The real scoop. Sadam was one of the ones in the Middle East that was auditioning for the role of the new emperor of the new Ottoman Empire. From a practical point, Iraq owed a lot of money to Kuwait. So by capturing Kuwait he wiped out the debt and got all of their gold and oil. He actually might have gotten away with it, except he got greedy and went for the Saudi oil fields. The US had a protection pact with Saudi. Part of the petro dollar deal.
The real scoop. Sadam was one of the ones in the Middle East that was auditioning for the role of the new emperor of the new Ottoman Empire. From a practical point, Iraq owed a lot of money to Kuwait. So by capturing Kuwait he wiped out the debt and got all of their gold and oil. He actually might have gotten away with it, except he got greedy and went for the Saudi oil fields. The US had a protection pact with Saudi. Part of the petro dollar deal.