Originally posted by rimbaud Bush had huge approval ratings during the Gulf War...I remember when it was thought that no Dem could stand a chance against him...the idea that it was a tool for re-election, though, is silly. In all cases, Americans have very short memories, Bush would have had to do it much closer to the election for it to be a real tool, as was typical, his popularity went down and Clinton stormed in with an amazing campaign. Again, public support is required for ground troops. Incidentally, Kuwait had been stealing oil (slant drilling with equipment obtained from the US) from Iraq. Questionable. From http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/kuwait.html Another Kuwaiti field -- Ratqa -- has been the subject of controversy. Once thought to be an independent reservoir, Ratqa is actually a southern extension of Iraq's super-giant Rumaila field. During the weeks preceding Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraq had accused Kuwait of stealing billions of dollars worth of Rumaila oil, and had refused to negotiate a sharing or joint development arrangement for Ratqa and southern Rumaila. After the Gulf War of 1991, a United Nations survey team made a demarcation of the border between Iraq and Kuwait, and this demarcation put all 11 of the existing wells at Ratqa within Kuwaiti territory. Despite this, in September 2000, Iraq renewed accusations it has made previously that Kuwait was "stealing" its oil. Iraq claimed that Kuwait was doing this through horizontal drilling on fields straddling the border between the two countries, and that Iraq was losing $3 billion per year worth of oil. Kuwait denied the charges. A few weeks before Iraq invaded, they asked the US what the reaction would be, "no problem" was the response. I guess that changed when oil fields were set ablaze. Nice reconstruction, but the fields were not set ablaze until we started attacking (so targets would be obscured). That whole conflict could have been avoided (which would have either not created or delayed Sep 11) if countries would look to diplomatic avenues first (I am speaking of Iraq first and then the US in their initial consultation, Kuwait, etc... IMO, Iraq wanted Kuwait with whatever excuses they could conjure. Sometimes other people make me sad. Care to elaborate?
Again, public support is required for ground troops. I don't understand the point of this comment...I am saying that there was support. Anout the slant-drilling...the text you pasted here listed the territory as Iraq's before the war...what is the dispute? Additionally, it is known that slant drilling equipment was bought by Kuwait from NSC chief Brent Scowcroft's old company. Don't forget, Kuwait has a pretty bad government as well. This was never a black and white issue. IMO, Iraq wanted Kuwait with whatever excuses they could conjure. I don't understand the structure of this sentence. I guess Iraq thought it could gain more land/oil with little consequence -- thought it was win-win...which was part of my point. If Kuwait had been stealing, there obviously could have been non-invasive oriented workings. Care to elaborate? Yeah, people are stupid...lives were lost, the region was further destabalized, etc. all for nothing. Just the way of human nature...to deceive, invade, not play nice, etc.
