Are they trying to call our bluff? Their idea in admitting this may be that, once it's public, if we do nothing about it, it becomes a fait accompli.
Or could it be that this is a subtle "buy-out" probe?
As in, "What will you pay me to dismantle my WMD facilities? Don't invade. We can be bought."
Strikes me as a saner business proposition than Saddam is trying to bring off...