Quote:
Originally Posted by ogon_bat
Up to this day it baffles me that U.S. citizens do not see how Saddam was played. He might have killed people on cold blood, but he stayed in power because he knew when to attack and when not to "Battles are decided by the quartermasters before the first shot is fired". US diplomacy deceived Saddam into thinking the USA would not support kuwait once it was invaded. Late 20th century was a time of satellite photographs on schedule and transatlantic telephone calls, there is no way the USA would not have known about saddam's plan (I read about Saddam tanks on the border in a local newspaper before the invasion) and warn him of the consequences. Bush needed Saddam to invade kuwait just like Roosevelt needed the japs to invade hawaii.
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That's an interesting interpretation of events. The way that I heard it wasn't that Saddam was deceived, but rather than there was a cultural miscommunication. A relative of Saddam's was in America to talk with government officials, and the officials calmly stated that if Iraq attacked Kuwait that the American forces would get involved. The thing is, the Americans said this calmly and professionally, which lead the relative to believe that they weren't serious (because the culture of the Middle East is a bit more forceful; if you're not shouting and pounding your fist on the table, it must mean you don't care too much about what you're saying). As a result, Saddam felt that he had the green light to do what he wanted, and brought retribution upon himself just as the Americans had promised.