Subject: Bush and Saddam Hussein

I read what you asked in Bartcop.  This is how I recall it and can be
verified in several books on the period that can be found in any book store.

Kuwait drilled into Iraqi oil fields and was stealing oil.  Also, they had loaned large amounts of money
to Saddam with a gentleman's agreement that they would not demand all of the money at once.
They demanded Saddam pay them back immediately.  (I have heard that this demand was on the behest
of the U.S. State department that was attempting to control Saddam but have not seen it written anywhere.)

Saddam concerned then requested clarification from the Bush Administration.
George H.W. sent the aforementioned telex stating basically that we would not interfere.

Saddam invaded Kuwait and kicked the crap out of them.  His Republican guard were poised
to take the Saudi oil fields in less then 18  hours. Of course, the Saudi's were not stealing his oil
and had no reason to go to war with him.

The daughter of Kuwait's ambassador appeared on national TV saying that Iraqi troops took babies
out of incubators and let them die.  This latter turned out to be a monumental lie.  The event never happened.
Americans believed it and there was a close to unanimous decision to go to war.

George Bush put a few thousand American troops into the Saudi Oil fields.
This was called Desert Shield.  Had Saddam actually intended to take the oil fields
we were outnumbered roughly 5 to 1 and would have slowed him down for maybe an hour.
A couple of thousand American lives would have been lost.
This, however, gave Bush enough time to build a coalition to whip Hussein.

Desert Shield became Desert Storm when the U.S. and allies invaded Kuwait to drive him out.
We were wildly successful because Saddam ordered his troops to retreat cautiously.
When forces saw the Republican guards pulling out first, less trained units routed.

Our own forces inside Iraq attempted to draw the Republican Guard into
battle but the Iraqi's crack unit refused to fight and managed to get away.

When it was obvious that (a) we could not get the Republican Guard without invading Baghdad;
and (b) the Pentagon estimated 100,000 casualties and about 10,000 dead in a battle for Baghdad
George H. W. blinked and ordered a retreat.

I have often thought that George H. W. Bush did not want the onus of 10,000 dead Americans
when it came to election time.  His own big lips and an economy destroyed by Ronald Reagan's
giant tax cut and gross overspending made Bush Sr. unelectable.

American Bombs killed over 100,000 civilians in Iraq during the war.
I saw that number on the human rights watch.
American Soldiers who served in dessert storm are still ill from some
unknown cause and are still being stonewalled about it.

Saddam Hussein is still in power and will likely be a major player if a new middle east war breaks out
between Israel and everyone else.  He supports the Palestinians to the tune of millions.  Independent news
sources report at least 16000 troops ready to launch an invasion of Israel at the drop of a turban,
most of these are his Republican Guard.
Several foreign news services have reported that he has nuclear weapons.
The Bush white housedenied those allegations quietly in February.

And remember, this was a war that we won.
 

M. Frank Darbe