Throughout his tenure, Saddam killed supporters who gave advice contrary to his thinking, and thus surrounded himself with sycophants. He warred with the Kurds and Iranians and was pragmatic enough to change his mind regarding the Shatt al Arab Waterway, his foreign hostage policy, and the War with Iran, which had started going badly for the Iraqis. To his mind, Saddam was Iraq and Iraq was Saddam. He was a narcissist who believed he was the chosen leader of the Arab world, despite lack of support for the Kuwait invasion.