Saddam feared he'd be blamed for an attack in D.C.

[Mugsy]

Last night (2/15/06), ABC's "Nightline" aired excepts of secret audio tapes allegedly of Saddam Hussein talking with his cabinet "in the late 1990's"... presumably around 1998, most likely in the time after President Clinton had bombed what turned out to be an acetomynophen ("Tylenol") factory the Clinton Administration suspected was actually producing chemical weapons.

According to translations of the tapes, Saddam expresses concern over the growing tide of terrorism (as this would be following the bombings in Africa and Saudi Arabia) and discussed the likelihood that of a chemical/biological attack in Washington D.C.. In response, his cabinet appears to confirm that their WMD programs had been discontinued but could be reactivated quickly if need be, suggesting that they feared being the target of any reprisal should there in fact be such an event.

While the media is suggesting the tapes, if indeed authentic, provide ammunition for both sides (of whether invading Iraq was the right thing to do), it in fact does no such thing. It confirms Saddam was not an "imminent threat" but in fact one that could have waited until Al-Qaeda had been dealt with. It confirms that "inspections" had in fact disarmed Saddam to the point where he would of had to start over nearly from scratch to resume any WMD program, and that would require the permanent cessation of inspections, and it shows that Saddam also recognized and feared growing Muslim radicalism.