Saddam Hussein has had a difficult time adjusting to life out of power and in the hands of the people he brutalized for four decades. That kind of life change can cause cognitive difficulties for someone in that position; the mind plays tricks on megalomaniacs, allowing them to believe that they still occupy the center of the universe. That would explain Saddam's latest delusions of grandeur:

Saddam Hussein believes the United States will have to seek his help to quell the bloody insurgency in Iraq and open the way for U.S. forces to withdraw, his chief lawyer said Sunday.

Khalil al-Dulaimi argued in an interview with The Associated Press that the former leader is the key to returning stability to Iraq.

"He's their last resort. They're going to knock at his door eventually," the lawyer said. Saddam is "the only person who can stop the resistance against the U.S. troops." ...

Al-Dulaimi said Saddam brought up the topic during a meeting Tuesday, and indicated he would be willing to help the United States — "for the sake of saving both peoples — the Iraqis and Americans."

He quoted Saddam as saying:

"These puppets in the Iraqi government that the Americans brought to power are helpless. They can't protect themselves or the Iraqi people. The Americans will certainly come to me, to Saddam Hussein's legitimate leadership and to the Iraqi Baath Party, to rescue them from their huge quandary."

If George Bush has already heard this, it has to have provided him with the best laugh he's had in months. The notion that the US wants Saddam for anything other than a windchime in the courtyard of a Baghdad prison has to be the craziest idea yet from the former Iraqi dictator. However, it is exactly the kind of delusion that sociopaths often create when their deeds finally catch up to them. The world has to center on them; they cannot conceive that they do not occupy the thoughts of everyone around them.

The Americans will not soon ask Saddam for assistance in any way, shape, or form. They have almost as much use for him as the Shi'ites and the Kurds, who may want him dead a little more than Washington and for better reason. Saddam may not psychically survive the realization that he is both impotent and irrelevant to the future of Iraq, but the facts remain so.

The most humorous part of this story is the way the AP reports it. Jamal Halaby actually provides serious analysis that informs the reader that the Kurds and Shi'ites would likely "be enflamed by his presence". No kidding; the man practiced genocide against both populations. Only an idiot or an AP reporter would take this seriously enough to spend time discussing how the Americans could throw the trial to allow him to work to restore legitimacy to Iraq.

Apparently Saddam isn't the only one suffering delusions.

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Saddam's "latest delusions of grandeur," Captain's Quarters writes, is his belief that America needs his help to achieve peace in Iraq. The most humorous part of this story is the way the AP reports it. Jamal Halaby actually provides serious... [Read More]

Tracked on June 26, 2006 7:01 AM