Just listening to the CNN anchor interviewing Iraq's UN ambassador. She asked him if he thought that Saddam Hussein was innocent, and merely "misunderstood" by President Bush and America. The question isn't as bad as it sounds--she obviously didn't believe that herself, judging by her tone. But he didn't even seem to understand the question.

A smart regime, even if a monstrous one, would want to have the smoothest possible representatives to things like, say, the UN. What does it say about a regime that can't find a UN ambassador who can comprehend plain English? We aren't just dealing with thugs here--we're dealing with stupid, delusional thugs. Unfortunately, they continue to be aided by many who let their hatred of the US rule their thoughts and actions.

This is a thuggocracy which just happens to control a country. Any type of genuine governement would do just what you said. This is the James gang taking over a town. They rule after a fashion but aren't a real government. Oh, boy! There's an idea for a blog posting... {woosh}{door slam}

I think you are onto something that isn't getting a lot of attention. There is good reason to believe that this is a brutal regime full of some pretty dim bulbs. Yes, they have remained in power for a long time (so they must be doing something right?) but the instincts required to hold power come pretty naturally to someone raised in Saddam’s neighborhood. It really comes down to the will to thoroughly terrorize your populace, and they clearly have it.

I hope it is not just wishful thinking on my part, but I think the coming war will be short and almost embarrassingly simple. Not just because the U.S., British, and Australian troops are so well trained (they are), but because the Iraqi leadership is so thoroughly inept and incompetent.

The problem is this. If they're so dumb (and I kinda think they are) they wouldn't be capable of hidding these suposed wepons of mass destruction to the point that neither the US or the UN inspectors can find them with all the technology at thier disposal. Just somethig to think about.

How smart do you have to be to put things deep into caves? How smart do you have to be to find them, absent good intelligence on the ground?

For that matter, how smart do you have to be to outwit UN arms "inspectors"?

Part of the problem is that it's likely that anyone really intelligent has been killed by Hussein as a likely competitor.

I gather he's quite good at killing and not being killed, and has a strong feel for Iraq. I doubt he will ever understand free nations by reading and watching television.

He's either a former law professor, an ironic choice of career, in a Baathist state; or a
Mukhabarat (secret police division chief) which
is more likely