The First Iraq War was entirely avoidable. The US should have made it very clear that Kuwait would be defended, and what it did was announce that this was not the case, that "The US does not have a position on the borders between Middle Eastern countries."
Maybe this was done intentionally, maybe not, but the first Iraq War could have been avoided, and was not. Olebush was ex-CIA and liked to play these manipulation games. That is how the CIA has caused many of its problems over the years.