Most Iraqis hate the Ba'athists.
Too strong. He had a lot of support among Sunnis, and probably among some other groups.
The point I'm trying to make is that the Muslim world is largely angry, violent, frustrated and humiliated...and a lot of blame for this is heaped on Westerners - particularly Americans. We cannot defend against boxcutters. So we have to try to change Muslim culture.
We chose Iraq for many reasons but one certainly is the support we were likely to find among the population, both for our culture and our policy of overthrowing the Ba'athists.
Here's another article which might interest you
I like Tahiri. I think he knows his stuff.