Tom Beck wrote:
> This speculation raises several questions in my mind: if
> Saddam destroyed his nukes - WHY DIDN'T HE TELL US??? That's
> what we wanted, after all, what we were demanding, the
> ostensible reason for the invasion. Why do what he was
> supposed to but not gain any benefit from doing so? Let us
> invade anyway? He's a nutcase, but I don't see how this makes
> any sense from his point of view.
I don't think he actually expected the invasion. After all, the weapons inspector had
said nothing which would have given cause for this invasion at this precise moment, SH
had not invaded anybody, he had not threatened anybody...not recently in any case.
Also, he knew that his son-in-law had already spilled the beans.
As for why he didn't he say so, well he did. The Iraqi governement *had* been saying
that it had no WMDs. The only problem was that since SH had been saying the same from
the beginning and to the very people who had supplied him with these weapons, they
didn't believe him then. And once he had said it, he couldn't back-track. It would
have been the sensible thing to do, but given his persona, given the kind of rule
[personal-authoritarian], given the culture, it would have meant too big a loss of
face.
I think he expected to keep on blustering and insisting that he had nothing. If he had
destroyed the weapons, he would have known that the inspectors wouldn't find anything
incriminating anyway. I doubt he was planning any invasion and from his point of view,
he must have figured that he could safely bluster on about being innocently accused
without risking any attack.
> Also, did we know he was doing it? ("We" meaning the CIA, the
> president, etc.) Could the destruction have been detected
> from outside Iraq's borders using spy satellites, etc.?
Well, the same chap who confirmed the secret weapons program also said that it had
been scrapped and the weapons destroyed.
> And, if we did know - did we invade anyway because the
> president wanted his invasion?
The president *did* want his invasion. That much at least has been crystal clear from
the beginning.
Ritu
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