| Sumario: | [Aburish] offers his own explanation of what shifted [Saddam Hussein]'s anger from Israel to Kuwait. On one hand, the U.S. continued to appease Saddam through a congressional visit to Iraq headed by Senator Robert Dole to promote better business and political relations between Iraq and the U.S. And through an appeal by John Kelly on 24 April against applying sanctions to Iraq before the House of Foreign Relations Sub-committee. On the other hand, as the author claims on page 276, “General Norman Schwarzcopf, chief of the U.S. Army's Central Command, was making regular visits to Kuwait during which he was critical of Iraq and identified it as the enemy.” Meanwhile Saddam had received news that “the Central Command's Army's exercises were based on scenarios which identified Iraq as their target, in place of the USSR. Other reports reaching the Iraqi leader suggested that CIA chief William Webster had made several visits to Kuwait during which he had meetings with the Emir, and that after each meeting the Kuwaitis increased their oil production.” p.276. The final stroke was suspending American loans to Iraq while the UAE and Kuwait were increasing their oil production. The author states that Iraq simply can not live without American loans under such circumstances, and that prompted Saddam Hussein to take his revenge on Kuwait, and hit Israel with Scud missiles while he is at it. The rest is history as the street fighter in Saddam refused to back down once he invaded Kuwait. Aburish's book received reviews from the Sunday Telegraph, and Time magazine. Sunday Telegraph's Con Coughlin on January 30, 2000, and Time magazine's Sir Harold Walker on January 27, 2000 found nothing amusing about the book except that Saddam Hussein perceived himself as another [Joseph Stalin]. Sir Walker commented on the last two chapters concerning the implications of sanctions on Iraqi civilians saying, “the last two chapters hardly mention Saddam and concentrate on a familiar critique of American - and British - policy towards Iraq since the liberation of Kuwait.” Thus Sir Walker, thinks Aburish's concern about the deteriorating living conditions in Iraq, which prompted the resignations of two UN humanitarian aid officials, a “familiar critique of American and British policy....”
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