Originally posted by smass
Anyone have a comment on where and how he was found? Talk about surrendering with a whimper - where was all the gun blazing and fight to the death rhetoric? Didn't surprise me really - a bully like Sadamm becomes a lamb when he is cornered.
As much as we like to think that Saddam Hussein is a "monster", he is, after all, just a human being. I know that some people think that we're not supposed to regard "monsters" as human beings, so if my comments offend you, please skip over this post.
The idea that a notorious "monster" like Saddam would put up the fight of his life when he was cornered is a quaint, romantic notion, but it's not realistic. Human beings are not storybook characters. Reality is always so much more grimy and pathetic than we imagine it to be.
I'm not surprised that Saddam was dishevelled, disoriented, and ready to give up. Saddam is a tired old man. Not only did he look like a homeless person, he
was a homeless person. His old, secure life was gone, and he was reduced to a state in which he constantly worried about his own survival. Don't forget, this is a man who was accustomed to almost inhuman luxury, and he was reduced to sleeping in cars and hiding in holes. I can imagine that living that way practically put him into a state of shock. Please don't think I'm trying to sympathize with him. The truth is, I wish the soldiers had thrown a grenade into his "spider hole" (in reality, that almost happened). I'm just trying to understand the state he was in when he was captured.
I'm also not surprised that he didn't throw his life away in a futile gunfight. I'm aware that Saddam extolled the virtues of
other people's sacrifices. But you would have to be incredibly naive to believe that everyone who wants
other people to make sacrifices is willing to sacrifice
his own life, even for the same cause. Take a look at
any leader who sends his soldiers into battle while he remains safe inside his own palace behind his bodyguards. Besides, Saddam is a narcissist and just isn't capable of sacrificing himself for anything.
There's also one other thing to take into account. Most people who are willing to martyr themselves are fundamentalists who submit to something higher than themselves. Saddam is not a fanatic; he is a secularist. And obviously, he would never submit to anything higher than himself, because in his mind, there's nothing higher than himself.
Now, don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way, but here's the way I think that Saddam
perceives himself. He doesn't think that he has ever done anything wrong. You know the old saying, "Necessity is the tyrant's plea"? Look at Saddam's defense for his own actions: "I did what had to be done." And what's more, he
got away with it. Surely this has some effect on his thinking. So when he was captured, he probably figured (if he was thinking clearly, or as clearly as he ever thinks) that no harm will come to him; after all, in his own mind he believes that he is "innocent" and he believes that he will be vindicated. If that makes him a madman, I won't argue with you, but I rack it up to extreme narcissism and a moral compass that always puts him in the right (in his own mind) no matter how atrocious his actions are.
I think there's also one other reason why he feels safe in American hands. As some of you have already pointed out, Saddam was regarded as an ally before he invaded Kuwait. He actually believed that the U.S. wouldn't mind if he invaded Kuwait; he thought that he had cleared it with the American ambassador. I don't think he's the only person who had trouble believing that he could be our "friend" one day and "the new Hitler" the next day. I suspect that he was never able to comprehend that. And he probably believed that his old friends who turned on him and ostracized him were completely hypocritical, if not insincere. I wouldn't be surprised if he felt, "I don't believe this is happening. You people are insane." And that sentiment, coupled with his self-righteousness, led him to believe that there would always be a way out for him--even when he was captured.
If that's the case, then sure, Saddam Hussein is irrational. But if that's the case, it's not too hard to understand the condition he was in when he was captured.
