This is a great day for those of us who hate dictators!

During his reign of terror, Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons twice. He used them against the Iranian army and the Kurds. See Did someone tell the Kurds that Saddam did not have WMDs?

In '90, he invaded Kuwait and unspeakable crimes were committed. As dictator of Iraq, he did not accept any dissent. Homes were sacked. Fathers were forced to watch their daughters raped by soldiers. Mothers were forced to watch the execution of their sons.

Beyond these atrocities, Saddam was shooting at US and UK planes enforcing UN resolutions. He refused to live by the 17 resolutions that followed the '91 cease fire.

Why did Saddam behave this way? He did not think that a US president had the courage to take him out. He spent the 90s playing cat and mouse with the West. His arrogance reached its peak when he kicked out UN inspectors in '98. Saddam gave the UN the middle finger and the West was too "busy" to do anything.

Today, Saddam was found guilty.

This is great victory for justice and it closes a horrible chapter in Iraq. In simple terms, this man is not coming back.