Hello and welcome to this day in Esoterik political history from Radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

This day August 8th 1990 1990, Iraq announces the annexation of its neighbor country Kuwait,

setting up what is essentially a puppet regime in that small country.

This is after Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, had sent 100,000 troops

into Kuwait invading the country, sparking a conflict that, of course, the U.S. would eventually

step into as well in what became known as the first Gulf War.

But that didn't take place until January of 1991, but on this evening in August of 1990,

President George Bush is already kind of laying out the big stakes as he sees it.

He gives an address to the United States people saying, today as President, I ask for your

support in a decision I've made to stand up for what's right and

condemn what's wrong all in the cause of peace. We are beginning a new era as was

the case in the 1930s we see in Saddam Hussein an aggressive dictator threatening his

neighbors. And so the US decides to step in first in the summer and fall of 1990,

what's known as Operation Desert Shield, which is the build-up, and then Operation Desert Storm, as I mentioned comes in January of 91, with troops actually on the ground and actual conflict with Iraq in Iraq and Kuwait.

We've talked about that 1990 Gulf War a lot on this show, but I really want to get into this

decision to intervene and this framing from Bush rather than

how the war itself played out.

And I will also say that I have a kind of personal, honestly foundational memory of this moment

that kind of affected my family in a big way and

I will share that in a minute as well.

But here to discuss as always Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.

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