He wasn’t villain then…
The short review of the previous round of armed conflict between the US and Iran is very interesting. It add some missing perspective. I would be very careful drawing conclusions from this article toward possible strike against Iran now. It is very interesting to note how just few years before the first gulf war the different countries played different rolls:
When its shipping came under attack, Iran retaliated against Kuwait, a financial supporter of Iraq, by focusing its attacks on Kuwaiti-bound ships. Under heavy pressure, Kuwait turned to the U.S. with the idea of re-flagging some of its tankers. In January 1987, the U.S. agreed to place Kuwaiti ships under the Stars and Stripes, and dispatched naval forces to the Gulf to protect them.
The U.S. escort plan was code-named “Operation Earnest Will.” To avoid errant attacks by the Iraqis, such as the one that had occurred against the USS Stark in May 1987, the U.S. worked closely with Saddam Hussein’s regime. To facilitate communication between Iraqi jets and U.S. ships, a UHF monitoring frequency was provided to the Iraqis on a monthly basis by the U.S. military attaché in Baghdad. The U.S. also supplied Iraq with the convoy routes in advance. In light of subsequent events, this fairly extensive U.S.-Iraqi cooperation has been kept very low profile.
The close alliance between Iraq, Quwait and the US seems very unlikely just few years after when it was important to, finally, notice how villain was Saddam Hussein.
Tags: Iraq, Non-Intervention, Saddam Hussein, US Foreign policyRelated posts