Was the first Iraq War worth it?

[Bodi]

I can't speak for others but IMO, stopping genocides is a good thing.

I was arguing faulty logic... his.

 

[Desert Storm]

The US is militarily active in the middle-east because they want to control the oil.

End of story

 

[Skeptic Bob]

I don’t really have an issue with the first Gulf War. We got in there, got it done, and got out. Yeah, there were unintended consequences, as there always are. There are also going to be unintended consequences by NOT acting as well.

That said, if the exact same thing happened today I would likely not support it as I am just too war fatigued for even justified war nowadays.

 

[jnug]

43 did have an exit strategy and as obama stated all the time, he followed the exact timeline

Quagmires are not exit strategies.

 

[poweRob]

I was arguing faulty logic... his.

I understood that. Don't make me slap you.

 

[poweRob]

43 did have an exit strategy and as obama stated all the time, he followed the exact timeline

That was just W stealing all future credit like he was known to do. Just like how he announced how we should put a man on mars... then did nothing about it. But when it happens people will point back to him for having been the first president to mention it.

 

[HumblePi]

Listening to neocons Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld was the greatest mistake of any presidency. The biggest tragedy was the nearly half million servicemen that died for that war. The second tragedy is that Iraq has cost the U.S. $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest.

The Iraq war completely destabilized that region and created ISIS. Iraq was messed up before the war, but it was THEIR mess, now it's everyone's mess. It displaced 4 million people and weakened the world economy. Something else that can never be recovered. During the war and occupation, the Coalition failed to protect Iraq 's incomparable cultural heritage, exposing it to looters and art thieves. Their National Library and National Museum, along with many other important cultural institutions, were badly damaged and looted in the early days of the occupation.

The only winner was Dick Cheney who profited greatly through his connections with Halliburton.

 

[Bodi]

I understood that. Don't make me slap you.

At 56 seconds... it is me, you and Tanns. I love getting slapped.

 

[poweRob]

At 56 seconds... it is me, you and Tanns. I love getting slapped.

It's why I offered.

 

[maxparrish]

The First Iraq War Was Also Sold to the Public Based on a Pack of Lies

And the story about dead babies thrown out of incubators was bogus.

I remember, I was a Republican back then but I didn't think the war was necessary. Hussein would have backed down. And Saudi Arabia wasn't worth saving.

Without the first Iraq war, there is no 9/11 and no G.W. Bush Iraq invasion and probably no ISIS.

Your link had little to do with your question; regardless if it was "sold" honestly, whether or not it turned out to be worth it is a different question. That said, the purposes of the war and its necessity were plainly given, and honest.

I am reminded of the witness memory experiments that show how people are so adept at mangling recall of recent events, let alone politically charged histories. Fact is, most (if not all) of the selling of the war buildup and launch cannot be disputed.

In Bush's address to a joint session of Congress, four months prior to the war, he was plain spoken:

. . . . So, tonight I want to talk to you about what's at stake--what we must do together to defend civilized values around the world and maintain our economic strength at home. Our objectives in the Persian Gulf are clear, our goals defined and familiar: Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait completely, immediately, and without condition. Kuwait's legitimate government must be restored. The security and stability of the Persian Gulf must be assured. And American citizens abroad must be protected. These goals are not ours alone. They've been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council five times in as many weeks. Most countries share our concern for principle. And many have a stake in the stability of the Persian Gulf. This is not, as Saddam Hussein would have it, the United States against Iraq. It is Iraq against the world.

... Had we not responded to this first provocation with clarity of purpose, if we do not continue to demonstrate our determination, it would be a signal to actual and potential despots around the world. America and the world must defend common vital interests--and we will. ...Saddam Hussein is literally trying to wipe a country off the face of the Earth...Vital economic interests are at risk as well. Iraq itself controls some 10 percent of the world's proven oil reserves. Iraq plus Kuwait controls twice that. An Iraq permitted to swallow Kuwait would have the economic and military power, as well as the arrogance, to intimidate and coerce its neighbors--neighbors who control the lion's share of the world's remaining oil reserves. We cannot permit a resource so vital to be dominated by one so ruthless. And we won't. Recent events have surely proven that there is no substitute for American leadership. ... From the outset, acting hand in hand with others, we've sought to fashion the broadest possible international response to Iraq's aggression. The level of world cooperation and condemnation of Iraq is unprecedented.

Armed forces from countries spanning four continents are there at the request of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia to deter and, if need be, to defend against attack. ...We can now point to five United Nations Security Council resolutions that condemn Iraq's aggression. They call for Iraq's immediate and unconditional withdrawal, the restoration of Kuwait's legitimate government, and categorically reject Iraq's cynical and self-serving attempt to annex Kuwait. . . . . The Security Council has imposed mandatory economic sanctions on Iraq, designed to force Iraq to relinquish the spoils of its illegal conquest. The Security Council has also taken the decisive step of authorizing the use of all means necessary to ensure compliance with these sanctions. ... I cannot predict just how long it will take to convince Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. Sanctions will take time to have their full intended effect. We will continue to review all options with our allies, but let it be clear: we will not let this aggression stand. ... Long after all our troops come home--and we all hope it's soon, very soon--there will be a lasting role for the United States in assisting the nations of the Persian Gulf. Our role then: to deter future aggression. Our role is to help our friends in their own self-defense. And something else: to curb the proliferation of chemical, biological, ballistic missile and, above all, nuclear technologies.

Obviously George is selling the intervention based on Kuwait and common national interests...

https://millercenter.org/the-presid...tember-11-1990-address-joint-session-congress (view transcript).

 

[Tangmo]

I have no strategic/tactical bones to pick about the First Gulf War.

Bravo Zulu to that. 41 actually had a clue of what he was doing. HW the Naval aviator of WWII had a lot of smart military counsel to boot. Gen. Schwartzkopf was put at CentCom in 1988 by the Reagan people at Pentagon. The Senate saluted Stormin Norman and voted unanimously to confirm.

A year later HW knew his guy to become chairman of JCS was Colin Powell. Powell was the first CJCS from Rotc which officers are generally more liberal minded than the rigid academy guys (across the services). The two star generals and three stars Norman and Colin had for Desert Storm had also been junior officers in Vietnam so the whole bunch of 'em were ready for this one. Army had purged nco after the VN War and put the officer corps in charge of building a new All Volunteer Force to include nurturing a new corps of nco. They did a bang up job of it, as we know. HW recognized that these guys were going to deliver and they did.

What all of 'em are emphasizing in the present time and context is that they had complete confidence in their CinC, Potus George HW Bush.

 

[Maccabee]

View attachment 67245503

I was there. My unit was attached to the 1st Cavalry Division. We spent most of our time before the ground war at Hafir al Batin and a couple months after the ground war at KKMC. Believe me...the Iraqi Army was all over the border between Iraq and SA and between Kuwait and SA.

The French are being true to their stereotype on the far left.