Democracy and islam simply don't go together. Saddam also made the middle east extra unstable by constantly attacking his neighbours. Had all Americans been driving alectric cars, would the Bush clan have invaded Iraq? The saoudi's supports terrorism, both with weapons and lots of money...
I don't want to quote myself in another thread, but Saddam is exactly the type of dictator that can keep the lid on the middle east.
As to your question about "if were driving electric cars". Of course not. We had a strategic defense treaty with Saudi Arabia that they invoked. Why did we ink that treaty? Because a steady supply of oil is in our economic interests. I am not sure why that is such a stunning thing for folks. No oil == depression, depression == dead Americans. In effect, Saddam was threatening economic war on the United States.
If Saddam had called up Bush and said, "I am taking the oilfields from the Gulf Oil Ticks. Don't get in the way and I promise $10/bbl oil for the next 3 decades", the Saddam Iraqi empire would stretch from the Jordan River to the Arabian Sea. Opportunity lost.
