On the other hand, the Iraqi regime did not help its own case. The mystery is not why it did not use weapons of mass destruction if it possessed them – because obviously that would have provided an ex post facto justification for the war, as well as inviting massive retaliation – but why it gave the UN inspectors and the international community the run-around for so long. Perhaps it wanted to keep options open for the future and perhaps it was very difficult for a totalitarian regime to open up in the way that was required.