In August of 1990, Saddam Hussein ordered Iraqi tanks who had been massing along the southern border with Kuwait to cross that border and move toward Kuwait City. A concerted global effort including Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Oman, and others worked with Western nations such as the US, Canada, France, the UK, and others. Saddam Hussein was seen as the enemy because he commanded the fourth-largest military in the world in 1991. He was a strong, determined, ruthless, and unpredictable leader bent on dominating the Arab world. There was no reason, according to Norman Schwarzkopf and other US military commanders, for the Iraqi army to stop at Kuwait City. They could continue south through Saudi Arabia attacking and capturing Dhahran, and continue to attack the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Bahrain with relatively little resistance from the miniscule armies of those tiny nations. Saudi Arabia had been forced to wait out an Arab-brokered diplomatic remediation. A Western and Arab military effort led by famous Generals Schwarzkopf and Powell with the aid of Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney crushed the Iraqi army in such great fashion that a mere 100 hours was required for the ground war after the successful and devastating air campaign.
Fourteen years later, we are faced with the a different situation but the same cast of characters. When the United States came to the conclusion that an invasion of Iraq was proper and necessary, it took less than one hundred hours to reach and control Baghdad. Saddam Hussein this time was removed from power. However, this time around, a President named Bush is not the recipient of 89% approval ratings. Will the reelection be a repeat of 1992? Clinton won because he was able to play up and capitalize off of the economy. Clinton knew that he could not go toe to toe with Bush on the military record so he had to hit hard and hit fast. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) has the credentials and war record to go toe to toe with the current President Bush on a military dogfight but will his ticket to victory be through the economy route? Will President Bush capitalize on his efforts to rebound the economy?
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