Your idea of "objective reasoning" seems to be merely bending over backwards to make excuses for Saddam's crimes, employing historical sources biased by a left-wing and anti-American political idealogy.
April Glaspie's talk with Saddam included the message that "disputes should be settled by peaceful means, not through intimidation", words that left-wing sources seem to leave out. Saddam, in turn, told Glaspie that Iraq would not use force against Iraq.
Between Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2 1990 and the UN deadline for Iraqi withdrawal of January 15, Saddam was given many chances to negotiate a peaceful retreat. For example: 13-15 January * Hussein regime rebuffs last-minute negotiations by the French government and UN Secretary-General de Cuellar.
He didn't want to negotiate - he wanted to keep Kuwait. The 32 country coalition commenced military actions on January 17. Note: Immediately after his invasion, BTW Saddam even promised to withdraw by August 5 1990, a promise he didn't keep.
BTW during the war, Iraq did in fact invade Saudi Arabia (on January 29) but was beaten back. This, the battle of Khafji, Saudi Arabia, was the first ground battle of the war. The coalition didn't initiate ground operations against Iraqi forces until February 24.
The military coalition consisted of Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Honduras, Italy, Kuwait, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
firethistime.org |
