Raedwulf...I cross posted, and missed your question. I take back the statesmanship bit.
My obections to the war were mainly that it seemed certain to increase the terrorist threat to the West.
Corrupt regimes like Saddams'can only survive with the help of a large section,usually a powerful section of the population.
In Saddams case corruption had trickled down through the Baath party and the military,into middle class society.If these societies are not proped up by outside interests,(America and UK)they usually evolve into something else.In the case of Iraq that would probably have been an Islamic Republic,and that would not have suited the West.This to my mind was the probable real reason for the war,but the effect has been to bring that Islamic Republic even closer.
Im afraid there are no quick political fixes in this world and sometimes evolution is the only way...Ake