Integrates insights from psychoanalytic theory, psychobiographical method, and political psychology to shed light on the American psyche and on Saddam Hussein's internal dynamics. Biographical data are derived from books, magazines, and records of television interviews with Arabs and others close to Hussein. Since the end of the Vietnam War, America has tried to mend its ruptured image at home and enhance its credibility in the world. The notion of image-change-through-war is an important one here. Threatening Hussein was a way to regain America's lost sense of purpose and national pride. Hussein is described as having a Nebuchadnezzar imperial complex within a malignant narcissistic paranoid personality. Three aspects of Arab culture are described to enhance understanding of Hussein's personality.