There is nothing speculative about it, then Gen. Colin Powell prematurely ended the war with Pre. Bush's (No. 41)approval. There was NO NEED to completely destroy the Iraqi army, just the Republican guard who were trapped on the "Highway of Death" from Kuwait. Powell said an action to continue would have been "UNCHIVALROUS AND UNAMERICAN". If you remember, WE WON THAT WAR and virtually had the whole world on our side at the time as well.
Futhermore, President George Bush (No. 41) has now publicly regretted taking Powell's ill advised politically correct advice. A prescription for future failure because the problem was not dealt with at the time when we had the whole world on board.
By allowing the remaining Iraqi Republican Guard to get away insured Saddam Hussein's survival.
Iran had enough sense to stay out of Iraq as did Libya. The only country that I can think of that supported Iraq was Yemen. Arafat did as well and that cost him severely.