Quote:
Originally Posted by astralis
ba,
sure, but he dramatically miscalculated what it would take to keep him there. 9-11 was an oh-shite moment for him, but he never believed, deep-down, that the US would want to pluck him out.
instead, he tried to play the nuclear bluff. but instead of deterring the US, it magnified the perceived threat. this was part of the reason why saddam was so dangerous: he had a history of making this type of miscalculation about what he could or could not do. this was apparent from the iran-iraq war, the persian gulf war, and very finally the iraq war.
he would have done far better for himself if he had pulled a libya and abjectly bowed down.
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Dangerous or stupid? He miscalulated and bluffed himself right out of a nice gig. I agree, he could have pulled a Libya and continued to play King Hussein in Iraq. We probably would have left him alone and turned the other way at his oppression of the Shiites, as long as he allowed unfettered access by UN inspectors and the American "diplomats."
Instead, the 3rd time was the charm. He got his ass handed to him.