IRT the Shiites... Who said we wanted Saddam to remain in power? Who 'denied' them what exactly?
Well , given the level of support the US had given him previously , and factoring in the situation with Iraq at the time , it doesn't take a genius to understand why a defanged Saddam , that you had " no problem " with , would be better than the alternatives.
Would the US have preferred a shia dominated Iraq that might forge better relations with the real US bogeymen in Iran ?
Would it give the finger to the Turks with regards to a Kurdish autonomous state in Iraq ?
No to both imo
So if that's the case fine just
don't incite the people to revolt and them leave them high and dry to get massacred
The rebels were denied weapons captured by the coalition forces. Weapons they needed against Husseins mob that in many cases were just destroyed. Not only that , they were often disarmed by coalition forces whilst moving around the country
And the helicopters were a mistake by Schwartzkoff. A mistake he admitted to.
Come on !
Haven't you sussed this out yet ? Mistake my arse
Why would you accent to attack helicopters being used for ferrying officials around ?
See... This is the sort of talking points I was talking about.
If the US intervenes they are evil. If they don't intervene they are evil.
What would you have the US do? Interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq? Is that what you would prefer?
There's a lot to this like Kuwaits behaviour after the end of the Iran Iraq war with oil quotas ect and alleged slant drilling. The US long time goal of having a strong military presence in Saudi etc
All's I know is that the UN mandate didn't cover regime change ( and it wouldn't have in 2003 that's why it was never sought ) so once he was out of Kuwait the American leadership had absolutely no justification for inciting people to overthrow the Iraqi regime with millions of leaflets and speeches on the tv. Especially when the alternatives I listed above would have been unacceptable to the US.
Then you deny the people the weapons needed to overthrow Saddam and allow him use of helicopter gunships
I don't think the US or anyone else should interfere with the internal affairs of other countries . If the boot were on the other foot you wouldn't accept Iraqi interference in your country