WRITING: Character

This would be a tough one. How would a writer create a character such as Saddam Hussein and make it believable?

You have a character who has held a country together in fear, capable of creating a complex social strata that functioned with just a very few in power and the masses obedient mainly through concern for their lives. Unlike Hitler, who had at least a small basis, a tiny bit of undercurrent and grumbling in the general populace to manipulate into some form of support. This character was also capable of holding other nations–super-powers that could squish him like a bug—hostage through threats of annihilation just based on his say-so of what he had available in terms of germ-warfare. This, coupled with a personality that did not include compassion nor a sense of right or wrong is a dangerous and difficult creature to imagine.

And then when someone does attack, he doesn’t put up much of a fight. Turns tail and hides, perhaps seeking the millions of dollars he has personally stashed around the world. One would think that the most logical scenario is that he has been killed. Or, that he found refuge and is sipping piña coladas somewhere in the Caribbean.

Would we ever have logically written the character to be found in a basement in his own country?