A thought I just had, regarding the Iraq WMD fiasco. A thought that maybe we've been looking at things the wrong way.

What are the chances that Saddam fabricated evidence that they did have WMD? Think about this... you're the dictator of a small country, under constant pressure of invasion from the United States. You know your time is running out, and a US invasion is inevitable -- but what can you do about it?

What better way to leave the scene than by humiliating the very people who want to remove you? Sprinkle a few 'leads' around, to make the intelligence agencies think you're up to something... import items that might be - but aren't - used for WMDs. Equip your armed forces with biological hazard suits -- but not have biological agents for them to use.

A look at the current situation supports this very well:

The evidence for the presence of WMD in Iraq grows weaker and weaker every day. At this point, if the US does find something, they'll be fighting a pretty strong sentiment around the world that such evidence was planted.

The US and British leadership is having a very hard time within their own political systems; Tony Blair is fighting much opposition in his government, centered around the WMD evidence, and its validity. The US Senate is starting closed-door hearings regarding their intelligence, and its validity. According to a few articles I've read, 'impeachment' is being whispered in certain corners of Washington as well.

On top of the WMD evidence, or lack thereof, the state of Iraq itself is a mark on the US/British record. Looting, crime, murder.. all of these things have risen exponentially since the removal of Saddam Hussein. As one journalist put it, the US is shipping home 'one bodybag a day'.

Thoughts?

Update: This started out as an idle thought, but has become a little more of a possibility after reading this quote (albeit, from a 2000 article on cyberterrorism)

"He's really an irritant. He's teasing them, he's defying them. He's trying to get them to overreact. That is what we often see with terrorists. One of their aims is to destabilize regimes, but also to get governments to overreact so they lose credibility with the public," she [Jessica Stern, a former National Security Council aide] says.