This article from the

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This article from the Associated Press fleshes out the theory that Saddam had actually shuttered his WMD programs but intentionally kept the world guessing to produce the deterrent effect of having people believe he still had them.

He may even have put out disinformation to get people to believe the programs were still underway. Actually, it’s more than a theory. The story is based on the testimony of a close aide who says this is what happened.

According to the aide, by the mid-1990s “it was common knowledge among the leadership” that Iraq had destroyed its chemical stocks and discontinued development of biological and nuclear weapons.

Who knows if this true? But I will say that it jibes with a lot of chatter I’ve heard back from Iraq in the last couple months. And it explains some key questions — in particular, some supposed evidence of WMD from just before the war which it’s been clear for some time was disinformation from the Iraqis. Frankly, it accounts for more potential questions than almost any other theory I’ve heard.

Frankly, it shows that, if nothing else, Ken Pollack was right about one thing: Saddam could be a pretty big idiot. Remember, one of Pollack’s main arguments was that Saddam had a propensity to miscalculate. So I think you can say that Pollack had that one pretty much right — only perhaps with slightly different consequences than expected.

Apparently Saddam was the only person in the universe last Spring who didn’t know the fix was in on regime change.

And, I’ve gotta ask. Those uranium document forgeries? Could they have come from …? No, couldn’t be.

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