Saddam thought the U.S. would never go through with (NYTimes registration required) a full-scale war, and it turns out that many, if not most, Iraqi Special Republican Guard believed WMDs existed. No wonder that we believed it also.
Also fascinating is that despite seemingly strong efforts, Saddam’s stranglehold on his people prevented any desertions:
“When a wave of calls went out to the private telephone numbers of selected officials inside Iraq, asking them to turn against Mr. Hussein and avoid war, the Arabic speakers making the calls were so fluent that the recipients did not believe the calls were from Americans.
Instead, the Iraqis believed the calls were part of a ‘loyalty test’ mounted by Mr. Hussein’s secret services, the officials said during questioning. Afraid of arrest, incarceration, torture and even death, they refused to cooperate.”
