I suspect However, if they had the weapons... they WOULD have used them during the attacks on afghanistan by US forces.
Truth is we may NEVER attack Iraq DIRECTLY either. Who knows how sadaam will leave this earth. It may not even be an act of war, or espionage.
Nobody lives forever. . . some folks just fade away. . .
If the anthrax were under the control of Al Qaida, yes.
However, the anthrax sent as a warning last fall was of such high quality that Al Qaida could not possibly have been the maker (nor could a lone nutcase).
There are only two candidates with the technology to make anthrax of this quality: Russia and Iraq. Since it was not used when we took out Afghanistan, it must be assumed that the maker kept control of its use. You can bet Saddam Hussein and sons will use it against us if they see their own downfall coming.
Hence, the need for a VERY, VERY fast surgical strike to take out Saddam and his family.
Immediate take out of a deeply buried bunker is not guaranteed with a ground burst of even a relatively large nuke, and the fallout would be a problem. We would need to know the exact underground location of the bunker, which will be far enough from the surface entrances to be safe. That would require intel that a satellite cannot provide.
We might try specially designed tactical nukes capable of burying themselves deep in the ground before they go off. They could be used on ALL of the entrances and would have a good chance of cutting off communications even if Saddam were not immediately killed. The problem is, these weapons apparently are in the talking stage only.
Taking out a defended bunker with commandos might be possible, but would take enough time that "go" codes could still be sent by Saddam. It might work if all communications could be cut at the same time as the attack, but that would be very difficult.
Catching Saddam while he is in-transit would work fine, especially if his sons were in transit at the same time. We would need excellent intel and a lot of luck.
Bottom line: We have no sure way to pick off Saddam so fast that he could not send a "go" code before we got him. I think we will give it a try, but we will have to be prepared to fail in the attempt.
If Saddam has smallpox, large quantities of anthrax, or both, then literally millions of lives are at stake. Be thankful you are not the person who has to make this decision.