# did the US give a nod to Saddam before the Kuwait invasion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644 "2003-01-15T01:07:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/1 "2003-01-15T01:07:51Z")
I have seen it said many times that the US ambassador ( April Glaspie) gave a nod and wink to Iraq before their invasion of Kuwait. Is there any evidence either way? There is lots of guff on google, but its hard to know how reliable it is. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/2 "2003-01-15T01:27:57Z")
Hussein was led to believe by Glaspie’s statements that we would not interfere. Glaspie did not say outright as much, but she indicated as much. You can’t trust our word. Just ask the Iraq Shiites who were led to believe that we would aid them in any rebellion against Hussein. ---
**Author:** ![Winsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Winsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winsling)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/3 "2003-01-15T01:29:10Z")
It’s not clear. Certainly it’s not spun from whole cloth. From “Crusade” by Rick Atkinson, > [@](#): > > On July 19 Baker (Secretary of State) cabled the American ambassador in Baghdad, April C. Glaspie, who subsequently informed the Iaqis that “disputes should be settled by peaceful means, not through intimidation.” Five days later Glaspie delivered another message from Baker, which noted that “we remain committed to ensure the free flow of oil from the gulf and to support the sovereignty and integrity of the gulf states.” > In a much-debated meeting with Saddam on July 25, Glaspie repeated the American desire for a settlement by “peaceful means,” while noting that **“we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait.” President Bush, she added, hoped to "broaden and deepen our relations with Iraq."** I’ve got another cite from “Greatest Conspiracies in History” but I think this one is more appropriate. Hal ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/4 "2003-01-15T01:33:31Z")
We told Saddam he could have the disputed oil fields. We got pissed when he took the entire country. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/5 "2003-01-15T01:37:18Z")
Nice cites, happyheathen. /smack Diplomacy is hardly a science, and the misinterpreted statement by Glapsie can go down in history as one of the most sobering miscommunications ever. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/6 "2003-01-15T14:44:40Z")
thanks for that. I can see why conspiracy theorists would have a field day with that statement, but its seems clear that the US was not giving the nod to Iraq to invade, merely saying “don’t bother us with your petty problems. go away and sort it out peacefully”. ---
**Author:** ![ttu103](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@ttu103](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ttu103)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/7 "2003-01-15T16:36:59Z")
I think Arab leaders at the time were telling the Bush administration that Iraq’s militant stance was just a bluff. Given that sort of information, it’s understandable the United States didn’t take a more threatening tone with Saddam. At the time, we considered Iraq a friend, or at least a friend to the extent that it’s the enemy of our enemy Iran. As for citations, I know I’ve read it in several places, but the only one I can think of is “The Politics of Diplomacy” by Jim Bakker III. I know he was Bush’s secretary of state, so this is the official line, but you’d think it would have been criticized by now if it were an outrageous lie. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/8 "2003-01-15T17:12:37Z")
I believe there was no nod but just miscommunication for which the ambassador and the US government would be responsible. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/9 "2003-01-15T17:26:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scm1001 \* > \*\*…its seems clear that the US was not giving the nod to Iraq to invade, merely saying “don’t bother us with your petty problems. go away and sort it out peacefully”. \*\* Just watched a two hour bit on the Iraq War on Frontline recently (PBS). Washington was most definitely not giving the nod to Saddam to go ahead. Hosni(sp?) Mubarak, President of Egypt and a somewhat ally of the US, visited Saddam Hussein just prior to the invasion of Kuwait. Saddam told Mubarak that he did not intend to invade Kuwait at all but asked that Mubarak not let that tidbit slip to the Kuwaitis. The idea was that Saddam wanted some concession from Kuwait and was waving a sword around to get his way but had no real intent to use it. Mubarak immediately communicated this to Washington and asked that the US stay out of it. Arabs are touchy (as most contries are) when they believe the US is meddling in their affairs and this was decidedly seen as an Arab-Arab issue that the US had little to no place in. April Glaspie saw Saddam the day after Mubarak left and had been instructed by the State Department to tell Saddam that the US viewed this as an Arab issue and to settle it amongst themselves. The US thought it was being ‘good’ by staying out of the fray because it thought this would just be a lengthy war of words between two Arab nations. Saddam viewed that as enough to let him know that the US would not intervene and shortly afterwards (after Kuwait walked out of negotiations) attacked Kuwait. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/10 "2003-01-15T19:00:27Z")
A little pre-war history is in order. Long before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, there had been disputes between Iraq and Kuwait over their borders and (especially) accusations of “slant drilling.” Iraq had long maintained that, through slant drilling, the Kuwaitis were putting up rigs on their own soil that actually tapped into oil underneath Iraqi territory. (I haven’t seen documentation of these charges, but the charges were plausible, and even Saddam-bashers concede they MAY have been legitimate.) So, Iraq and Kuwait had major grievances with each other. Did the U.S. have a strong interest in seeing either side prevail in these disputes? Did we really care that much where the borders were located, or whether slant drilling was going on? Not really. We wanted the disputes settled, but ANY resolution was okay with us. If April Glasspie said that, or something along those lines to Iraqi diplomats (and I’m sure she did), that is a FAR cry from saying, “The U.S. told Saddam to go ahead and conquer Kuwait.” ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/11 "2003-01-15T19:18:47Z")
**SuaSponte** provided a [link](http://csmweb2.emcweb.com/durable/1999/05/27/p23s3.htm) in this GD [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152196&perpage=50&pagenumber=1) that states Glaspie denounced the [transcript](http://www.chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/glaspie.html) of the interview where that statement was made as > [@](#): > > “a fabrication” that distorted her position, though it contained “a great deal” that was accurate which we take to mean that only parts were fabricated. Whether those fabrications include the “We have no opinions” statement or not hasn’t been determined. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-us-give-a-nod-to-saddam-before-the-kuwait-invasion/148644/12 "2003-01-15T19:23:10Z")
Nor, for that matter, has actual fabrication been proven, either.