[Atlantic Friend]

Well, maybe they'll turn up. But then one of history's biggest mysteries will be why didn't Saddam use them. It could inspire historians and writers for decades.

If he had even tried to use them, we should know by now, there'd be some evidence of it : an aborted air mission, the firing of SCUDs at Coalition forces or at Israel in some desperate attempt to bring the other Arab nations in the war, etc. But there's just zilch. Did he have the weapons, and his commanders stole them to buy their safe passage to Syria ? That would explain why Saddam was stuck in Iraq, hiding literally under a rock. Did they refuse to use them so as to avoid a postwar firing squad, and just hid them really well ?

I have some difficulty accepting he spirited the weapons out of his country and yet chose to stay there, hidden in his little spider hole with absolutely NO chance of ever coming back to power. He could have said to the Syrians : hide me, and half the weapons are yours. Strange.

[HankReardon]

Very dangerous to use chemical or biological weapons, the wind has to be blowing the right direction, cannot shift back on your own troops. Many factors to consider.

[sarasota]

Saddam didn't believe that he would be captured and eliminated from office. He now knows he's captured but still considers himself the head guy. Why would his buddies confess at this point? Think Mafia? A very small, select few are involved in the wmd big picture agenda. And the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, so to speak.

[hopespringseternal]

But then one of history's biggest mysteries will be why didn't Saddam use them.

If they exist then it is possible that he hid them so well that even he couldn't get to them in a timely manner. It's like keeping all your guns unloaded in a gun safe. When someone kicks in your door, they shoot you while you are still fiddling with the dial on the safe.

The war started with bombs with his name on them, so communicating effectively to his minions would be very difficult. He apparently sent the order, but the right people may not have received it.

[wizardoz]

But then one of history's biggest mysteries will be why didn't Saddam use them.

Not really... he didn't dare use them against the US for fear of just what we might do. He did indeed use them against the Kurds and Iran. I think that up till the bitter end he was hoping that the international community (in other words, France) would pressure us to pull out prematurely, and he could resume power. Different measures for different enemies.

[Quix]

I think he was soooooooooooooooo arrogant that it blinded him to reality.

I believe he thought he could slip and slide and hide around and get back in control and then retrieve his weapons.

I believe some were put on those ships roaming the seas, some in Syria, some in even Iran and some still there still hidden.

Some may have even gone back to Russia.

I even believe we know where some are such as in Syria.

[Constantine XIII]

The skinny of it is this: Bush I, Clintonoid, and Bush II all made it very clear that a WMD attack on anybody meant that Iraq becomes a glass parking lot. No ifs, ands, or buts.

It apparently worked. :p

[cyncooper]

If he had even tried to use them, we should know by now, there'd be some evidence of it : an aborted air mission, the firing of SCUDs at Coalition forces or at Israel in some desperate attempt to bring the other Arab nations in the war, etc. But there's just zilch. Did he have the weapons, and his commanders stole them to buy their safe passage to Syria ?

You cite two issues: Missiles and the WMDs that refer to chemical and biological agents.

David Kay, the inspector whose report says that he thinks Saddam did not have stockpiles of the latter, has said missile production most definitely was up and running and they had missiles capable of going well beyond the proscribed limit and thus that is one aspect of violation that has been proven.

Good to see you again.

[Go Gordon]

But then one of history's biggest mysteries will be why didn't Saddam use them.

Because it would have meant the US was right (that he had them illegally) and the rest of the world would have had to support REGIME CHANGE! Saddam thought he could buy off the security counsel into not allowing the US to attack. He probably thought Bush II would limit himself to UN mandates only, just like Bush I. In addition, bad field intel and lack of communication during the sprint to Baghdad (and that first night bomb that apparently almost took him out, but left him injured/groggy), meant Saddam got caught short on time to implement any of his pre-war plans.

[need_a_screen_name]

Well, maybe they'll turn up. But then one of history's biggest mysteries will be why didn't Saddam use them. It could inspire historians and writers for decades.

I don't see any mystery at all. If they were used, they would have been nuked back into the stoneage. They know that. Plus, they weapons could have been so well hidden that they would be inaccessible at the time.