"In school yard politics this edge is normally a weapon of some sort that can equalize the playing field (guns usually in the US, try going to an inner city public school for 2 years). Saddam sees this and that is what let him to develop those WMD, to equalize against a superior foe / bully" A good point from Mr Trei. I'd follow this up by saying that most kids, when getting that weapon, do not plan on using it, but hope that it's presence alone will act as a deterrent..."You c-c-can't push me around anymore 'cause I got THIS..." At the very least, it changes the nature of the discussion at the bargaining table (this is precisely what Mao meant by "Diplomacy comes out of the barrel of a gun". The problem with Saddam, however, is that he does have a track record of actually using such weapons, most notably with the Kurds (where he gassed a few 10s of thousands). Not a great scenario, no matter how you look at it. _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail