Saddam
never had tanks on the border of Saudi Arabia. Satellite photos showed that this was a lie. But this was after the war.
It's a Machiavellian political rule that hiding facts from the public for a while is good enough, because by the time the facts come out, it's too late to do anything, and the issue is a done deal.
Several American people strongly encouraged Saddam to attack Kuwait, and "rectify your borders".
Acting under
Sec. State James Baker, a diplomat named
Joseph Wilson (yes that one) met repeatedly with Saddam and with his inner circle. He actually
chided Saddam for NOT standing up to Kuwait's evil move, stealing Iraq's oil. This was just after or during the time that Poppy Bush was still pumping money and resources into Iraq ... illegally, by the way.
What did Saddam do? Nothing. Nothing except regional negotiations and meetings with Kuwait representatives. He was a wuss
... but not because of fear of Kuwait. Because of fear of the US reaction.
Next move,
Wilson's superior at State Dept, April Glaspie, visited Saddam and told him to his face, that regarding his dispute with Kuwait,
"the United States has no opinion on Arab-Arab issues", but the US just wanted to be
apprised of Saddam's plans for Kuwait. He stated that he could not continue to allow Kuwait to continue destroying Iraq's economy, could not afford it. Bills to pay.
(So James Baker himself never officially met with Saddam, just his representatives.) Glaspie had also gone on TV with Barbara Walters to defend Saddam as a good guy who was "misunderstood". It was these Bush "conservatives" who defended Saddam, and Bush admin accused "silly liberal journalists" of making a mountain out of a mole hill, regarding Saddam's killing of civilians.
Saddam invaded ONE DAY after meeting with Glaspie. One day.
Prior to this, the Pentagon had published a report stating that Saddam had NO plans to invade any other countries after their devastating war with Iran, egged on by the US. Iraq had been taken OFF the terrorist list during the war, to allow Bush to ship weapons to them, then placed back ON the terrorist list after the Pentagon determined Iraq was too sickly to wage another war. Lotsa contradictions, eh?
Lotsa false assumptions too, like the assumption that our government would not lie to us, even though our government allowed Kuwait to fund a (illegal) $20 million PR campaign with US public relations firms in the US media, creating tapes for "evening news" shows, with President Bush repeating "facts" he knew were funded by Kuwait oil sheiks. The PR firms even staged fake "Free Kuwait" rallies on college campuses, to make it look like students were spontaneously rallying for war. You can bet the cops did not crack down on these student protests. (The current "Save Darfur" campaign is a lie too.)
Glaspie's later excuse was,
she did not specifically tell Saddam to invade Kuwait, and that Saddam misunderstood her. Saddam was described by those who knew him as wily, and tough, but
not crazy. Certainly not crazy enough to want to threaten the US. (barely wanted to defend itself, except after a decade of dropping bombs on Iraq, on a several times weekly basis)
In the meantime, how did Kuwait manage to suck out $14 billion of Iraq's oil from the 900 sq km Rumallah oil field they seized? Well they bought a company for $2.3 billion which manufactured Slant Drilling equipment, called Santa Fe drilling. This was owned by General Brent Scowcroft, who was an advisor to Kuwait at that time. Kuwait had started drilling and stealing oil, before the Iran-Iraq oil ended in 1988.
This info is almost outside of polite conversation to seen as some conspiracy theory, but what is theoretical?
Kissinger had stated that the best of all worlds was for "both countries to bleed each other white". (Obviously, a weaker Iraq would be easier for the US to attack.)
Molly Ivins wrote that
"gosh, slant-drilling is enough to start a shooting war in Texas, let alone the Middle East". Molly Ivins may be a liberal, but she's pretty mainstream, not some fringe radical.
They openly talk about the need to 'trick' Americans into supporting wars, and we're gullible enough to accept it at face value. World War Two themes come into play. Ironically, it was Prescott Bush supporting the Nazis when American boys were dying on the beaches of Normandy.
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