The captured Iraqi recordings provide valuable insight into Saddam's views on the utility of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Scholars and policy makers have long debated the reasons Saddam used, and refrained from using, chemical and biological weapons. Whether Iraq (and states in general) sought weapons of mass destruction (WMD) for deterrence, compellence, prestige, or a combination of such factors has likewise been the subject of a great deal of analysis and speculation. Behind these questions resided, for many, concern that the acquisition of nuclear weapons would lead Saddam to believe that he could engage in conventional aggression with less risk of U.S. military intervention or U.S.-Israeli nuclear intimidation. Although Saddam and his advisers touched on some of these issues in public, analysts have received these public claims with healthy skepticism. This chapter presents transcripts of some of Saddam's private statements on the utility of WMD and the conditions for using them.