[pt17]

I could see the strategic advantage, but if you think he was good enough buddies with Syria to give them his WMDs instead of blowing up Israel when he had nothing to lose, I don't know what to say.

It isn't that Saddam was buddies with Syria. Rather he was, or thought he could be, buddies with terrorist factions in Syria, which are not something that Assad necessarily controls. You may also recall that Saddam sent his fighters to Iran during the first Gulf War and he certainly had been buddies with them.

[pt17]

Correction: Meant to say Saddam hadn't been buddies with Iran.