First Midterm

Directions: The paper should be no less than five, double-spaced typed pages in length and is due on October 25, 2007.

  1. Before the outbreak of the Second Gulf War, the Bush administration painted Saddam Hussein as evil incarnate. Although Saddam was a monster, what was the relationship that existed between the United States and Iraq in the years immediately before Saddam ordered the invasion of Kuwait? Why was Iraq so important to American foreign policy? Why did two presidents decide to support Saddam during the Iran-Iraq War? What did the United States know of Saddam’s crimes before the First Gulf conflict?