The American-Iraq relations before the war were rather complex. During the Cold War Iraq was closely tied to the Soviet Union but in 1980, following the end of the Cold War and the crumbling relations between the U.S. and Iran, the U.S. decided to back Iraq in a war against Iran, their former partners (Council on Foreign Affairs). The U.S.-Iraq relations fell apart when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, and in the winter of 1991 a U.N.-approved U.S.-led coalition drove Iraq out but did not eliminate Saddam Hussein from power (ibid.).

Subsequent to the Gulf War the U.S. tried containment, but after the containment regime - sanctions, weapons inspections, and no-fly zones - remained in place longer than expected

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