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Re: Shooting fish in a barrel
Robert — (archived)

Perhaps speculation #2 is "just plain silly", but then nobody claims that Saddam is anywhere near rational.

The point about Bush's clear determination to go to war no matter what Saddam did, is that saying that you're using the threat of war to force a desired behavior doesn't work very well if the subject perceives war is inevitable anyway. There's no payoff to giving in if it buys you nothing. Better (by that logic) to stand and fight and inevitably go down in flames, taking martyrdom as the consolation prize. Saddam styled himself a modern-day Palladin--epic mythology was a factor in his personality, and he may have hoped to add his name to the pantheon of Islamic heroes. If he wasn't completely dishonest about being a believer, what was left for him but to buy a place in Paradise with the usual horde of virgins?

--Robert

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