ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the conceptions and their impact on the political and military steps taken during the crisis and war. It analyzes the conditions and their impact on the planning and performance of the Iraqi forces. Prevailing political conceptions led Iraq into an erroneous evaluation of the reaction liable to follow from the occupation and annexation of Kuwait. Iraqi contingency plans against the coming ground offensive in Kuwait called for creating ecological obstacles. A conceptual error on the part of Saddam Hussein was that Muslim-Arab states would never consider asking for military and political support from outsiders and would not join a political and military coalition with "infidels." The al-Hussein missiles launched from western Iraq against densely populated targets in Israel were designed to provoke Israel and drag it into the war. Israel agreed to receive the Patriots, and the prompt delivery of the batteries played an important role in placating Israeli public opinion.
