re: 29 years ago today: Iraq invades Kuwait

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hope whatever y'all was chasing wasn't very fast, baw

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Harriers so no, they weren't very fast! One did spring a fuel leak in the way over so we got to spend a few days in Rota!

This is what the Iraqi army looked like after Stormin' Norman was done with them.

Had a friend in mech infantry (Bradley gunner) that fought at Basrah. He wasn't very stable to begin with; that battle fricked him up severely.

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If Bush daddy had let us keep on fighting at most another 48 hours, the second Gulf War may have never happened.

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And the US would be fighting insurrectionists and refereeing a civil war in the 90s.

Bush 1 knew what he was doing: asserting US military dominance in a post Cold War world. It was the first major deployment of forces since Vietnam.

It established the world order until Sept 2001. A peaceful one for the west.

It also ignited a period of intense patriotism .

It was smart foreign policy.

I’m about 99% sure we wouldn’t have invaded Iraq if the news hadn’t broken about Bush’s son,Neil and his involvement in the Silverado Savings and Loan scandal which costs us millions.
Remember all the propaganda about the fierce army Iraq had,how high casualty rates we were expecting,,shipped something like 100,000 body bags,etc.I knew old guy that fought in North Africa WW2,I was talking to him about my fears of the high casualty rate our troops were going to suffer.He said that was all bs,he said Arabs couldn’t fight as organized army,as soon as the shooting started they would cut and run.He qualified that by saying as long as we stayed out of their cities it would be a cakewalk,if we invaded their cities that was another story.He said Arabs were great guerilla fighters and then casualties would be high.Pretty smart old guy.

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And the US would be fighting insurrectionists and refereeing a civil war in the 90s.

Bush 1 knew what he was doing: asserting US military dominance in a post Cold War world. It was the first major deployment of forces since Vietnam.

It established the world order until Sept 2001. A peaceful one for the west.

It also ignited a period of intense patriotism .

It was smart foreign policy.

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Perhaps you’re right. But I’m not so sure. In 1991 they didn’t have anything resembling an insurrection ready to go. There were no militias to speak of in Iraq at that time. And we had the backing of most of the Muslim world with us. In 2003 though, Saddam knew he could not hope to stop us so his only hope was in an insurrection. The situation on the ground, and across the Middle East in 1991 was nothing like it would be in 2003.

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And a series of events would begin that would lead to 9/11

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Saudi Arabi supplied most of the man power and money for 9/11. Good thing we're selling them nuclear secrets.

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Also, I remember I use to like Norman Schwarzkopf. He seemed like a badass.

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I saw him once. Not like personally met him. But was in the crowd once when he was visiting units in the run up to Desert Storm. He was a big dude.

Another waste of the American tax dollar.

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I saw him once.

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That's pretty cool.

I probably still have it somewhere, but I remember having his card. Like a baseball card, but of Desert Storm.