From his time as head of the CIA, President George Bush Sr. certainly knew all about Saddam Hussein. And he began his presidency geared to carry on the U.S. policy of boosting Iraq diplomatically and economically.

In October 1989, President Bush signed a top-secret National Security Decision, which stated: "Normal relations between the U.S. and Iraq would serve our long-term interests and promote stability in both the Gulf and the Middle East. The U.S. should propose economic and political incentives for Iraq to moderate its behavior and increase our influence with Iraq ... We should pursue, and seek to facilitate, opportunities for U.S. firms to participate in the reconstruction of the Iraqi economy."

In line with that doctrine, the Bush administration supported a series of guaranteed loans to Iraq, plus high-tech sales to the Hussein regime. The last of these sales was approved on Aug. 1, 1990. The next day the loans were put on hold. Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait.

It was a terrible miscalculation by Hussein, who was involved in an ongoing dispute with his tiny neighbor over oil rights near their shared border. He apparently believed that neither the United States nor any of its allies would retaliate in response to the invasion. In fact, just a week before he sent his army into Kuwait, Hussein had been told by U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie that "we have no opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait."

But once Hussein's soldiers started killing Kuwaitis, President Bush expressed a clear opinion. "This will not stand," he declared, and began the five-month process of building a coalition against Iraq and assembling one of the largest military forces ever in the Middle East.

On Jan. 17, 1991, the U.S.-led coalition launched Operation Desert Storm with airstrikes that would continue relentlessly for the next month. By late February, Hussein had pulled his troops out of Kuwait. And on Feb. 28 a cease-fire went into effect. Hussein had been soundly defeated.

But President Bush called off the American troops before they reached Baghdad. He has defended that decision, pointing out that the United Nations had authorized the coalition only to drive the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. As an alternative to having the United States depose the Iraqi ruler, the Bush administration encouraged Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq and Kurds in northern Iraq to rise up against Hussein. But without real military support from outside, the rebels were viciously crushed by Hussein's army.

Knowing how Hussein would respond, more than a million Kurds fled Iraq for Iran or Turkey. The United States, under Bush's directive, stepped up covert activity in Iraq with the purpose of helping anti-Hussein groups. It also established no-fly zones across northern and southern Iraq, which would be patrolled by U.S. and British military jets, to protect Iraqi residents from Hussein's retaliations.

Still, Saddam Hussein survived. And when he heard that George Bush was defeated in his bid for re-election, he went out on his palace balcony and fired his gun in celebration.