2 August 90: What If?

2 August 90 was the day Saddam invaded Kuwait.

It was obvious to us that war was a comin'. Becuase we played GDW's World War III we knew the US would win.

Of course not everyone has our insight and clairvoyance.

The arguments for war were solid:

Saddam was a dictator who fancied himself the regional hegemon in waiting. 
Saddam was threatening the global oil supply.
Saddam's invasion was an act of pure aggression.
Saddam had been bragging about his nuclear program that spring.
Saddam's invasion was reminiscent of Hitler.

To the America of 1990, still marinating in the legacy of the Second World War, comparisons to Hitler, Munich, and the war were apt and impossible to avoid.

The cause was righteous.

But what if the United States had simply given a Gaelic shrug, sipped some wine, said C'est la vie, and adjusted to the new order with Saddam as regional hegemon?

The Wahabiest nutters running Saudi Arabia would have been under his thumb. Surely the Shia whackjobs in Iran would have been his next target.

Would a Middle East run by a secular Saddam who hates Islam been such a bad idea?

But what of Israel? Ahhhhh....

Not as crazy as it sounds