Our Thirty Years’ War

Amercan Thinker.com ^ | August 2, 2020 | Walt Johanson

[Kaslin]

Sunday, August 2, 2020, marks thirty years since the United States became embroiled in what seems endless wars, at great cost, in Southwest and Central Asia. That was the day that Iraq invaded Kuwait.

It seems that an ambiguous comment made to Saddam Hussein by Ambassador April Glaspie had led him to believe the United States would take a hands-off approach if he used force in disputes with Kuwait over border and oil-export issues. Ambiguous policy positions can be misinterpreted with disastrous consequences; Thucydides informs us that they have been at least since the Peloponnesian War. Likewise such a statement by Secretary of State Dean Acheson in January, 1950, was probably a factor in the decision by North Korea to invade South Korea that June.

So Saddam invaded and Prime Minister Thatcher understood that strong action was imperative. She conveyed to President George H.W. Bush her concern that he might “go wobbly.” As she recollected their conversation of August 26:

He was clearly very uneasy about the line he was taking. He began by making a forty minute statement which yet again justified what the Iraqis had done. I said that I was amazed at his account of what was in fact a blatant act of aggression. Iraq was a country which had used chemical weapons not just in war but against its own people. Saddam Hussein was… an international brigand…..

The United States had already begun Operation Desert Shield on August 7, to protect Saudi Arabia, believed to be Iraq’s next victim. The prime minister was concerned that President Bush would back down from what should be the next step: not merely to hold the line, but to throw back the aggressor.

[dakine]

Spent ‘90/’91 in Saudi Arabia... Seems like a lifetime ago...

[M.K. Borders]

I think Maggie had her man well figured out.