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American History Lecture Thirteen (view source)

Revision as of 03:31, December 8, 2008

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== Gulf War ==
 
== Gulf War ==
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Recall that President Lyndon Johnson is known for two things, the Great Society and the Vietnam War.  President George H.W. Bush (the father of President George W. Bush) is known for three things:  breaking his pledge of "no new taxes," winning the Persian Gulf War, and nominating Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.  We discuss the first two here, and the last in the next section.
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In 1988 the economy was doing well based on eight years of conservative policies under President Reagan.  President George H.W. Bush, Reagan's Vice President, won the Republican nomination for president and rode on Reagan's successes to win the presidential election in 1988.  But he made a famous promise of "Read my lips, no new taxes," which he later broke as President when he signed a tax increase by the Democratic Congress in response to a massive budget deficit.  Breaking that promise hurt him enormously politically.
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In 1990, Saddam Hussein thought that America would do nothing when he invaded and easily conquered nearby Kuwait, where lucrative oil fields are.  President George H.W. Bush, alarmed by the consequences of Saddam Hussein controlling so much oil and the injustice of the invasion, struck back with American troops.  They quickly defeated (and killed) Hussein's army and drove the few survivors back to Baghdad.  American casualties were extremely low, and President Bush was hero.  The combat was code-named Operation Desert Storm.  The Operation never intended to overthrow or capture Saddam Hussein himself, but President George H.W. Bush was later criticized for not "finishing the job," and some say that his son (the current President George W. Bush) wanted to take care of that.
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The high point in the war came when Saddam Hussein began launching missiles at the troops, missiles thought to contain chemical warfare that could cause horrific death.  The American troops had "Patriot missiles" designed based on President Reagan's "Star Wars" proposal, and these American missiles intercepted and shot down the Iraqi missiles in mid-flight.  It was spectacular to watch a fast-moving missile be tracked and then exploded in mid-air by another fast-moving missile.  This was something that liberals, including scientists, claimed was impossible to do.  Hussein launched missile after missile, and a soldier sitting in front a computer screen in a trailer fired Patriot missile after missile to shoot down the enemy missiles.
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Angry and frustrated, Hussein then fired his missiles at civilian populations in Israel.  It had been developing its own missile defense program, but it was not ready for this.  Quickly the American troops rushed their missile defense to Israel so it could protect its population too.
    
== Clarence Thomas ==
 
== Clarence Thomas ==
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