[lentulusgracchus]

That was Saddam's dress rehearsal for the Gulf War. During the latter, he got close only once, when a Chinese-built Silkworm (SS-2 "Styx"/"Samlet" knockoff) locked onto a U.S. BB but was intercepted and destroyed by a Sea Dart fired from an escorting Royal Navy destroyer. (Sea Dart was a miserable flop during the Falklands War, when British commanders learned to rely instead on their Sea Wolf anti-missile missiles to intercept Argentine raids, but it performed like a champ nine years later during the Gulf War. Persistence pays.)

[lentulusgracchus]

Erratum: SS-N-2, not SS-2, for "Styx".