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Something you didn't know about the Gulf War 2003-04-11 - 6:38 p.m. 
As a note for readers: no, I'm not stating I'm anti-American, anti-war, etc. This is all for the sake of sharing information with you.I came across an interesting fact the other day about Iraq and America back in 1991. I don't know what news coverage my European or Aussie friends received, but I had always been under the impression that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait for oil and wouldn't stop at anything until he seized the country. That isn't the whole story. One of Saddam's motivating ambitions was more oil, but he also invaded Kuwait to get the attention of the West. On 2 January 1991, 'high U.S. officials' disclosed an offer made by Saddam. He would immediately withdrawl from the region, on the condition that the Americans would consider asking the UN Security Council to re-institute Arab-Israeli conflict talks and the problems of weapons of mass destruction. This offer was described as "serious" and "negotiable" by these anonymous American officials. Why the Arab-Israeli conflict talks? In my last post I wrote about Israel's invasion and occupation of Lebanon in 1978. Up to the Gulf War, Lebanon had appealed to the Security Council three times for Israel's immediate withdrawl. It was within their right: the Security Council has unanimously passed Resolution 451 which made it illegal for Israel to do such things. Up to that time, though, nothing ever happened. Not surprisingly, this situation appauled Hussein. Israel had annexed the Syrian Golan Heights and East Jerusalem--in defiance of Security Council resolutions. For whichever reasons--good or bad--the U.S. vetoed every motion to levy sanctions against Israeli or charge them for war crimes. Being that all Americans have a patriotic obligation to hate Hussein right now, it doesn't matter arguing whether or not the man made this offer for humanitarian reasons, to cover his ass, get more power, or some combination of those. In any case, the U.S. emphatically refused the offer, liberated Kuwait and almost marched to seize Baghdad. The only thing that stopped American forces from advancing were veiled threats from the Saudi Arabian government. The Saudis this time around have been wary about what'll happen to the Middle Eastern region, but they're falling back on the idea that maybe the world will react against "escalated American aggression". Just an interesting story I thought I'd share.
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