T10:42:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-no-liberators-the-people-liberate-themselves/168002/21 "2003-04-11T23:36:16Z")

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Thats exactly what Saddam did and it was the following elections that netted him the 100%. Fancy that. ☹

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**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-no-liberators-the-people-liberate-themselves/168002/22 "2003-04-14T11:38:17Z")

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I wasn’t really aiming for a discussion of the relative awfulness of the world’s despots.

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**Author:** ![OliverH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@OliverH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverH)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-no-liberators-the-people-liberate-themselves/168002/23 "2003-04-14T12:10:20Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ben Hicks \*  
> \*\*This seems to me to be the crux of your OP. It seems reasonable to me that power would have passed from Saddam to his son Qusay who, if reports coming from Iraq are in any way accurate, is just as bloodthirsty and despotic as his old man. How would a process of de-Ba’athification actually take place if Qusay were to keep his father stranglehold on power? How would such a transfer of power be prevented? \*\*

You’re making assumptions here. Qusay may be even more ruthless, but he alone can only do so much harm. Without the establishment WANTING him to succeed his father, he won’t be able to take over. You’re assuming that all those Ba’ath people loyal to Saddam will also be loyal to Qusay. You’re assuming none of them thinks he himself should be rewarded for his loyalty to Saddam by succeeding him and has some support for that claim. Qusay may be just as ruthless, or even more, but that does not mean he has as much support.

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