Saddam's weapon strategy

I've always wondered why Saddam Hussein wouldn't admit he didn't have chem/bio weapons.

Here, is says "They were his equivalent of a nuclear deterrent: he believed they saved him during the Iran war, deterred the US-led coalition from invading in 1991 after liberating Kuwait and allowed him to crush internal Kurdish and Shi’ite revolts. "

I was really surprised -- he actually disarmed. Of course, he intended to start it back up once the U.N. was off its back, but that was to fend off Iran.