Is Bush Saddam Hussein's Soul Mate? Don't Tell The Leader Bad News . . .

[taquinas101]

The ironic thing is that recent reports about Bush's aides being afraid to contradict him or give him bad news is starting to sound strangely similar to the profiles of Saddam Hussein. (See below). Perhaps the reason Bush hated Saddam so much is because familiarity breeds contempt:

From a final CIA WMD report about Saddam Hussein's regime:

WEAVING A CULTURE OF LIES
The growth of a culture of lying to superiors hurt policymaking... Lack of structural checks and balances allowed false information to affect Iraqi decision making with disastrous effects...

Key commanders overstated their combat readiness and willingness to fight... later admitted misleading Saddam about military readiness...

‘Abd said key Regime members “habitually” concealed from Saddam unpleasant realities of Iraq’s industrial and military capabilities and of public opinion. Fear of the loss of position motivated this deception, which continued until the final days of the Regime.

Asked how Saddam treated people who brought him bad news, ‘Ali Hasan Al Majid replied, “I don’t know.” ISG assesses that ‘Ali Hasan Al Majid has never known any instance of anybody bringing bad news to Saddam.

http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/000329.html

Or, here's another description of Saddam:

As expected, almost none of the aides were ready to tell Saddam any bad news, including his son and apparent heir, Qusay.

Qusay was killed by US troops in Mosul a year ago, along with brother Uday and his son, Mohamed. According to Abdul-Tawab Huwaish a senior aide and former minister of military industrialisation, Qusay told his father before the early 2003 invasion of Iraq that the army "was 10 times better" compared to the situation before the 1991 Gulf War. When that aide begged to differ, Qusay became very angry.

Thus, it was common that most senior aides would either remain silent or lie to the leader.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/712/re15.htm

[taquinas101]

1. Time: Living Too Much in the Bubble?

Just for comparison, here's Time's article on Bush's handling of Katrina:

Living Too Much in the Bubble?
A bungled initial response to Katrina exposed the perils of a rigid, insular White House. Inside Bush's plan to show he isn't isolated

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1103581,00.html