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In 1990, during the initial Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the French embassy in Kuwait City was broken into and looted. This pushed the French (who had numerous pro-Iraqi members of their government) into a position which would result in their providing more than a brigade to the ground forces in Operation Desert Storm.

One of the little known facts of the invasion of Kuwait is that the Iraqi forces also looted the Canadian embassy. The Canadian government elected to deploy two frigates and 12 CF-18 Hornets to Saudi Arabia to operate in an air interdiction role. They would eventually be used as ship killers and tank killers before the end of the war, when they accompanied the 1st Canadian Field Hospital into battle.

But what if the Canadians had taken the same approach the French had in regards to their embassy seizure in Kuwait City? The Canadian 4th Mechanized Brigade was attached to VII Corps, the core body of which would move to the desert and become the armoured fist of the Coalition. They also possessed the elite Airborne Regiment, which had seen battle in 1974 against both Greek National Guard and Turkish Army forces as it reestablished a ceasefire line on Cyprus after making a combat drop into the island to do it.

So...here's some of the variables. What's your take on it?
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