I think if Saddam had ever attempted to control the Strait of Hormuz, he would have been going straight into another war with Iran...a country of far greater strength in depth than Iraq. It would not have gone well for him. Any attempt by Saddam to control the Strait of Hormuz would have led to an immediate Iranian response AND probably also a multi-national attack on Saddam by other powers, and that would have proven fatal to his purpose.

Saddam was really capable of doing just one thing effectively: controlling Iraq. That he could do.

No one else has proven capable of doing it since, seems to me.