However, if all this were known, how does one explain that preposterous armistice or whatever the hell it was, arranged by Schwartzkopf et al?
We left them armed and dangerous ... and then tried to reel them back in ... or suppress them?
Prior to the Gulf War, the coalition got UN approval to go in, but only on the condition that they restrict the operation to liberating Kuwait, and not conquer Iraq.
Immediately after the Gulf War however, there was a a massive and suspiciously well-coordinated anti-Regime uprising. Iraqi Shia militias, notably SCIRI/Badr Brigades, which had been sheltered in Iran for a decade, attacked en masse from Iran. Groups came in from Syria and down from the Kurdish areas.
The Ba’ath managed to suppress this revolt. Most attribute this to their ability to use helicopters (a loophole in the no fly zone restrictions, sometimes pinned on GEN Swartzkopf), and more surviving Republican Guards than planned, because the slaughter was called off a bit too early (like a day or less), sometimes attributed to Colin Powell.
The Ba’ath regime survived, and the CIA Director coincidently resigned within months.