Yup, keep telling yourself Saddam is just one isolated totalitarian leader with nobody who would succeed him with the same convictions and ideals...

So? Ignore them too. I think that you should let the people of a country decide upon their own destiny. Deposing one head of state and replacing him with an American puppet is not the right way to resolve the issue, even if it does bring favourable oil price agreements.

Particularly when you then leave that guy high and dry when his policies suddenly don't agree with yours. If you do that, there are (at least) two possible results:

1. He doesn't get deposed: He gets annoyed with you for dropping him.
2. He does get deposed: His replacement gets annoyed with you for propping him up for so long.