When Iraq invaded Kuwait, a U.S. ally, in August of 1990, Bush was presented with his greatest crisis as President. Bush's masterful diplomacy constructed a worldwide coalition against Iraq. In January of 1991, Bush received Congressional authorization to use force to exit Iraq from Kuwait. The Allies launched a punishing aerial assaults on strategic sites in Iraq. In a ground war in February 1991, Allied forces drove Iraqis from Kuwait in just a few days. Bush's management of the war was supurb. However, Bush, under pressure, declared a cease-fire before Saddam Hussein was ousted. Following the war, Hussein quickly crushed internal postwar revolts by Kurds and Muslims. Bush sent relief aid to refugees fleeing Hussein's forces. However, had Bush taken care of Saddam then, we would not be in this war now. We had a strong coalition then, and although some allies would've objected to ousting the Iraqi leader, we certainly would've had more support in 1991 than we do now, twelve years later, in 2003. Crisis management is not just about dealing with the problems of the present, but also ensuring that those problems do not engulf the future.
