Why didn't Saddam Hussein back down before the Gulf War (Animated History Documentary)
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Date: 2025-05-31
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Comments and reviews: 20
massrefuge4282
3: 54 the US and its western allies did not declare a ceasefire because the Iraqi Army was ruined, but because the West did not want to overthrow Saddam, because they loved Saddam and ideally wanted an iron fisted dictator just like him to continue running Iraq. The West supported him all the way through his worst crimes in the Iran-Iraq war, gassing of the Kurds, developing WMD, a nuclear reactor, suppressing the democratic opposition etc. Thats is why, after the ceasefire the US immediately turned right back to supporting Saddam to help him crush an Uprising against him in the south by allowing him to use the Airforce against the bebels, all while 'storming' Norman Schwarzkopf watched on.
Also, the US-led assault prevented negotiations rather than forcing 3: 54 Saddam to negotiate. The war was not in fact 'invevitable', as Iraq made multiple offers to negotiate a withdraw from Kuwait. The war was deeply unpopular with the exiled Iraqi democratic opposition, who's calls for negotiations were mostly ignored by western media, and which the US completely rejected anway and then instead opted to needlessly launch a destructive and deadly war, which was surpassed in scale by the second US-led assault on the country 12 years later.
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3: 54 the US and its western allies did not declare a ceasefire because the Iraqi Army was ruined, but because the West did not want to overthrow Saddam, because they loved Saddam and ideally wanted an iron fisted dictator just like him to continue running Iraq. The West supported him all the way through his worst crimes in the Iran-Iraq war, gassing of the Kurds, developing WMD, a nuclear reactor, suppressing the democratic opposition etc. Thats is why, after the ceasefire the US immediately turned right back to supporting Saddam to help him crush an Uprising against him in the south by allowing him to use the Airforce against the bebels, all while 'storming' Norman Schwarzkopf watched on.
Also, the US-led assault prevented negotiations rather than forcing 3: 54 Saddam to negotiate. The war was not in fact 'invevitable', as Iraq made multiple offers to negotiate a withdraw from Kuwait. The war was deeply unpopular with the exiled Iraqi democratic opposition, who's calls for negotiations were mostly ignored by western media, and which the US completely rejected anway and then instead opted to needlessly launch a destructive and deadly war, which was surpassed in scale by the second US-led assault on the country 12 years later.
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dallasyap3064
He thought the US was still suffering from Vietnam syndrome which they were, but the US military had some major reforms. The Iraqi military had experience, but the US military boasts new tech and strategy such as stealth (F-117); GPS and laser guided munitions (first used in Vietnam but first widely employed in this war) and a truly coordinated and integrated combined multi-service multinational military force especially in regard to the air war (in Vietnam, the Navy and Marine Corps frequently ran its own air battles without properly coordinating with the Air Force or Army. When planes were shot down, they begged the Air Force and Army to foot out rescue & recovery assets that were originally allocated for someone else to save their pilots, complicating the Air Force's own mission and logistical system. In Desert Storm, whether u are Navy or Marine Corps or foreign air force, u operated as part of a single air component entity commanded by a Joint Air Component Commander headed by a US Air Force General who's directly answerable to General Schwarzkopf, who had absolute command & control authority over all American and coalition military forces (air, land, sea.
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He thought the US was still suffering from Vietnam syndrome which they were, but the US military had some major reforms. The Iraqi military had experience, but the US military boasts new tech and strategy such as stealth (F-117); GPS and laser guided munitions (first used in Vietnam but first widely employed in this war) and a truly coordinated and integrated combined multi-service multinational military force especially in regard to the air war (in Vietnam, the Navy and Marine Corps frequently ran its own air battles without properly coordinating with the Air Force or Army. When planes were shot down, they begged the Air Force and Army to foot out rescue & recovery assets that were originally allocated for someone else to save their pilots, complicating the Air Force's own mission and logistical system. In Desert Storm, whether u are Navy or Marine Corps or foreign air force, u operated as part of a single air component entity commanded by a Joint Air Component Commander headed by a US Air Force General who's directly answerable to General Schwarzkopf, who had absolute command & control authority over all American and coalition military forces (air, land, sea.
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creber4790
Actually, congress was convinced to invade by a bogus story made up by a member of the Kuwaiti royal family who posed as a nurse.
Furthermore Hussein fired rockets at Israel so he could force the Arab nations into a peace, but Israel did not retaliate as the coalition already knew that it was going to happen.
Last but not least one of the major reasons the war occurred was due to aggressive diplomatic actions from Kuwait, whose crown prince insulted Iraqi women as prostitutes, and that publicly!
WMOD actually weren’t found and chemical weapons are also a sceptical claim nowadays, as records show that congress denied chemical weapons being used by Iraq during the Iran Iraq war, but during the invasion of Iraq they decided to change the narrative as it wasn’t Iran who was the enemy now, but Iraq.
(Iran was actually the one who was deploying chemical weapons and child mass assault tactics during the war)
Just decided to bring up these few things. Greetings from an Iraqi Kurd!
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Actually, congress was convinced to invade by a bogus story made up by a member of the Kuwaiti royal family who posed as a nurse.
Furthermore Hussein fired rockets at Israel so he could force the Arab nations into a peace, but Israel did not retaliate as the coalition already knew that it was going to happen.
Last but not least one of the major reasons the war occurred was due to aggressive diplomatic actions from Kuwait, whose crown prince insulted Iraqi women as prostitutes, and that publicly!
WMOD actually weren’t found and chemical weapons are also a sceptical claim nowadays, as records show that congress denied chemical weapons being used by Iraq during the Iran Iraq war, but during the invasion of Iraq they decided to change the narrative as it wasn’t Iran who was the enemy now, but Iraq.
(Iran was actually the one who was deploying chemical weapons and child mass assault tactics during the war)
Just decided to bring up these few things. Greetings from an Iraqi Kurd!
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generalvikus2138
Possibly Saddam's biggest failure was his refusal to do anything while the deployment was ongoing. At the start of the Coalition deployment, Iraq had an overwhelming military advantage and it took the Coalition months to build up their forces, but Saddam refused to use this advantage because the Iraqis were convinced that any war would be like their static war with Iran, and therefore defense was always best. If Iraq had invaded Saudi Arabia immediately, the Saudi fields could have been used as a bargaining chip to strike a compromise which allowed Iraq to keep Kuwait. Instead, Saddam chose the worst option - he was too aggressive to convince the US that its oil supplies were safe, but not aggressive enough to actually make use of the leverage which those oil supplies could have afforded him. Such compromises rarely work out.
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Possibly Saddam's biggest failure was his refusal to do anything while the deployment was ongoing. At the start of the Coalition deployment, Iraq had an overwhelming military advantage and it took the Coalition months to build up their forces, but Saddam refused to use this advantage because the Iraqis were convinced that any war would be like their static war with Iran, and therefore defense was always best. If Iraq had invaded Saudi Arabia immediately, the Saudi fields could have been used as a bargaining chip to strike a compromise which allowed Iraq to keep Kuwait. Instead, Saddam chose the worst option - he was too aggressive to convince the US that its oil supplies were safe, but not aggressive enough to actually make use of the leverage which those oil supplies could have afforded him. Such compromises rarely work out.
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geisaune793
Hey I thought of another video idea, if you don’t mind: Why didn’t Italy and Japan reckon with their actions in the years after WW2 while Germany did Is it just down to cultural reasons, or are there historical ones as well I know the Allies forced Germany to go through an intense denazification program, but Japan rarely acknowledges the war crimes they committed and their role as aggressors, and in Italy there are still thousands of monuments to Mussolini and Italian Fascism, and suggestions to remove them are usually met with anger. And there weren’t nearly as many Italian and Japanese military leaders prosecuted after WW2 as there were German. So why didn’t the Allies force Italy and Japan to go through the same process that Germany did
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Hey I thought of another video idea, if you don’t mind: Why didn’t Italy and Japan reckon with their actions in the years after WW2 while Germany did Is it just down to cultural reasons, or are there historical ones as well I know the Allies forced Germany to go through an intense denazification program, but Japan rarely acknowledges the war crimes they committed and their role as aggressors, and in Italy there are still thousands of monuments to Mussolini and Italian Fascism, and suggestions to remove them are usually met with anger. And there weren’t nearly as many Italian and Japanese military leaders prosecuted after WW2 as there were German. So why didn’t the Allies force Italy and Japan to go through the same process that Germany did
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Fokas-n8t
He actually backed down, that is what they don't tell you. When the American army assembled in front of Kuweit, Saddam ordered the retreat. He believed that this would be enough and that Americans would just roll in Kuweit and the issue would finish there, maybe with a few financial sanctions. But Americans proved vengeful: they started bombing the retreating Iraqis, thus you had the highway to hell bombing where the massive phalanx of Iraqi vehicles was bombed by US airforce wiping out 1000s men and 100s of vehicles. After that, the Iraqi army fell in disarray and simply became a practice target for US forces.
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He actually backed down, that is what they don't tell you. When the American army assembled in front of Kuweit, Saddam ordered the retreat. He believed that this would be enough and that Americans would just roll in Kuweit and the issue would finish there, maybe with a few financial sanctions. But Americans proved vengeful: they started bombing the retreating Iraqis, thus you had the highway to hell bombing where the massive phalanx of Iraqi vehicles was bombed by US airforce wiping out 1000s men and 100s of vehicles. After that, the Iraqi army fell in disarray and simply became a practice target for US forces.
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arkady714
A few points:
1 - HW Bush loved this war as his lackluster approval ratings soared once he rallied America to kill Arabs. There was already enough anti-Arab sentiment thanks to a stream of terror attacks in Europe and Reagan’s feud with Khaddafi.
2 - Most of the Arab world was indifferent to Kuwait as they were rich and no one wanted more war. HW Bush had to ask Saudi’s permission to defend them and their own soldiers were nicknamed sped bumps by US troops for their slow moving.
3 - Israel actually did have enough and sent bombers in but, due to US pressure, called them back in mid flight.
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A few points:
1 - HW Bush loved this war as his lackluster approval ratings soared once he rallied America to kill Arabs. There was already enough anti-Arab sentiment thanks to a stream of terror attacks in Europe and Reagan’s feud with Khaddafi.
2 - Most of the Arab world was indifferent to Kuwait as they were rich and no one wanted more war. HW Bush had to ask Saudi’s permission to defend them and their own soldiers were nicknamed sped bumps by US troops for their slow moving.
3 - Israel actually did have enough and sent bombers in but, due to US pressure, called them back in mid flight.
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ingGS
A minor correction: Israel was more than eager to retaliate to Irak, but the U. S. A. intervened and basically told them not to.
Something similar happened in 1973, Israel knew that an attack was coming, King Abdullah of Jordan even met with Golda Meier in person and told her what was up. PM Meier wanted a preemptive attack, but the U. S. A. told her to stay put if she wanted international support. Her inaction essentially ended her career, but we now know from declassified documents that she wanted to attack but was hand-tied and forced to defend instead. She died with this smear on her image.
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A minor correction: Israel was more than eager to retaliate to Irak, but the U. S. A. intervened and basically told them not to.
Something similar happened in 1973, Israel knew that an attack was coming, King Abdullah of Jordan even met with Golda Meier in person and told her what was up. PM Meier wanted a preemptive attack, but the U. S. A. told her to stay put if she wanted international support. Her inaction essentially ended her career, but we now know from declassified documents that she wanted to attack but was hand-tied and forced to defend instead. She died with this smear on her image.
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Generic42
The UN verified Kuwait was stealing Iraq’s oil. Prior to invading Saddam spoke to U. S. Ambassador April Glaspie, who basically gave the USA’s blessing for him to invade. George Bush had no problem with it, but after meeting with Margaret Thatcher in Aspen for two days he emerged and suddenly reversed his position.
Oh and don’t forget that the US gave him those chemical weapons, and was quite happy to have him assassinate Iraqis, having given him a list of people the US didn’t like.
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The UN verified Kuwait was stealing Iraq’s oil. Prior to invading Saddam spoke to U. S. Ambassador April Glaspie, who basically gave the USA’s blessing for him to invade. George Bush had no problem with it, but after meeting with Margaret Thatcher in Aspen for two days he emerged and suddenly reversed his position.
Oh and don’t forget that the US gave him those chemical weapons, and was quite happy to have him assassinate Iraqis, having given him a list of people the US didn’t like.
reply
Generic42
The UN verified Kuwait was stealing Iraq’s oil. Prior to invading Saddam spoke to U. S. Ambassador April Glaspie, who basically gave the USA’s blessing for him to invade. George Bush had no problem with it, but after meeting with Margaret Thatcher in Aspen for two days he emerged and suddenly reversed his position.
Oh and don’t forget that the US gave him those chemical weapons, and was quite happy to have him assassinate Iraqis, having given him a list of people the US didn’t like.
reply
The UN verified Kuwait was stealing Iraq’s oil. Prior to invading Saddam spoke to U. S. Ambassador April Glaspie, who basically gave the USA’s blessing for him to invade. George Bush had no problem with it, but after meeting with Margaret Thatcher in Aspen for two days he emerged and suddenly reversed his position.
Oh and don’t forget that the US gave him those chemical weapons, and was quite happy to have him assassinate Iraqis, having given him a list of people the US didn’t like.
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history_matters
I wonder if Saddam would have even tried to, if he got the idea or been given the idea to, use the invasion as a ruse and then offer slightly extra land back, but keep the land with the oil reserves and expect everyone to agree the land exchange and cease fire as being fair enough. Perhaps even a narrow land barrier between Iraq and Iran and a treaty signed by Kuwait that Kuwait to never allow Iranian military to use the land to reach Iraq. Otherwise, not officially cease fire in Kuwait.
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I wonder if Saddam would have even tried to, if he got the idea or been given the idea to, use the invasion as a ruse and then offer slightly extra land back, but keep the land with the oil reserves and expect everyone to agree the land exchange and cease fire as being fair enough. Perhaps even a narrow land barrier between Iraq and Iran and a treaty signed by Kuwait that Kuwait to never allow Iranian military to use the land to reach Iraq. Otherwise, not officially cease fire in Kuwait.
reply
geisaune793
So I’ve got a video suggestion if you don’t mind: When (and/or how) did the Franks become the French The Franks were a germanic people who spoke the germanic Frankish language, and yet the French speak French, a Romance language. All of this happened well after the Latin speaking Romans were gone, so how/when did the germanic Franks become the latinized French
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So I’ve got a video suggestion if you don’t mind: When (and/or how) did the Franks become the French The Franks were a germanic people who spoke the germanic Frankish language, and yet the French speak French, a Romance language. All of this happened well after the Latin speaking Romans were gone, so how/when did the germanic Franks become the latinized French
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tgbgt
just an anecdote as an Israeli, everyone thought that saddam would bomb israel with chemical weapons, so the government issued gas masks and treatment kits for nearly everyone and gave orders to put them on and go to a shelter if a siren is heard. to this day, if you go to a random family's warehouse you will most likely find the gas mask kit.
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just an anecdote as an Israeli, everyone thought that saddam would bomb israel with chemical weapons, so the government issued gas masks and treatment kits for nearly everyone and gave orders to put them on and go to a shelter if a siren is heard. to this day, if you go to a random family's warehouse you will most likely find the gas mask kit.
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history_matters
because the USA asked him to invade Quwait. but his stpid ego of refusing to admit that he was fooled kept him from revealing that truth and took it with him to the afterife. but everybody knows and he knows that everybody knows and no one was allowed to talk about it. Sadam was doing Proxy wars for the USA since the 1980s.
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because the USA asked him to invade Quwait. but his stpid ego of refusing to admit that he was fooled kept him from revealing that truth and took it with him to the afterife. but everybody knows and he knows that everybody knows and no one was allowed to talk about it. Sadam was doing Proxy wars for the USA since the 1980s.
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education
Thanks to the British and French who created these borders
Let's establish a
very large country and on 90% of its coast we will establish a small country
And Iraq is 20 times larger in area than Israel
Why didn't they give a country there to the Assyrian Christians who were over 30% of the population at the time
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Thanks to the British and French who created these borders
Let's establish a
very large country and on 90% of its coast we will establish a small country
And Iraq is 20 times larger in area than Israel
Why didn't they give a country there to the Assyrian Christians who were over 30% of the population at the time
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TheDarthbinky
It should also be noted that US diplomat April Glaspie basically told Saddam just prior to his 1990 invasion that the US didn't care about his beef with Kuwait; he chose to interpret this as the US won't do anything if you do anything to Kuwait. Obviously his assumption was not a very good one.
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It should also be noted that US diplomat April Glaspie basically told Saddam just prior to his 1990 invasion that the US didn't care about his beef with Kuwait; he chose to interpret this as the US won't do anything if you do anything to Kuwait. Obviously his assumption was not a very good one.
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silverjohn6037
People in democratic societies tend to labor under one profound misunderstanding about dictatorships. They assume the leaders care what happens to anyone else. The reality is you don't become dictator unless you are a sociopath who has no sympathy for other peoples suffering.
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People in democratic societies tend to labor under one profound misunderstanding about dictatorships. They assume the leaders care what happens to anyone else. The reality is you don't become dictator unless you are a sociopath who has no sympathy for other peoples suffering.
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UnstoppableEmpire
3: 30 Saddam Hussein's greatest strategy, that Iraq nearly defeated a Coalition invasion had Israel taken the bait, Americans knew they'd risk legitimate defeat in a modern two-side army conflict against Iraq in such a scenario and ordered Israelis to not dare join the war.
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3: 30 Saddam Hussein's greatest strategy, that Iraq nearly defeated a Coalition invasion had Israel taken the bait, Americans knew they'd risk legitimate defeat in a modern two-side army conflict against Iraq in such a scenario and ordered Israelis to not dare join the war.
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stischer47
We had a number of Arab students at my university at the time who were bragging that Saddam Hussein's army was the strongest in the world and they would wipe out American troops in a matter of days. They disappeared at the end of the Iraq War. Never knew what happened to them.
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We had a number of Arab students at my university at the time who were bragging that Saddam Hussein's army was the strongest in the world and they would wipe out American troops in a matter of days. They disappeared at the end of the Iraq War. Never knew what happened to them.
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AngryDuck79
I think its incredibly sad that anti-israel sentiment is so rampant that you had to add disclaimer to beg the swasticucks not to cry. Also, why no mention of the fact that Iraq set fire to every single Kuwaiti oil rig on the way out and that literally took years to fix
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I think its incredibly sad that anti-israel sentiment is so rampant that you had to add disclaimer to beg the swasticucks not to cry. Also, why no mention of the fact that Iraq set fire to every single Kuwaiti oil rig on the way out and that literally took years to fix
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