Why was there no civil war in Iraq when Saddam was in power?

i look at pictures of Iraq of the bloodshed and killings why did this not happen while he was in power . we was told that was a torturer and the iraqis had no freedoms that why we invaded . maybe he needed to be like that to rule over these crazy people. we justify what goes on in guantanamo bay saying we need to do this to keep the world safe maybe he needed to do that to keep iraq safe.