ABSTRACT
The immediate US response to Saddam Hussein's actions was to order naval forces to the Gulf, conduct urgent consultations with its Arab allies, and lobby with the Soviet Union for a strong UN condemnation of Iraqi aggression. Between 11 and 20 August, and despite a flurry of public and private Arab diplomacy to initiate negotiations that would avoid any further US military buildup, Saddam Hussein did not facilitate the establishment of US-Iraqi talks or any basis or in any fora. As 1987, during the Iran-Iraq War, the United States reaffirmed its intention to safeguard the flow of oil in the Gulf by agreeing to re-flag eleven Kuwait tankers with US flags and providing US naval escorts in order to insure safe passage. Within days of the initiation of the air war against Iraq, diplomats again sought a means of salvation from the realities of war.
