USA Policy towards Iraq

[H. Curtiss Leung]

Vague memories, but here goes: I thought Bush the elder and Brent Scowcroft
had written that deposing Saddam Hussein was not an objective of the Gulf
War, but that after the fact wished it had been (yeah right).  OTOH, I recall
articles in both _The Nation_ and on stratfor.com decrying the Clinton admin's
decision to make Saddam's overthrow a policy objective (this around the
time of an execution of a high ranking Iraqi military commander for ploting 
a coup--I think the stated preferred method of disposal was an insider
military coup).

I haven't the time to scare up actual references right now, but maybe this
will jog someone else's memory.  But it seems that both Bush the elder and
Scowcroft's after-the-fact regrets and the Clinton admin's stated aims were
ideological and just for domestic comsumption--in the latter case, especially 
if the perfered method of disposal is still a palace coup.
--
Curtiss