Assessing Leadership Style: Trait Analysis

The Psychological Assessment of Political Leaders

sanctions regime. The divisions within the UN that Saddam helped
promote were so deep that Saddam concluded that he was essentially
immune to UN reprisals for pursuing unconventional weapons pro-
grams, which have become all the more important to him given the
weakening of his military in terms of personnel, conventional
weaponry, and materiel. Since 1999, there have been no meaningful
coup attempts; those who might have challenged a leader perceived
to be a loser did not dare challenge a leader who had successfully
challenged the UN and the United States.

Return to International Community/Change of Image

Saddam has continued to work to increase his standing in the inter-

national community, seizing on opportunities to change his image,

including bolstering his image within the Arab community:

• Starting in the early 19905, Saddam began working to
  change his image as a secular leader. This "return to Islam"
  can be seen in the increased Islamic language used by Sad-
  dam; the introduction into Iraq of the Qur'anic punishment
  of severing the right hand for the crime of theft; forbidding
  the public consumption of alcohol; and decapitation with a
  sword for the "crimes" of prostitution, homosexuality, and
  providing a shelter for prostitutes to pursue their occupa-
  tion. On the cultural level, a few million Qur'an books were
  printed in Iraq and distributed without charge, and people
  in many walks of society, starting with students, are being
  forced to attend Qur'an courses. In the same vein, a law
  issued in the late 19905 made it possible to release Muslim
  prisoners who learned the Qur'an in jail.^15 Another compo-
  nent of the "Islamization" campaign is the construction of
  extravagant mosques. The new Saddam Mosque (construc-
  tion began in 1999) is one of the largest in the Middle East
  after the mosque in Mecca.


• Saddam has also fashioned himself as the patron of the
  Palestinian cause. He has increased the original "reward"
  that was paid to families of suicide bombers from $10,000
  to $25,000. In addition, Iraq informed the Palestinian