THE EGO OF TWO MEN 28th January, 1991

On Resurrection Day Sigmund Freud would have only one regret, that he did not have the professional opportunity to examine and analyse President George Bush and field Marshal Saddam Hussein, and I tell you having them on a psycho-analysts couch might have prevented the on-going Gulf War.

It is easy to fall into the trap of trying to rationalize the cause of the present war by adopting the historical or political perspectives which of course will lead the pro-Saddam group to informing you that Kuwait, historically was a part of Iraq the group will inform you with a battery of other related justifications that the action which Saddam took in invading and annexing Kuwait was inevitable under the political and economic climate and of course Kuwait’s perfidy in petroleum dealings will readily be cited.

Of course the anti-Saddam, Pro-US/UN group will counter by first describing Saddam as barbaric, tyrannical, inhuman and criminal, this they will say before telling you that Saddam’s action is contrary to International Law and the U.N. CHARTER, they will also add that his defiance of several U.N. Security Council Resolutions is cheer brigandry, an outrage that must be stopped or better still punished, “Yeah, Saddams ass gotta be Kicked”. When reminded of Israel and the occupied territories, South-Africa, Panama, Granada and……………….they will shout “Shut-Up ! there ain’t no connection.

I said earlier that using a historical/Political perspective is a trap, and I refuse to get ensnared because there would never have been a war in the Gulf but for the ego of Two Men. The war is simply a manifestation of the conflicts in the psyche of Saddam and Bush.

In physical sciences we learn that Actions and Reactions are equal and opposite but in real life an Igbo proverb tells us that if you underestimate a little pot it will put out your fire.

I shall resist the temptation to comment on the tragic situation in the Gulf, but I shall condemn the present Archbishop of Canterbury who in endorsing the Allied Attack of 15th of January described it as “a tragic necessity”, the Papal Viewpoint has remained dignified, balanced, conciliatory and macrocosmic. The Pope has continually prayed for a peaceful settlement of the imbroglio. The pope has never indorsed any “tragic necessity” for war. This is the second time I am praising this Pope on this page. I think I like this Pope and I am Anglican.

Now back to Sigmund Freuds regret, I submit that there would not have been a Gulf War if George Bush was not given the image of a wimp. It is one of those paradoxes of life because George Bush is one man who should not be thought of a wimp, yet he managed to acquire such an image. If anything Bush’s antecedents carve out the image of a folk hero. Indeed the guy was a fighter aircraft Pilot in World War II, he did not enlist in the non – combatant “Civil defense” like Vice President Dan Quayle did during the Vietnam War. Bush had a very distinguished war record, he was a congressman, he was the Director of C.I.A, I mean the mere mention of C.I.A. evokes mental pictures of derring-do espionage and bravery and to top the icing the guy was for Eight years the Vice-President of the Ultra-Macho Cowboy ex-president Ronald Reagan yet people still think he is a wimp. Now if Bush was a third world president he would never know that some people thought he was a wimp i.e weakling, Coward, but the “Free-Press” of America whispered it to his hearing; And I tell you nothing can be harder on a man’s psyche than to be seen as a wimp inspite of having led a life of action, guts and brains. The man knew that he had to do something to eras that perception and this is how he found excuse in Saddam. He infact craved unconsciously for an opportunity of this nature, he had to prove once and for all that he had balls and he started from day one in every respect. Let us do a flashback.

Bush a diplomat of note was confronted with an opportunity to give full expression to his diplomatic skills and statesmanship and he exploited it fully by manipulating the United Nations to go to war it is this writers submission that President Bush wanted a war to prove himself particularly since the soviet Union had thrown in the towel and in America where Machismo is the ultimate, the first post-cold war President of the U.S.A. with an image problem desperately needed a war of salvation. He found this in Saddam.

Let’s face it, President Bush never gave room for diplomacy, his language was very belligerent, full of threats and rude even while addressing a fellow Head of State. Has an American president ever taken inflexible positions in the international events in the past? Yes, JKF did in the Cuban Missiles Crisis of 1963, but the fact was that there was a real threat to American Security and sovereignty if the International Ballistic Range Missiles were not dismantled. The proximity between the U.S. & Cuba made the danger crystal clear, so JKF could be said to have been fighting for his country’s survival not just defense but not so the event in the Gulf which only affected America as any other member of the world community. Infact in terms of population more Chinese would have been affected than any other Nationals if the Iraqi control of 40% of the world’s oil had become a reality. Industrially the factories of new Germany and Japan match the consumption of the U.S. So why must Bush have such hyper-paranoia that made him resort to his now infamous “Kick your ass” kind of diplomacy.

It is not only Bush’s Ego that had led to this war but Suddam Husseins too. Saddam a Lawyer by training who acquired a Ph.D. in Military Science has been described by “The Economist” as a master negotiator, he is a man so cerebrally endowed that the undoing of his Western foes is their underestimation of the man’s fatalistic resilience and understanding of both the terrain and peoples of the Persian Gulf, and his ability to think and act like any other Western leader.

Saddam Hussein is not your typical Arab, he is a hybrid, well steeped in the traditions that created a leader like Gamel Abdel Nasser, an orator, Militarist, populist disciplinarian, he has never allowed his Islamic commitment to becloud his Pan-Arabic vision, thus you find some of his best confidants being Christians but when the occasion demands he could play up the required Islamic sentiments.

Saddam Husseins who have been described as incorruptible by Newsweek Magazine and uncorrupt by The Economist is a leader without challenger in Iraqi, but the Arab world is one in which the various Leaders are in constant competition amongst themselves for all will emerge as the real leader of the Arabs because historically the Arabs were all one, and in the past one primus inter-pares had always emerged among the various leaders, Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt was one such leader/Hero. Ever since the death of Nasser, all the other survivours have converted recognition, Assad of Sytria, Ghaddafi, Mubarak, Saddam Hussein all want to be number one. One way of emerging as a leader of the Arabs is either by Crushing the Jews (no true Arab likes or recognizes the word Israel) or by taking on a Western Power. Nasser proved himself during the Suez Canal Crises while Saddam is trying to prove himself by killing two birds with one stone “Crush the Jews” and take on the big Satan himself – U.S.A. In his thinking no good Arab could want more. He is that lucky. His death in the process is no cause for fear because the prize justifies the risk. If he should die, he will become a real HERO and mattyr and also go to paradise, afterall the war is a JIHAD. No true Muslim could ask for more.

Thus Bush (sorry the Allied forces) are fighting a man who has nothing to lose, and you can never have a worse opponent.

The above rationalization could have been done by the State department. They are so thorough and I am quite sure they did. Yet one saw an articulate Tariq Aziz teaching Jim baker III the art and norms of diplomacy. I will never forget that meeting Geneva, the refusal to accept that “rude letter” and the indictment of the U.S. for refusing to talk and “giving a limit to diplomacy”. Tariq Aziz was not your typical Arab too.

The Ego of Two Men is the woe of the world Saddam wants to be a hero and Bush wants to be a man.

It has become so important in the mind of Bush to ensure that Americans. Realize the Herculean task ahead that he described Saddam Hussein as another HITLER. In Grammar that is called a HYPERBOLE. In calling the U.S. “The Great satan” Hussein was not being original, the Ayatollah Khomeini had the original copyright.

The U.S. have shown by their censoring CNN and other media reports that “Freedom of the press” is not really all that free and I would recommend, that they apply such censure at all times, this time, the first limitation would be to estop all U.S. Media from describing George Bush or any future president as a wimp, because it causes Wars.

Saddams case is more pitiable, all he wanted to be was an Arab Hero and George Bush has certainly helped him. Now that they have both got what they wanted and proven their balls can we have no more wars.

If both men survive this war, they should go see a shrink to cure their psychological insecurities.

Chibuzo Ziggy Azike Attorney-at-law Block A, Itinrin Court 2, Bishop Aboyade Cole Street P.O. Box 71409 Victoria Island Lagos