To: DoughtyOne
DO:
Did Hussein need Kuwaits wealth? I dont think so.
It had its own oil reserves and didnt even use them to their full potential.
I think this was a power grab. I think he had his sights on more than Kuwait, and Im not thinking Iran. I think he wanted the entire Arabian Peninsula. to the point of did he need Kuwait's wealth --
- I believe he needed Kuwait's wealth and I base it on the Iran-Iraq war, it's proceedings and aftermath. Saddam took money from the Gulf states to fight Iran. He believed they owed him the money as he was doing the fighting on their behalf. He also believed that he needed more money to fight them and wanted that money.
- Secondarily, he also had an aggrievance that the Kuwaitis were drawing more than their fair share of the oil reserve that straddles the border (I don't know enough to verify or dispute that claim)
- thirdly, he also claimed -- with reason -- that Kuwait was artificially created out of Iraq by the British (though forgetting that Iraq itself was an artificial creation).
To the point of power grab -- yes, it was a power grab to get more money both directly from Kuwait and indirectly by threatening the Gulf states
To the point of land grab -- I find no corroboration for your statement that "he wanted the entire Arabian peninsula" -- but that was a possibility. However, he wouldn't have even thought of taking Saudi Arabia because of Mecca and Medina -- he would have the Egyptians fighting him and probably the Turks as well. Maybe the Gulf region, yes.
160 posted on
04/21/2015 12:52:51 AM PDT by
Cronos
(ObamaÂ’s dislike of Assad is not based on AssadÂ’s brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
To: Cronos
Thanks for your response on this. I’m not going to give you a pointed response. You touched on the irrationality he used to attack Kuwait. It was started and one with like lightening.
I do believe that he would nave moved on from there, but that doesn’t mean it’s so. That’s just my take on it.
As for the “Holy” cities, he could have bypassed them. If he grabbed everything else, he may have gotten them in time too.
It’s not a must resolve issue for me. Your thoughts are sound as well, perhaps more so.
173 posted on
04/21/2015 2:11:48 AM PDT by
DoughtyOne
(The question, Jeb Bush? The answer: NO! Rove, is a devious propagandist & enemy of Conservatives!)
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