It was Bush's father ("another kinder, gentler, a little fuzzy on the vision thing", New World Order "conservative") who did not take care of Saddam Hussein back in 1991, with the misguided advice of then Gen. Colin Powell (the political general.
No discussion concerning the survival of Saddam Hussein is complete without mentioning the role of former General Colin Powell's poor advice to President Bush (41) and Bush's ill-advised decision to end the original Gulf War on February 28, 1991--before the surviving core of the defeated Iraqi army (mainly two divisions of the Republican Guard with most of their equipment) could be cut off and destroyed, or captured and disarmed.
Bush made his decision at the forceful behest of General Colin Powell, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell reportedly told Bush and the rest of the White House "High Command" that the remaining Iraqi army was totally defeated and in full retreat and that further attack would be a slaughter, both "UN-AMERICAN and UN-CHIVALROUS".
THE "MOTHER OF ALL BLUNDERS"!
General Norman Schwarzkopf and his generals were collectively against the premature cease-fire, estimating one to three days more would be needed to cut off and finally trap the Republican Guard survivors (keep in mind we're not talking about going to Baghdad, but only blocking the road from Basra to Baghdad, which the U.S. 24th Mechanized Division and 101st Airborne were poised to do). But unfortunately, Schwarzkopt did not push this view to Bush, to whom he reported directly, a serious error of omission. No more Iraqis needed to have been killed. They had only to hoist a white flag or simply abandon their vehicles and equipment, and walk away. Powell knew all of this. The Brits were furious about the cease-fire. So were the Saudis, Qataris and other Arab Gulf countries. In fact, Newsweek reported British Gulf commander Gen. Sir Peter de la Billiere went "ballistic" and British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd--who happened to be in Washington--jumped Bush about it immediately, unfortunately to no avail. Had the Guard and it's equipment been finally captured or destroyed, the Shiite rebellion in the South would probably have succeeded. Combined with the simultaneous Kurdish insurrection in the north, it was highly likely that Saddam would have chosen to take a hike and would not be a problem today. Had that happened, thousands of civilian lives would have been spared. Saddam's survival led to the continued UN sanctions on Iraq. These have grievously persecuted a population that was powerless to overthrow a tyrant that the U.S. allowed to stay in power. Pre-Gulf War, this population greatly admired America and Americans. That's the legacy of Bush (41) and retired "political" General Colin Powell.
THE "MOTHER OF ALL BLUNDERS"
Yes it was, thanks for the post.
So, it would have been without international appoval if we didn't cease fire when we did.