His supporters view him as a defender of the poor who fought for the state’s rights against the interests of the West. His detractors view him as the first in a series of disastrous would-be strongmen who led Iraq on to the path to instability that culminated in dictator Saddam Hussein.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "His supporters view him as a defender of the poor who fought for the state’s rights against the interests of the West. His detractors view him as the first in a series of disastrous would-be strongmen who led Iraq on to the path to instability that culminated in dictator Saddam Hussein." in the context of "Raheem Salman and Ned Parker, IRAQ: Iraqis pay tribute to a strongman, Los Angeles Times: World, (July 14, 2009)." to mean that wisdom is timeless.