NEW YORK: Republican front-runner Donald Trump has said that the Middle East of today would have been much stronger if the likes of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Qadhafi were still in power in Iraq and Libya.

Responding to a question during the NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ programme whether Middle East would have been better off with strongmen in power, he said “not even a contest”.

As the situation in Syria continues to unravel, Mr Trump is yearning for the days of the strongmen.

“Iraq is a disaster. And ISIS ... came out of Iraq — the leftovers that didn’t get taken care of”.

“Of course [the Middle East] would be [more stable]. You wouldn’t have had your Benghazi situation, which is one thing which was just a terrible situation,” Trump said.

Trump has consistently made it known that he opposed the Iraq War since it began in 2003, a view only shared by two other Republican contenders.

Published in Dawn, October 5th , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play