I'm sure we knew he wasn't a choir boy, but I don't think we knew he'd gas thousands.

Personally, I believe that in the long term, fundamentalist regimes are self limiting. They usually become corrupt, entrenched bureaucracies (theocracies I suppose is a better word) and eventually fail from within. I think Iran is well on the way to that goal. The danger comes in the end days when power is slipping, those in power start to fear and do dangerous/horrible things to consolidate & maintain power. I posit that corruption & power are pervasive in all forms of government. It's just that in a democratic state there exists a check on corruption called the ballot box.

-Zeke