On this day, Aug. 2nd, in 1990, Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded her neighbor, Kuwait.
Iraq had made claims of sovereignty over Kuwait since Kuwait's independence in 1961. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had heavily subsidized Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980's against their common enemy the Shi'a, but in the ever-shifting alliances of Arab politicos, no "friendship" lasts long.
Iraq's economy was suffering after the expensive and inconclusive Iran-Iraq war, and Kuwait refused to forgive $65 billion of Iraqi debt. As usual, Saddam saw himself as the victim of a huge international conspiracy, telling one of his aides:
"America is coordinating with Saudi Arabia and the UAE and Kuwait in a conspiracy against us. They are trying to reduce the price of oil to affect our military industries and our scientific research, to force us to reduce the size of our armed forces....You must expect from another direction an Israeli military air strike, or more than one, to destroy some of our important targets as part of this conspiracy"
During diplomatic negotiations between the Kuwaits and Iraqis in the leadup to the war, one of the Kuwaiti delegation, keepin' it real, unhelpfully said he would not stop doing what he was doing until he turned every Iraqi woman into a $10 prostitute.
It took less than two days for the Iraqis to overrun Kuwait and annex it.
The Iraqis did not threaten or intend to reduce oil production; in fact they had every motivation to increase production. U.S. access to adequate oil supplies was not at risk. Saddam Hussein did not have the ability to militarily threaten the U.S. But seven months after the invasion of Kuwait, the U.S. started the first Gulf War, aimed at pushing Iraq back across the border. The two Gulf Wars can be seen as wars to protect the Saudi and other Emirates on the Arabian Peninsula; the Presidents Bush placed familial friendships and alliances above the bottom-line interests of the United States.
Throughout the period of the 1980's, the U.S. was the victim of many Islamic terrorist attacks: Hizb'Allah bombed the Marine barracks and the embassy in Lebanon; an enraged mob of Pakistanis attacked the U.S. embassy in 1979; TWA Flight 847 was hijacked, and Navy diver Robert Stethem was murdered; the Achille Lauro was hijacked, and Leon Klinghoffer was murdered; a bomb destroyed a Berlin discotheque killing U.S. servicemen; several Americans were killed in the bombing of TWA Flight 840; and Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland. Pakistan stole nuclear technology from the Netherlands, and began their nuclear weapons program.
In response, the U.S. chose to declare war on Iraq in the first Gulf War, although Iraq was not involved in any of these incidents. To repeat, Iraq was not an imminent threat to the U.S.; it was an imminent threat to the Saudis, the Kuwaitis, and the UAE.
The only positive thing (from the point of view of the kufirs) to be said about the first Gulf War is that we were not foolish enough then to commit to staying in Iraq indefinitely to rebuild their infrastructure. If we were going to do the bidding of the Saudis, at least we did it quickly, and then got out. And of course the Saudis showed their appreciation:
"I summon my blue-eyed slaves anytime it pleases me. I command the Americans to send me their bravest soldiers to die for me. Anytime I clap my hands a stupid genie called the American ambassador appears to do my bidding. When the Americans die in my service their bodies are frozen in metal boxes by the US Embassy and American airplanes carry them away, as if they never existed. Truly, America is my favorite slave."
- King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz
Previous Days in the "Religion of Peace™":
Aug. 1: Iranians Riot in Mecca
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