“Bush says Saddam has WMD.
Left response: You liar!”
Saddam had one of the world’s largest stockpile of (WMD) chemical weapons - and his military was probably the World’s most experienced in using them at the time we invaded.
They were organized and equipped in Soviet style, which was designed around the heavy use of Chemical warfare, and they had made extensive use of them during the Iran/Iraq War, as well as the Anfal Campaign of genocide against the Kurds after the War.
Apparently, Saddam made significant use of (WMD) biological weapons during the Iran/Iraq War as well. The border area between those countries happens to have the highest density of anthrax spores in the wild, of any place on Earth.
A big chunk of the artillery shells that Saddam had stockpiled had (WMD) chemical warheads. They were stashed all over the country for the Fedayeen to use, and a big chunk of the IEDs that we encountered in Iraq (~15%) included a chemical artillery shell. They mostly burn up in the explosion when mixed with high explosive.
Often the bomb makers don’t even know the difference between chem and HE shells - that could have happened here as well.
I wouldn’t be shocked if we provided them for the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s (when Saddam was our friend before becoming another “Cold War orphan”).