Why Did Saddam Hussein Fail to Use WMD If He Had Them?

Submitted by Joseph M. Ellis (United States), Oct 8, 2003 at 20:33

Dr. Pipes,

My curiosity is piqued. If Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, why did he not use them--especially when he realized he was losing the war? Certainly, he didn't care if, for example, the wind were to shift and his own troops would end up suffering the effects of a chemical or biological weapon.

Any thoughts on this?

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Reader comments (46) on this item

	Title	Commenter	Date	Thread
	The Ongoing Democratic Party Libel [187 words]	Howard Wolf	Dec 9, 2005 01:34	29687
	Maybe because he felt WMD would fetch a better price unused in the open market [42 words]	Cary Watmore	Jul 6, 2005 10:58	23145
	Did Saddam send his WMD's to Sinochem in the PRC? [194 words]	Michael B. Hickland	Mar 22, 2004 15:58	14294
	If Stalin was so inept - why did he defeat 80% of the Germans!? [572 words]	Mark K	Jan 2, 2004 10:31	13049
	Response to another Bush justification policy [168 words]	dfordemn@Yahoo.com	Oct 31, 2003 16:46	12032
	Why didn't he use them. [80 words]	Steve T	Oct 15, 2003 09:59	11794
	Interesting Article. [85 words]	Darren	Oct 14, 2003 14:08	11790
	WMD Lies [181 words]	David Pascoe	Oct 14, 2003 00:33	11785
	It was still neccesary to fight [50 words]	Fenix	Oct 11, 2003 03:11	11777
	It is not the most reasonable assumption [161 words]	Bernard Ross	Oct 10, 2003 16:01	11772
	It was the Russians [166 words]	Joel Sears	Oct 10, 2003 15:38	11771
	More Urgent Problems [54 words]	Bob Klein	Oct 9, 2003 18:44	11767
3	Very well written article [122 words]	Boris Frenkel	Oct 9, 2003 17:50	11766
	Hitler vs. Stalin [66 words]	G. E. Wood	Oct 9, 2003 15:47	11765
	Why Did Saddam Hussein Fail to Use WMD If He Had Them? [58 words]	Joseph M. Ellis	Oct 8, 2003 20:33	11760
	Hamartia, always Hamartia! [25 words]	Dr. Dalia Daniel	Oct 8, 2003 18:39	11758
	The Leader and Monster [202 words]	Arlinda DeAngelis	Oct 8, 2003 21:51	11756
	I Agree in Principle [81 words]	Avraham	Oct 8, 2003 17:58	11754
	Delusions [14 words]	Sharon Boone	Oct 8, 2003 16:36	11753
	Yeah, but... [177 words]	Dealton Lewis	Oct 8, 2003 07:45	11749
	Why Saddam might have bluffed [135 words]	Sid Trevethan	Oct 8, 2003 06:29	11746
	Short Memories [53 words]	Tova Mattero	Oct 8, 2003 01:24	11745
	Iraq WMD are hidden [137 words]	Tiger Dunn	Oct 8, 2003 00:48	11744
	Good Work [116 words]	Dan	Oct 7, 2003 23:54	11743
	The War against the West [685 words]	Fred Keller	Oct 7, 2003 23:41	11742
1	A worrisome diversion from the Pipes norm [585 words]	Drew Doxsee	Oct 7, 2003 22:16	11741
	What about Iran? [91 words]	Eliot I. Sakols	Oct 7, 2003 22:16	11740
	Was it really fantasy? [153 words]	Akemi Yoko	Oct 7, 2003 22:10	11739
	Saddams hidden WMD [134 words]	Bernard Ross	Oct 7, 2003 20:16	11738
	Look in Syria... [122 words]	Gary Kardon	Oct 7, 2003 20:06	11737
	Russia hid them [140 words]	Paul M. Neville	Oct 7, 2003 18:11	11735
	Devil's advocate? [83 words]	Bob Hunt	Oct 7, 2003 17:53	11734
	Too much hubris and ignorance in the world... [33 words]	Aaron	Oct 7, 2003 16:48	11732
	Saddam's behaviour justified war. [80 words]	Erik Driessens	Oct 7, 2003 15:27	11731
	your reference to Hitler's and Stalin's mistakes are disputable [201 words] w/response from Daniel Pipes	Vadim Levenson	Oct 7, 2003 15:09	11730
	Dictatorship: a reflection of Arab society [108 words]	Mori Krantz MD	Oct 7, 2003 13:56	11729
	What Mystery [189 words]	yonason	Oct 7, 2003 13:33	11728
	Still looking for reasons to invade [213 words]	Nick Wiesenfeld	Oct 7, 2003 13:23	11726
	Refusal to admit mistakes not unique to dictators [144 words]	Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz)	Oct 7, 2003 12:55	11723
	The propensity of totalitarian demigods to self-inflicted wounds [25 words]	zwie amitai	Oct 7, 2003 11:41	11722
	Saddam's Attributes? [45 words]	Murray Kupersmith	Oct 7, 2003 11:41	11721
	So let me see if I've got this right: [107 words]	Seamus	Oct 7, 2003 11:40	11720
	Deadly mistakes of tyrants [97 words]	george rosenbaum	Oct 7, 2003 11:35	11718
	A side note: [282 words]	norwegianwood	Oct 7, 2003 10:47	11716
	Thanks for saying what the administration doesn't say! [72 words]	Dick Lupo	Oct 7, 2003 09:49	11713
	Regarding [Saddam's] WMD Lies -- notes and comments [417 words]	Roy Flanigan	Oct 7, 2003 08:20	11711