That was the same argument about Mussolini. He made the trains run on time, which is what the tourists want most in a foreign country, after clean food and water and brigands that only rob you not beat you up or kill you. The trains run on time; who cares about the businessman or two left to die handcuffed to a lamppost, a quart of castor oil poured down his throat.

Tito did a pretty good job in Yugoslavia, too. The trick is very old, and was used by the Brits in India, the Mongols in Asia, etc., throughout time. By pitting one group against another, and setting yourself up as the arbiter of conflict, and if necessary crusher of dissent, the potential enemies of your rule spend energy fighting each other rather than overthrowing you.

However, when you slip up, like Tito did by dying, or Saddam did by angering the big dog US, or the Brits did by not recognizing Ghandi as a nationalistic force early enough to stop him, you lose the whole thing and the internecine strife previously used to keep each group occupied comes to the fore with a vengeance.

Darn that history, it keeps working the same way under similar circumstances - pity one can't learn from it and not repeat it!