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Iraq Invades Kuwait: Sixteen Years Ago Today--Rocollections from the home front.
self (vanity) ^ | 8/2/06 | gleeaikin

Posted on 08/02/2006 5:03:05 PM PDT by gleeaikin

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The question of when to stop Gulf War 1 was seriously debated inside the Administration. We had completed the mandate of driving Iraq troops out of Kuwait. We probably did not want to weaken Iraq too much relative to Iran which we considered the primary enemy. A third factor which I have not heard mentioned is that Gorbachev in Russia was facing an attempte coup from the hard liners at home and a long invasion of Iraq would have further weakened his position. Still, I think another 24 hours would have been a good thing.
1 posted on 08/02/2006 5:03:07 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin

Spent the entire Gulf War at Thumrait in Oman. Far from the front lines but booring as hell. But that's where I was sent and I did't have much to say about it. Even deployed with retirement orders in hand. They got pulled in a few days.


2 posted on 08/02/2006 5:05:36 PM PDT by ops33 (Retired USAF Senior Master Sergeant)
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To: gleeaikin
Back home contention was already arrising. One broadcast featured a mother echoing her son's complaint at being sent over there. He was also with the 82nd. My blood was simmering as I thought of the miserable treatment our Vietnam veterans had received.

I think a lot of us felt this way. It's why support for the Gulf War and GH Bush soon exploded.

That first week after the U.S. air attacks began we started to see the filthy vermin protesting on the TV. It was a Tuesday as I recall. They gathered at protest-central, the Federal Building on Wilshire Blvd. in LA. All week those of us with jobs could just watch and fume.

I was involved with the LA County Young Republicans at the time. A bunch of us decided to plan counter-protest for the first weekend. Every night that week after I got off work I drove from the San Fernando Valley down to the South bay where we planned and made signs and put together our counter protest.

That first Saturday we began our protest, just 20 or 30 of us on the narrow strip across Wilshire. By the end of the day there were 250 people on our side. The next week we beat the hippies to the permit office and WE got the permit for the lawn. We started with a couple hundred and by the end of the day there were thousands on our side. By the third week, the hippies started to slink away and yellow ribbons were popping up all over the country.

Man those were the days.

3 posted on 08/02/2006 5:16:28 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan (California bashers will be called out)
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To: gleeaikin
"We talked about casualties later, and he said there were probably fewer there, including the fighting, because the biggest killer of "Joe" is alcohol and drunk driving." This is a proven fact. And another one is that more soldiers who have served in Afghanistan have come home and died on motorcycles than have all soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
4 posted on 08/02/2006 5:18:01 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (Knowledge is power, so the MSM makes sure the terrorists have our classified info.)
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To: gleeaikin
Gulf War ? More like a skirmish...
5 posted on 08/02/2006 5:25:26 PM PDT by dakine
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To: ElkGroveDan

A black woman activist in our neighborhood encouraged everone to put yellow ribbons around all the trees on the block. They stayed until our son came home. At election time she had Jessie Jackson visit our block and us for a photo op. He also came in April 1991 for the welcome home block party and met our son. How things change.


6 posted on 08/02/2006 5:26:04 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin

My many thanks to all Gulf War Vets. It wasn't easy coming home with the job half baked!


7 posted on 08/02/2006 5:41:52 PM PDT by proudmilitarymrs (It's not immigration, it's an invasion!)
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To: gleeaikin

Yes, and just for the record, who was that illustrious and courageous POTUS at that time? If you said the inane, incompetant Peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia you are a winner. BTW, the leftist liars are always spreading the false canard that Ronald Reagan had coaxed saddam into attacking the senile ayattolah. Anyone with a half a brain knows it was the Carterites that gave the green light.


8 posted on 08/02/2006 5:55:18 PM PDT by AdvisorB (For a terrorist bodycount in hamistan, let the smoke clear then count the ears and divide by 2.)
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To: gleeaikin

I was just short of my 10th birthday :)

I didn't give a crap (yet)

:)


9 posted on 08/02/2006 5:58:28 PM PDT by MikefromOhio
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To: gleeaikin
Had we overthrown Saddam then, we might not have been in this mess today. This was before Al Qaeda appeared on the scene.

(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em Down Hezbullies.)

10 posted on 08/02/2006 6:02:05 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: gleeaikin

Almost hard to believe that was 1 years ago now. Wow how time fly's when your having fun.


11 posted on 08/02/2006 6:13:29 PM PDT by diverteach
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To: goldstategop
Staying in Saudi Arabia is what got OBL's attention.
When the U.S. put military base in SA to protect the Kurds in the north and Shia in the south OBL declared war on America and our goverment did nothing.
12 posted on 08/02/2006 6:26:29 PM PDT by Gimli
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To: Gimli
Staying in Saudi Arabia is what got OBL's attention.

True... Had we been able to finish Saddam Hussein back then, things would have been much different. Would they have been better? Who knows? But they would have been different...

the infowarrior

13 posted on 08/02/2006 7:19:18 PM PDT by infowarrior (The GOP runs the US, the Dems run their mouths... Freeper HardStarboard)
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To: Mr.Smorch

Are you saying that Carter was president at the beginning of the Gulf War in August 1990? If you are, then you are wrong as he was president before Ronald Reagan's 8 years in the 1980. The American hostages in Iran were released in conjunction with Reagan's election, and covert support was given to Saddam Hussein by us as he carried out the long and bloody war with Iran during the 1980's.

I'm going to check out the dates for the start of the Iran/Iraq war, but I doubt that either Carter or Reagan had much influence on Saddam's plans. He was plenty war hungry without any help from us.


14 posted on 08/02/2006 11:41:21 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: Mr.Smorch; All

I just checked out some sites at "US support for Iran-Iraq war".

Saddam began the war on Sept 22, 1980. President Reagan was elected 7 weeks later. In June of 1982, when it appeared that Iran might be winning, the decision was made for us to support Iraq as the lesser of two evils. George Bush, Sr. as the Vice President and former director of the CIA was very active in this behind the scenes.

Subsequently, both countries attacked shipping in the Persian Gulf and by 1987 a number of countries had had enough. Some 500 ships were damaged and over 300 seaman killed in this phase called "the battle of the tankers". There is a lot more interesting stuff, but it is after 3 am and I am going to bed now.


15 posted on 08/03/2006 12:22:06 AM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin

My original point was that the left has repeatedly said that it was Ronald Wilson Reagan that convinced saddam to attack Iran. As you stated in your post the war started seven weeks before the 1980 election, and almost four months before the Reagan Administration was sworn in. I have heard of the infamous so-called October surprise, but this has to be Reagans' "September Surprise" if one is to believe this story concocted by the left.




16 posted on 08/03/2006 3:22:15 AM PDT by AdvisorB (For a terrorist bodycount in hamistan, let the smoke clear then count the ears and divide by 2.)
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To: Mr.Smorch

As an addendum, my point unfortunately had little to do with your post. For that, I am sorry.


17 posted on 08/03/2006 3:34:54 AM PDT by AdvisorB (For a terrorist bodycount in hamistan, let the smoke clear then count the ears and divide by 2.)
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To: gleeaikin

If sKerry had his way in 1991, Kuwait would not exist today.


18 posted on 08/03/2006 3:36:08 AM PDT by ChadGore (VISUALIZE 62,041,268 Bush fans. We Vote.)
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To: gleeaikin

I was waking up getting ready for work, sipping coffee while passively listening to the radio. Paul Harvey broke the news to me, and I was stunned. I couldn't believe Saddam had taken over Kuwait.

The thought that the US might do something about it (other than lodging a protest at the UN, or something) never crossed my mind.

I had no idea it would prove to be a defining moment in US foreign policy.


19 posted on 08/03/2006 3:49:51 AM PDT by Skooz (Chastity prays for me, piety sings...Modesty hides my thighs in her wings...)
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To: Mr.Smorch; All

I haven't paid much attention to what the left has said about that war. I certainly think that Saddam had plenty of reasons to want the war all on his own. We may never know the full truth, but it is entirely possible that both Carter elements and Reagan/Bush elements signaled (not necessarily encouraged) that we would stay out of any action Saddam took against Iran. I think by Sept. 1980 it was pretty clear that Reagan would be elected, and this may have affected Saddam's decision. Starting then would give him more time in the milder weather to achieve a quick victory. Of course, it did not work out that way.

On the other hand when he marched into Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia, he was threatening and/or controlling at least half the world's oil supply. We were not about to let that happen.


20 posted on 08/03/2006 11:17:32 AM PDT by gleeaikin
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