Too bad Saddam never let us know he didn't have them (if in fact that is the case). Remember those phone intercepts Colin Powell played at the UN? "Yes, I was able to hide the weapons." "Don't say weapons on the phone!" Or something like that.
Is is possible that Saddam wanted to keep the inspectors out and play hide-and-seek with them (does ANYONE think Saddam cooperated?) so they wouldn't find out that he has NOTHING? The scenario that he wanted to be able to threaten with WMDs, but not actually have an arsenal ready-made, seems plausible. Give enough grudging, half-hearted cooperation and drag things out, so that the sanctions eventually crumble (with a little help from Saddam's well-paid partners in France, etc.) and then the reference strains and plans could be used for a REAL arsenal. If this was Saddam's thinking, I think it almost worked. Didn't France assure him that they would do everything they could in the UN to prevent a US attack?
Worst-case scenario: Saddam miscalculated (by "misunderestimating" Bush) and lost his job. A violent malignancy has been removed, and 25 million people have a chance at something better - if they are willing to fight for it.
I suppose some will disagree, or say it's spin. Certainly no one wants to see the lives of US servicemen and women lost, or worse yet, wasted.
I always thought the war was unpalatable, but the least bad of the alternatives available to us.
PS I still think they're in Syria.
As Cheech y Chong could have told Hussein, "Don't answer the phone!"
Forgot who was on FOX a few days ago saying that France and Russia were telling SH not to worry about a US invasion and he believed them.