Former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix was interviewed by CNN war correspondent Christiane Amanpour on March 17, 2004. “Amanpour asked why, if those weapons [of mass destruction] had been destroyed, would Saddam have continued to let the world believe he still possessed them at the risk of losing his country? Blix surmised that the bluffing was a cheap and effective deterrent. ‘[The Iraqis] didn’t mind the suspicion from the neighbors–it was like hanging a sign on the door saying *Beware of the dog* when you don’t have a dog,’ he speculated.”
– Bonnie Azab Powell, “U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix Faults Bush Administration for Lack of ‘Critical Thinking’ in Iraq,” U.C. Berkeley News, March 18, 2004