Can Saddam with better preparation and planning before gulf war 1990 capture Saudi oi

If Saddam had better planning before gulf war capture Saudi gulf coast ?

if Saddam send mine-layer ships before invasion to Strait of Hormuz to mine strait in aug 2 and mine Saudi waters. to delay Propositioning marine shipping.

send special forces in disguise as refugees escaping Kuwait. attack Saudi air bases and Dhahran and eastern province

If Saddam capture Saudi gulf coast he control 50% Saudi port capacity and more 50% drinking water of Saudi esp Riyadh and more than 95% Saudi oil production. Will that knock Saudi out war.
 
It's certainly conceivable, IIRC the Saudi military at that time was fairly negligible - the main difficulty would be logistical to keep the Iraqi troops able to move all that way. He wouldn't however since he wouldn't have a pretext for it as he did Kuwait and it would completely wreck the personal image he was trying to project domestically and within the region.
 
if Saddam had better preparation before the invasion. Iraqis can solve logistical problems. if Iraqi wait one week before invasion of Saudi that can solve their logistical problems. It also allow Iraqi special forces to move to position to strike in covert style.

about Saddam image problem, he used chemical weapons against
Kurd civilians so I think Saddam can make excuses for an invasion of Saudi that Al Saud allowed American ground force in Saudi Arabia.

I am more interested in American reaction to lose of Saudi gulf coast. :eek:
 

nbcman

Donor
If Saddam had better planning before gulf war capture Saudi gulf coast ?

if Saddam send mine-layer ships before invasion to Strait of Hormuz to mine strait in aug 2 and mine Saudi waters. to delay Propositioning marine shipping.

send special forces in disguise as refugees escaping Kuwait. attack Saudi air bases and Dhahran and eastern province

If Saddam capture Saudi gulf coast he control 50% Saudi port capacity and more 50% drinking water of Saudi esp Riyadh and more than 95% Saudi oil production. Will that knock Saudi out war.

NeoDesperado did a pretty good timeline currently on indefinite hiatus with a combined Iraqi / Yemeni invasion of Saudi Arabia:

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=279199&highlight=saddam
 
Long story short: no. The Iraqis can plan all they want, but their historical crippling incompetence at actually executing plans means the American RRF would stop them cold well short of their operational-strategic objective.

The problems the Iraqis have are myriad, but some include; tyrannical leaders with no tolerance for dissent, no initiative in NCOs and junior officers, poor unit cohesion, poor inter unit co-operation, nonexistant inter-service co-operation, poor mechanical aptitude, poor passage of information, poor intelligence analysis, hording of logistics elements and poor support to field units, and limited strategic foresight. To name just a few.

The resulting operational-tactical maladroitness was crippling: units that were flanked would not reposition to defend themselves, they would not conduct reconnaissance or post sentries, nor would they use any initiative whatsoever, right up to batallion and brigade level. Equipment was never used to anywhere near its potential, and advanced features such as NVGs or lead computation computers on the newer Russian tanks were often ignored.

Given the above, which are systemic to one degree or another among all Arab armies, the Iraqis really did the best they could in Desert Storm.
 
Saddam was never expecting to go to war with the US. His hope was he could capture Kuwait, the international community would complain for awhile, but eventually it would blow over. There is even speculation Saddam received mixed signals that the US was okay with him invading Kuwait.

In hindsight if he knows he has to fight the US and still decides to go through with it invading into Saudi Arabia might initially make the US deployments to the area a little tougher, but it would also make it pretty easy for the US to cut off all the Iraqi troops deployed down the Saudi coast.
 
Long story short: no. The Iraqis can plan all they want, but their historical crippling incompetence at actually executing plans means the American RRF would stop them cold well short of their operational-strategic objective.
How quickly were they moved to Saudi Arabia and effectively deployed though? The Iraqis look to have taken care of Kuwait in a couple of days although I'm guessing that they'd need time to stop and catch their breath, so it would then become who can get to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia first. Like I said though Saddam was never going to try that.
 
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