>>Does it matter who he was trying to fool, knowing that the United States have great interest in that region - not only for stratigic reasons, but for... yes, oil?

>Sure it matters. Why would he expect that a country that had a doctrine rejecting first strike to suddenly join the game and attack - especially without U.N. sanction? Most of the world did not expect that. Why would Saddam?

Well, why would a school yard bully be surprised when his victim, whom he's being picking on for months, finally get enough courage to fight back?

At a risk of sounding arrogant, what does it matter to the United States what the rest of the world is doing or thinking? United States will act, FIRST, on the best interest of the United States. Perhaps the United States didn't think it was a good idea for someone like Saddam to gain control of all the oil in that region. He had already attacked Kuwait and made threats to Saudi Arabia.