Lumbuss said:
do they have cliffnotes for that? there is no way im going to sit down and read a fucking book.
I'll give you and abridged version.
Essentially no country in the middle east does anything that will guarantee US intervention because that country knows what the consequences are.
The US ambassador to Iraq is ON TAPE telling Saddam that the US would turn a blind eye (but wouldn't publically endorse) if he wanted to re-intergrate the last province of Iraq (i.e. Kuwait) into his country. These records actually got some coverage (albeit briefly) in the US media. CNN reported this for instance.
Once Saddam did this (with US blessings), the US changed its tune (always intending to) and used this as an excuse for military action against Saddam.
The reason why the Americans wanted to do this was because Saddam's gigantic military was unsettling the balance of power in the region, because it was no longer pre-occupied by a war with Iran. Iraq made peace with Iran (unexpectedly) which left Iraq with a giant military bristling with American and European supplied armaments.
Saddam tried repeatedly to pull out of Kuwait after he realised that he had been tricked. He tried to do so while saving face, i.e. getting concessions for the Palestinians, etc. But the US would have used every opportunity to initiate a war because the whole purpose was to crush the Iraqi military machine.
Saddam tried hopelessly for several months to wiggle his way out of the situation. The man has ruled Iraq for over 20 years. Do you think anyone who achieves this is stupid? He knew he couldn't win a war against the US, but needed an excuse to get out of it - which the US wouldn't give him.
Anyway, you really need to read the book.
And btw, the international law which Saddam violated by invading Kuwait which was used as an excuse for US intervention is EXACTLY the same International law the US violated when it invaded Panama 8 months earlier. No wonder the US is so hostile towards the idea of an International War Crimes court.