we did? I didn’t know that
After Saddam was given what looked like a green light, he rolled into the UN enclave of Kuwaiti - where the people were so rich, they didn't know how to do their own laundry and thus had to hire Iraq's.
Bush went "heeeeeeeehhhhh" (big rut-ro sound) - then he built the world's largest air force base in Saudi Arabia. Viola, the US now has a colossal footprint in the ME. Neat how that worked out.
Ross Perot told during the debates that Bush had sent the SOS to Saddam and by ommission told him he could do what he wanted. Then Perot said “It was like the commercial. We couldn’t believe he took the whole thing.”