Putin recently told that Russia warned us of Saddam's plans to strike the U.S. through terrorists, we were at war with Saddam and had a declared U.S. policy of regime change in Iraq.
Saddam had lots of reasons to strike us, and terrorists groups gave him a plausibly deniable way to do it. We had to do something about Iraq instead of allowing the infection to spread, possibly in a deadly vector at the heart of America.
That's right. The Middle East is like a huge, pus-filled sore. Taking Hussein out was like puncturing it. It's still a mess, but it's a good start.
You make a good part about plausible deniability.
Do you remember, sometime the 80s, an Iraqui stinger missile struck one of our warships (can't recall her name).
At that time, Saddam said it was a mistake. As I recall everyone said, "Whew. That's a relief. After all, Saddam is our friend."
Maybe that episode was the Islamofascists' testing of Saddam.
If so, he passed the test.