Invading Kuwait was a mistake for him, but I don't think it was stupid or irrational given his knowledge at the time. Our Ambasador to Iraq had told him that the US would not likely respond to an invasion of Kuwait. This information turned out to be wrong, but he could not have known it at the time.
Evil dictators have been known throughout history to do some very irrational things that are harmful to their own best interests.Its called...human nature.
Everyone makes mistakes. And everyone is irrational from time to time. Those dicators who do hugely irrational things as far as their hold on power is concerned usually do not last very long. Hussein's history does not show him to be one of these dictators. He's been in power 22 years in one of the most volotile countries in the world. Of course he's made mistakes, but doing something like this is out of character.
Think about it for a second. It is obvious to Saddam as well as us that if we found out he was invovled in the 9-11 attack, we would topple his regime with nearly 100% certainty. Given his history, Saddam would never do anything that would be sure to make him lose power. Quite the opposite. Everything he does is to ensure that he keeps power. He has risked losing power before, but he only takes risks if he stands a good chance of gaining. No, no, no. Saddam is not stupid or irrational.
Then there are a few who research...and objectively look at all the facts and information they can get their hands on and with logic and reason....come to their own conclusions.