This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Progressive helps you compare direct auto rates from a variety of companies so you can find a great one, even if it's not with them. Quote today at progressive.com to find a rate that works with your budget. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, comparison rates not available in all states or situations. Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from radiotopia. My name is Jodi Avergan. This day, August 8th, 1990, Iraq announces the annexation of its neighbor country, Kuwait, setting up what is essentially a puppet regime in that small country. This is after Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had sent 100,000 troops into Kuwait invading the country, a conflict that of course the US would eventually step into as well in what became known as the first Gulf War. But that didn't take place until January of 1991. But on this evening in August of 1990, President George Bush is already kind of laying out the big stakes as he sees it. He gives an address to the United States people saying, today as president, I ask for your support in a decision I've made to stand up for what's right and condemn what's wrong, all in the cause of peace. We are beginning a new era. As was the case in the 1930s, we see in Saddam Hussein an aggressive dictator threatening his neighbors. And so the US decides to step in first in the summer and fall of 1990, what's known as Operation Desert Shield, which is the buildup. And then Operation Desert Storm, as I mentioned, comes in January of 91 with troops actually on the ground and actual conflict with Iraq in Iraq and Kuwait. talked about that 1990 Gulf War a lot on this show, but I really want to get into this decision to intervene and this framing from Bush rather than how the war itself played out. And I will also say that I have a kind of personal, honestly foundational memory of this moment that kind of affected my family in a big way and I will share that in a minute as well. But here to discuss, as always, Nicole Hemmer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter-Jackson of Wellesley. Hello there. Hello Jodi. Hey there. So let's start a little bit with the TikTok of kind of how we get to this moment. I think people know, you know, oh, Iraq decides to invade Kuwait, but what is the sort of larger context there of why Saddam Hussein becomes aggressive in this way in this moment?

So much of it has to do with the Iran-Iraq War that ran throughout the 1980s. This was a pretty devastating, grinding war. Both Iraq and Iran poured a ton of money into it. The United States kind of played both sides. Iran had been an ally of the U.S., but this is post-1979, post-revolution, post-Iran hostage crisis. And so the U.S. was also backing Iraq in the conflict. And at the end of that war, Saddam Hussein was feeling the pinch. His economy was struggling to recover. There was a big question of how much oil money was going to be coming in. He wanted more control over the price of oil so that the Iraqi economy could rebound. He also didn't think that Iraq should have to pay its war debts after the war. He felt like that was too much of a burden on the country. He owed a ton of money, the country owed a ton of money to both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and was also starting to feel isolated by other countries that were aligning with the US. So, rather than pay back more debts to Kuwait, he was like, what if we just took it over and said, nobody's going to stop us, who cares about Kuwait? It'll be fine. And so does indeed lead an invasion into Kuwait.

Kuwait small country sitting right there has lots of oil and again these debts and so what's one good way to get your debts cancelled is fine. Take over another country. Yes I should invade the mohela service provider who services my student debt. But that's the context. And yes, I think Hussein, who obviously is a dictator in his country, mounts this invasion. Let's get to kind of how the US sees this and frames it and then to take these steps. But gosh, Kelly, and all of us, what do we make of these remarks? I mean, on the very night, the very first remarks, Bush is saying things like, we are beginning a new era, and he name checks the 1930s and says, we see here an aggressive dictator threatening his neighbors in the way that we saw in the 1930s.

Absolutely. I mean, he's comparing Saddam Hussein to Hitler. I mean, when we think about the 1930s, we think about the fact that Bush is a World War II veteran. I mean, all of this is very salient. And so this idea that, you know, Saddam Hussein is trying to expand, expand, expand, sparks a lot of fear in people who feel like this is resonant to us. And so in his speech when he says, you know, like, basically Saddam Hussein can't be trusted. He said he wouldn't invade, and then he invaded. He said he would withdraw, and then he didn't withdraw. He says, you know, his promises mean nothing.