Was Saddam Hussein Like Adolf Hitler? A Personality Disorder Investigation

The present study used an informant method of psychiatric assessment to evaluate Saddam Hussein, and these results were compared to a posthumous assessment of Adolf Hitler. Eleven Iraqi adults who lived under Hussein’s influence for a median of 24 years completed the Coolidge Axis II Inventory, a measure of 14 personality dis-orders. The mean consensus among the 11 raters was r =.57. It revealed that Hussein probably reached diagnostic threshold for the sadistic (T score M = 81.0), paranoid (T score M = 79.3), antisocial (T score M = 77.4), and narcissistic (T score M = 74.2) personality disorders. The correlation between the consensus profile for Hussein and a consensus profile of 5 Hitler experts was r =.79, indicating a very strong similarity between the two profiles. It was concluded that Saddam Hussein had many of the same personality disorders or their features as Adolf Hitler, although sadistic features were stronger in Hussein than Hitler. It appeared that a “Big Four ” personality disor-ders constellation emerged for these two dictators, and they were sadistic, antisocial, paranoid, and narcissistic. It was also found that Hussein might have had some traits or features of paranoid schizophrenia. Implications for diplomacy and negotiations with persons with similar personality profiles are proffered. “He’s a dangerous, dangerous man with dangerous, dangerous weapons.” — as quoted by U.S. President George W. Bush, about Saddam Hussein, December, 2002. Although President Bush’s trenchant assessment of Saddam Hussein may convey an appropriate image for the layperson, Bush’s assessment, nevertheless, is un-aligned with and outside any modern psychiatric classification system. Classifica-tion systems have many purposes, such as helping the clinician to organize an