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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Kuwait

On August 4, two days after invading and occupying Kuwait, the "Provisional Government of Free Kuwait" was proclaimed. Despite efforts it lacked internal popularity and international recognition. On August 7 it proclaimed Kuwait a Republic only to be annexed by Saddam a day later. Apparently some people were actually shocked a fair bit by the decision to annex Kuwait, as they had generally expected by that point that Saddam was merely attempting to promote a pro-Iraqi regime which would settle border disputes in its favor rather than annex the whole country outright.

Would there have been any significant difference had Saddam presented his actions as strictly defending a Kuwaiti Republic struggling against monarchism?
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