His armed forces, once one of the largest in the world, are severely constrained by shortages of equipment and spare parts. His weapons of mass destruction programme has been exposed and reduced. Where ten years ago, Saddam was on the verge of a nuclear capability, that prospect has been indefinitely postponed. Nevertheless, criticism of containment is mounting, and containment itself leaks badly. Saddam has exploited the suffering of his own people and the breakdown in the peace process to turn regional and wider popular opinion against sanctions.
Inspections are on hold.
And both sanctions evasion and sanctions breaches are increasing. And Syria has now agreed to take large quantities of Iraqi oil through a reopened cross-border pipeline. Those who see in these developments the collapse of containment are overstating the case. Containment remains the only viable option if Saddam can't be removed and can't be rehabilitated. Saddam is as strong internally as he has ever been.