My take is that Bush was trying to sell the WMD bullshit so hard he wouldn't be above telling allies that he could make flying monkeys shoot out of his ass if he thought that it would get him any support for his war to enrich defense contractors.
In my country the most famous news anchor in the most watched news broadcast stated that Saddam Hussein was the third antichrist according to Nostradamus profecies.
I don't remember the details but apparently Nostradamus profetized the coming of 3 or more antichrists, is his own thing, not really a canonically Christian thing. But the news anchor sure knew that people wouldn't really check, specially during those days where Internet wasn't a thing.
Yep. Reagan believed the second advent was to come in his time and he was ready to blow the godless Soviets to kingdom come. Stillson from The Dead Zone was inspired off him (Played by Martin Sheen, so a younger, bizarro-world Jed Bartlet)
Only, the USSR wouldn't first strike. And Reagan wasn't willing to kickoff the ball game, even when his peacekeeper missile was ready.
Life went on and George H. W. Bush went on to condemn atheists as unamerican, himself a true believer. So the nut doesn't fall too far from the tree.