Saddam's propaganda?! Hardly. The US absolutely can't afford not to find stuff in Iraq, period. No way, no how. Can you imagine the political reaction if nothing was found?!

It doesn't matter what political party was in office or whether or not such a "find" was authorized by the Prez, it'd get planted once the situation reached this kind of extreme. That's not propaganda, that's political reality, and if it helps repair the US's damaged credibility, it's probably worth it. As long as we're slaughtering all those folks anyway, what's a little blame?

Maybe we'll find out in 30 or 40 years when the docs get declassified; maybe not. They don't always send memos about this sort of thing.

As for why would Saddam buy protective gear, it COULD be for the same reason the US buys protective gear for their soldiers. Just a thought.

Or because the US keeps making threats about how no weapon is off the table -- uh, WHO is threatening the use of WMD?