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Title: Cause for laughter; cause for tears. An excellent read.
Review: Roberts takes an approach to Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi political structure similar to the way Hunter S. Thompson went after Nixon. A definitive compliment. However, he wrongly treats Hussein, his secret police and military like a bunch of largely inept, malicious buffoons. This is a dangerous impression to leave the reader with. While undeniably funny and thereby enjoyable, Roberts appears to avoid taking into account Saddam's not inconsiderable intelligence. He may not have been a soldier but he is a crafty SOB, cold-hearted and utterly ruthless. The work gives a winning account of a general Arab mindset, while showing how distressingly uninformed the Iraqi people are about the world beyond their borders.
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