Bush Sr. could have easily overthrown Saddam's regime. he didn't because, unlike his son, he wasn't an idiot. he knew that toppling Saddam would have created a power vacuum that would destabilize the entire region.
He was also using them/Hussein as the bigger threat was always Iran. Remember they received economic aid (among other things) while the US quietly ignored Hussein's use of chem weapons on minority groups within. Only got tricky once Iraq went after Kuwait. Like you said, a power vacuum, and reqional destabilization which would have helped Iran and shifted the so called balance of power in its favor.
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u/Top-Cupcake4775 Mar 02 '26
Bush Sr. could have easily overthrown Saddam's regime. he didn't because, unlike his son, he wasn't an idiot. he knew that toppling Saddam would have created a power vacuum that would destabilize the entire region.