911 Gave GWB what his father needed that he didn't have in Desert Shield/Storm, A way into Iraq. The Saudi's only (and rightfully so) supported liberating Kuwait.
Daddy could have transitioned all the forces from Saudi to Kuwait. But he knew that it would put a lot at stake in Saudi, Israel and Egypt. It also would not have faired well with the UN. 911 changed that and opened the door. I am sure Daddy had a lot of influence on that move. The Bush's wanted in on the Oil with KBR and Haliburton.
Saddam screwed the pooch by thinking that they could evade the inspections, and play the tough guy with the Bush Admin. Which they needed to do to give the impression to Iran he had more power than he actually did. Had Saddam worked (instead of invading) with the Kuwaiti's and allowed the Bush's (KBR and Haliburton) in on the black gold rush everything would have been fine. However Saddam couldn't control his lust for both power and Blood. Which the Kuwaiti's were absolutely staunch on him toning things way way down. Saddam demanded being Keeper of the Holy Masque which neither the Saudi's or the Kuwaiti's would allow. He felt the only way to accomplish that was by taking Kuwait and then putting pressure on the Saudi's. But that would take moving all his strategic forces to the Kuwait/Saudi Boarder. Which he could not afford to leave both the Iranian and Jordanian boarders unmanned by well trained guards. He had no recruitment pool to build up his army. Saddam was truly caught between a rock and a hard place. Everyone in the region with oil was getting rich except for him. He kept the Iranians at bay for the Saudi's at a very heavy cost to Iraq.
As for if we should have invaded? NO! We lost so much for nothing, and we pretty much knew that going into it.
Did we do the right thing in Desert Shield/Storm absolutely! But only because the Saudi's demanded that we only Liberate Kuwait.
Last edited by MontanaCreekHunter; 10/18/21.
