Punked for Petrodollars

Photo of the Kaaba during the Hajj by Haidan on Unsplash

When President George W. Bush got himself a do-over on President George H.W. Bush’s decision not to go to Baghdad and depose Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War, he opted for regime change. Perhaps this was because of the rumored plot to assassinate his father or perhaps because Saddam Hussein’s propaganda machine had been working to convince Iraqis that they won the first Gulf War. More likely, he just allowed himself to be led into it by the…