ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Some 30 years ago, the world appeared to be entering a better place. From the end of World War II until the fall of the Berlin Wall, Cold War tensions had reached at times a breaking point. But with good leaders focused on the good of their people, and good people yearning for freedom, the doomsday clock paused. It seemed like we could all exhale.
Unfortunately, the world is not entirely full of good leaders and good people. So, the unthinkable happened in the summer of 1990. Saddam Hussein, the “Butcher of Baghdad,” chose to invade Kuwait. The man who began and fought a bloody war of attrition with Iran for eight years was emboldened to test the United Nations, the diplomatic and political stability of his neighbors, and the military power of a U.S.-led coalition that would ultimately liberate Kuwait.