It worked for Reagan with the Soviets because predictability is a much-relied upon factor in their foreign policy dealings ... Reagan, particularly when he walked out on Gorby at Reykjavik, appeared to be anything but predictable and they had absolutely NO idea what he would do next ...
Sadamm's off a different bolt of cloth ... he's got so many countries believing that his his shell game promises are real this time that they're all wanting to rely on some magic-wand diplomacy solution which is exactly what he wants them to do .. there are a great many in this country who also somehow want to believe he means what he says "this time", including many in our Congress ... he is an utter lunatic and the longer we f**k around with him the stronger lunatic he'll be ... we should've done something about him a long, long time ago instead of somehow fantasizing that although he is a demonstrable loony, he's a loony we can manipulate, unlike some of the fanatics who might easily come to power (read "Ayatollah Cockamaimie") if he is somehow displaced ....
