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If the weapons are already in the U.S., they are in the hands either of agents of Saddam or of terrorist surrogates. But I think we can exclude the surrogates, as they would already have used them. That leaves agents of Saddam. But what reason would they have to follow orders and actually use the weapons when the time comes?

Not a problem. A simple dual-key solution will suffice. Pre-place the anthrax in undisclosed locations and e-mail the martyrdom boys the locations, locker combinations, etc. when the time comes. These martyrdom boys are attack dogs straining at the leash. When the time comes, they won't need persuading. From Saddam's point of view, this al-Qaeda partnership thing is absolutely golden.

Building a doomsday deterrent using low-tech pieces like al-Qaeda wackos and aerosolized anthrax isn't that different from building one based on ICBMs and thermonuclear bombs. The control problems are pretty similar, and as readily solved.

"But I think we can exclude the surrogates, as they would already have used them. That leaves agents of Saddam. But what reason would they have to follow orders and actually use the weapons when the time comes?"

I don't know that we can discount the terrorist surrogates so quickly. There may well be more terrorists and more anthrax already in place. And it could well be in reserve until it can be employed in a devastating attack -- and it may not necessarily be connected with Saddam's downfall.

As you note, though, Saddam's agents are subject to the same temptations that Rumsfeld is putting out there for the battlefield soldiers. It is conceivable, in fact, that an agent of Saddam, with sufficient cover, might just walk away and make for himself a new life in the land of capitalist plenty.

There is also a possibility that the people chosen for this particular task are among the most devoted and fanatic.

While I believe the CBW threat can be defused at home and abroad by the dialogue Rumsfeld is offering, I still believe it likely that the home front will suffer more casualties via CBW than the battlefield.

If the weapons are already in the U.S., they are in the hands either of agents of Saddam or of terrorist surrogates. But I think we can exclude the surrogates, as they would already have used them. That leaves agents of Saddam. But what reason would they have to follow orders and actually use the weapons when the time comes?

There is another possibility: They are already in the U.S., but not in the hands of the perps who will use them.

This is the logical equivalent of the "fail safe" mechanism on a nuclear bomb. All that is needed is to pass the necessary information on to the "right" people.

These people (the actual perps) will be extreme Islamists who can be counted on to use them. They will be members of various Islamic extremist groups (Al Qaida is only one of many), and will not even think of themselves as doing Saddam's bidding.