Hey, Doug...cool idea, but what I'd actually like is WORLD citizenship...for you, me, and everybody else. That, however, is a long way off at this point. Until people have basically the same rights, more or less the same standard of living, and the same legal protections and representation in all places, it will not happen.

For the time being, I would like to go for triple citizenship in Canada, the USA, and Cuba...3 places I love to visit now and then...but not if I have to pay both US and Canadian taxes! I'm not that rich. Cuban taxes, I can handle. Iraqui citizenship? Doesn't interest me in the least. You misunderstand my views on Iraq, I think...but yeah, I know you're just being funny. :-)

LEJ - Agreed. Saddam is everything you say he is. And...he is also a mere scapegoat for much larger purposes than Iraq will ever serve in the plans of corporate America.

Regarding Kuwait...Iraquis have always considered Kuwait to be a part of Iraq. They had a previous conflict over that matter with the British, back during the colonial era. It is a situation rather analagous to Argentina and the Malvinas/Falklands. The Iraquis considered Kuwait to have been an artificial creation, sponsored by the Western powers (England, actually) for commercial purposes and stolen from Iraqui territory. They were basically quite correct in that assessment. This did not, however, justify Saddam's lauching of an invasion of Kuwait, no more than Argentina was justified in taking similar action in the Falklands. These kind of territorial disputes simmer on and on in various places, and usually break out when it looks like there may be a window of opportunity available to the potential aggressor. The US ambassador's communications with Saddam very shortly before he attacked Kuwait created the false impression in Saddam's mind that there was such a window of opportunity...and he moved. In doing so, he was doing what many other Iraqui leaders might well have done under the same circumstances.

I don't doubt that Saddam would like to fry Israel, if he thought he could get away with it. He can't. The Israelis would fry him...twice over.

So, though I agree with your overall assessment of Saddam's character, I still feel that yes, he is a convenient scapegoat, allowing the Bush administration to advance great strategic policies that it wishes to advance, while providing a symbolic villain in order to get American public opinion onside. The only thing in the world that scares the US State Department is American public opinion. They WANT your hearts and minds!

What Saddam really ought to do, if he wanted to seriously HURT American plans, is become a born-again Christian, leave Iraq, retire, and go and live a quiet life growing rose bushes in a monastery or someplace like that...if he could. That would royally screw up the whole plan for the USA, and they would have to find a new demon to focus the public attention on. However, I doubt highly that he will ever do that...he's too accustomed to being numero uno in Baghdad. It may be "lonely at the top"...but it's hard to step down.

It's just like a Hollywood movie. Simplistic, bombastic, and predictable. But in movies, nobody really dies, starves, or has their livelihood and economy destroyed, as has happened to millions of Iraquis. Imagine what it must be like to live there, waiting for the bombs to fall...

- LH