dennisw: I have nothing more to discuss with you
Fine, don't discuss anything then but perhaps you should review the facts.
a) 1990 - Iraq is finished with a war against Iran and is deep in debt.
b) Kuwait is pumping more oil than allowed by OPEC agreement, deflating the price of oil thus hurting Iraq's already troubled economy and ability to repay it's debts.
b1) Kuwait is drilling sideways under their border taping into Iraqi fields.
c) Iraq does a lot of very loud saber rattling but the Kuwaitis do not cease and desist.
d) The US does not take the initiative to be a peace broker or approach OPEC members on the brewing trouble.
d2) The US ambassador to Iraq April Glasby actually tells Saddam that his dispute with Kuwait is not our concern thus giving him a green light for action.
e) Saddam finally makes a move against Kuwait and we scream like a stuck pig about how Saddam is the next Hitler and we need to "restore democracy to Kuwait".
f) We tell the Saudis they need us to protect them though they do not feel threatened. We say we have satellite photos of Iraqi armor massing on their border ready to overrun them. Other countries satellites show nothing on the border - theirs are released to the world - we stand by our story and to this day have not released our photos.
g) We assure the Saudis our bases will only be on their soil for as long as it takes to liberate Kuwait.
h) We leave Saddam in power and establish no fly zones over his sovereign territory telling him he has no rights there thus making sure we need permanent bases to counter him and thus never leave Saudi Arabia. In short we now have a permanent excuse to have our troops in theatre where they can project force.
i) Just an aside - the Soviet Union had collapsed the year before and was therefore in no position to object to our moving into the gulf.