Saddam had chemical weapons and actively used them on the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq War, and later against the Kurds. Saddam also received considerable mat

Saddam had chemical weapons and actively used them on the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq War, and later against the Kurds. Saddam also received considerable material support from the US during the Iran-Iraq War -- those pictures of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand aren't fake. Lots of jokes about "we knew Saddam had WMDs cuz we gave em to him!" were, to a degree, credible on paper. Saddam had long since stopped working on them, but made a point to look like he was. This allowed him to drum up support by posturing like he was standing up to the US, and also to look threatening to the Iranians (plus the Kurds + Shias).