this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2023
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[–] TheChurn@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Not quite. First, the vast majority of Iraqi equipment was Soviet, and the vast majority of the stuff that wasn't Soviet was French.

French contractors even built the air defense network and control center.

Certainly there are tensions in Iraq as a result of it coming in to being as a constructed nation - nowhere did I say otherwise. However that doesn't justify a war of aggression against a neighboring country.

Further, Iraq's casus belli had nothing to do with having a potential 'claim' to Kuwait's land. Kuwait sovereignty pre-dates by centuries. The real reason was Kuwait's refusal to write off Iraqi debt and refusal to lower its oil product (it was producing above its OPEC quota - depressing prices and hurting Iraq's exports).

It is true that Saddam thought the West was using OPEC and Kuwait to undermine Iraq. That may be true. Putin thinks the West is using Ukraine to undermine him - so should we stop supporting Ukraine and let Russia annex it?