Glaspie/Hussein ...

[Brad DeLong]

>Brad DeLong wrote:
>
>>  When April Glaspie said that she understood that Saddam Hussein had
>>  to take some action to deal with Kuwaiti slant drilling, she did
>>  *not* mean that she understood that Saddam Hussein had to conquer and
>>  annex Kuwait. This "Glaspie gave a go-ahead nod for the annexation of
>>  Kuwait" seems to me likely to be completely false.
>
>April Glaspie may not have OK'd the annexation of Kuwait, but don't you
>think that she was giving a green light for some kind of military action?
>I was of the impression that our (mistaken) understanding was that
>Iraq would only take regions where the Kuwaitis were doing diagonal
>drilling and pumping.
>
>As you wrote earlier, containment works, and its been more than a
>decade since Gulf War version 1.0.  Saddam Hussein might be vicious,
>but he'd have to be a blind fool to embark on another such adventure.
>--
>Curtiss, with the inspect, not invade folks.

The fact that Saddam Hussein has launched two wars makes one worry 
that perhaps he is not only vicious, but also a blind fool...

And I think you're right about what April Glaspie expected: a small 
incursion to stop slant drilling and grab a couple of oilfields...

Brad DeLong