Saddam needed to be remove for well over a decade before we finally did. The only problem was the fact we didn't kill him and didn't take the war far enough. We should not have stopped with Iraq, we should have continued on to Syria and Iran and not take the time to rebuild any of them. If the country is destroyed and then left alone the will not be a threat to anyone for years to come. Trying to build a democracy in the region is good in theory but will not succeed in over coming their blind following of radical Islamists. Leaving the countries in devastation works better.