This alliance brought an end to the illusion that the war in the Gulf was for humanitarian purposes and the restoration of democracy, since Assad, who killed 20,000 of his own citizens to quell an uprising in Hama, Syria, was comparatively more dictatorial than Saddam himself."(Fingrut, 1993)

In close connection with the geopolitical positioning of the kingdom of Kuwait and the regional alliances lay Western interests for oil. Head and Tilford noted in this sense that "the United States also feared a reduction in the flow of oil from Kuwait, especially for its Allies in Europe." (Head and Tilford 17) Indeed, it had become common knowledge that the Iraqi leadership had established the new foreign policy guidelines in terms of acquiring and controlling Kuwait's oil reserves. This attitude was determined by the acute economic crisis Saddam had led his country into, after the eight-year war with Iran. Therefore, his extensive...
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