Conflict

I have to say that I am very conflicted with not only America but the world as a whole. I'm going to stick with the good ole USA for now and talk about dictators. Before I begin I'd like to say that I do not hate America. Saddam was a bad man. He was a dictator and he ruled ruthlessly and in some cases inhumanly. Yet history shows that the American government help to empower him. He was always a dictator and a ruthless man yet we helped him. When he used chemical weapons our government was fine with it. When he had numerous people murdered our government was fine with it. Our government supports and has supported numerous dictators "evil regimes" throughout history that have gone on and done the same. Iran, South Vietnam, South Korea, Afghanistan, South Africa, the Colombian drug cartels, al-Quida, and the list goes on. How can we tout democracy while at the same time let a Saddam rule? The argument can be stated that it is in the best interests of the US control these leaders and you can make a case for that. You can't be vocal about a dictator that you support. But you can't tout democracy and support a Saddam at the same time yet we do both. What are your thoughts?