If a housewife can figure out that Saddam was bluffing...

[Doohickie]

why couldn't the best and brightest of our administration?

Seriously. In the build-up to the Iraq War, my wife said she thought there were no WMD, that Saddam merely wanted his local rivals (the Kurds, Iran) to think he had them.

Now today's CIA release backs up her theory. If she could figure it out, why couldn't Bush?

She considered writing an editorial at the time; now I wish she had. It would be great to send another editorial letter pointing out her previous one.

[cardlaw]

1. I never could

understand why the Repubs kept saying "why would he keep out inspectors if he didn't have any WMDs." i thought the reason was pretty clear: he had kept himself in power with fear and intimidation. if one of his major leverages, WMD threats, was taken away from him, he would probably lose control of the country. it's really very simple, really.

[Eric J in MN]

5. Saddam didn't keep out the inspectors. The inspectors

were doing their job. They had to leave because Bush was about to bomb.

[IdaBriggs]

2. I nearly put money on it myself (that he wouldn't)...

But I expected our government to at least PLANT some! The guy who spoke at the UN saying "WE DON'T HAVE ANYMORE AND THE PAPERWORK IS A DISASTER!" made a lot of sense to me. Of course, I have it in writing (from me) in November 2000 that * was going to take us to war with Iraq, so do I get extra points for paying attention? :)

[cheshire]

3. They knew and they did it for another reason. Selfishness. You know that.

[LizW]

4. We do know that, but I'm wondering

when it's going to start being said. It's so unbelievably obvious.

This administration knew that there were no weapons and they lied about it and went to war anyway, and tens of thousands are dead.

We are getting closer and closer to a public acknowledgement of these facts. The people don't want to believe their government would do this, but it is ever so slowly becoming undeniable.

[Stuckinthebush]

6. Some of the smartest people I know are homemakers

So it doesn't surprise me at all that she figured it out.

What gets me is why these multimillionaire CEOs can't figure it out.

[Doohickie]

7. She will soon be a schoolteacher.

She finishes her degree in the spring.

[sr_pacifica]

8. That's always what I wonder

I and my acquaintances didn't buy it either. And we also knew it would be a big mess, no welcoming arms of the rejoicing liberated but a country in chaos and severely wanting in public services. Now how is it that the non-"experts" can see it? I think we have just come to believe our government will lie and as long as one believes that, you are incapable of being duped into believing something just because our "leaders" say it's so.