>>162112The stigma derives primarily from the pressure of US/western propaganda. Not that Saddam Hussein
needs to be defended - he doesn't, it's adequate to say, as most do, that the US destruction and occupation of Iraq was and is a horrible crime based on lies, and that Iraq was better off under Saddam Hussein than under US dictates.
With regards to Saddam, he committed many horrible crimes with US and European support, and it wasn't until he began doing good deeds (striking "israel," offering solidarity with Palestine because it's popular and he derived some legitimacy from popular sentiment, invading Kuwait, which is effectively a gas station for the US empire, etc.) that all the horrible deeds, which the west had supported, became unforgivable in western consciousness.
With regards to Milosevic, it's a case of the US doing a fairly good job of muddying the waters and burying its crimes. If more people remembered Yugoslavia, he would probably be reassessed, even if it would not be an outstandingly positive reassessment.
>>162113That's objectively not the reason people are anxious about defending them.