Hussein and Bush Both Were Blinded by Their Preset Ideas

Re “Through Hussein’s Looking Glass,” Oct. 12: Apparently, Saddam Hussein was convinced that the U.S. knew he didn’t have any weapons of mass destruction (although he wanted Iran to think he did) and would have passed over Iraq in order to defuse a very real threat in Iran. In a similarly farcical fashion, President Bush and his administration absolutely knew that Iraq had WMD and that the Iraqis and the rest of the world would shower us with love and adoration for removing such a threat. So it seems that our president and Hussein have at least one thing in common: a distorted worldview.

Molly Thomas

Thousand Oaks

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Hussein counted on a rational, informed president. But at almost every stage, Hussein’s errors were mirrored by the Bush administration’s. Both leaders were incapable of seeing the truth because they were blinded by their own preset ideas. Both leaders would not abide any views that were contrary to their own. Both were ignorant of life outside their own countries. Both were by nature belligerent and willing to use the power they possessed to achieve their goals with violence if necessary.

Hussein saw himself as a great leader who would secure the future for his nation and the Mideast. He surrounded himself only with sycophants and appeared only before adoring crowds. His rantings, posturing and displays of alpha-dog machismo are almost comically mirrored in Bush’s standard stump appearances. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. These two deeply flawed men have led us to the brink of disaster.

Casey Kelley

Fairplay, Colo.

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Was Hussein deluded himself and deluding us? Sure, and how eager were we to swallow whole the lies of an Iranian agent? I keep thinking of Martin Woollacott’s prescient prewar comment in the Guardian, “It is precisely because he is not now a real threat to the U.S., nor a real ally of Al Qaeda, and nor, probably, in possession of usable weapons, that war is feasible.” Amen.

Tim Sassoon

Venice

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So Hussein set his country up for invasion by grossly overestimating the sophistication of U.S. intelligence-gathering capabilities and political savvy. We sure fooled him, didn’t we?

Nina Stern McCullaugh

Sherman Oaks