It does however show that we believed Saddam had WMD and believed that Saddam had them. The talk was that Saddam might leave Iraq if he could take $1 billion and his WMD files.
The Weekly Standard concludes:
The only logical reason for making this a condition of his agreement to exile was that he believed the program was more advanced than it really was, or that he intended to augment it. In either case, it further bolsters the case that Saddam remained a threat to the region (at least), and that it was wise to depose him.
Certainly, if Saddam was bluffing that he had WMD to keep Iran at bay, logically he would try to cover his bluff as soon as possible. Hence the clear ability to field chemical weapons as soon as sanctions weakened enough. Saddam wanted WMD and would get them if we didn't destroy him.
There is a third explanation. He had chemical weapons in 2002 but managed to get rid of them in the long "rush to war." Like I've said, I'm waiting for Conventional Wisdom 5.0 on the WMD question.
