WI Saddam decided he really wanted to conquer the MID EAST

Suppose Saddam had planned a much bigger blow in 1990. He plans an attack on Saudi Arabia. He has arranged for footage of leading members of the Saudi elite gambling and doing other unislamic things when visiting the West and floods Saudi TV with that stuff and perhaps some hangings.

He offers a deal to keep oil coming if the US and the EU leave him alone.
 
Suppose Saddam had planned a much bigger blow in 1990. He plans an attack on Saudi Arabia. He has arranged for footage of leading members of the Saudi elite gambling and doing other unislamic things when visiting the West and floods Saudi TV with that stuff and perhaps some hangings.

He offers a deal to keep oil coming if the US and the EU leave him alone.

Not going to happen. NATO, especially, will just laugh at his pandering to them and start preparations for war exactly like they did in OTL. Besides, I don't think the Saudi population are that malleable to foreign influence. Videos like that would probably make people angry, but at the same time I'm sure the Saudis would be intelligent to figure out that it's 1) propaganda coming from a country that's invading them, and 2) a fight for their survival until NATO and the Western nations shows up.
 
Suppose Saddam had planned a much bigger blow in 1990. He plans an attack on Saudi Arabia. He has arranged for footage of leading members of the Saudi elite gambling and doing other unislamic things when visiting the West and floods Saudi TV with that stuff and perhaps some hangings.

He offers a deal to keep oil coming if the US and the EU leave him alone.

Most Saudis are perfectly aware their leaders are a bunch of hypocrites: this may lead to a little rioting, but it's hardly going to seriously disrupt the state. And the US doesn't care if he's offering a deal: they simply won't stand for anyone controlling that much of the Middle East's oil supplies. Saddam is still going down, although it may take longer due to having to invade from somewhere else than the Gulf. He's certainly not going to be able to overrun all of Arabia (big place, and Saddam's logistics, never that great, are going to be hampered by being bombed 24/7 within a few days). Possibly we go to Baghdad and kick him out in this TL, since he's been shown to be rather more whacky than OTL.

Bruce
 

Rockingham

Banned
Ideal POD-He does rather better in Gulf War 1, and manages to take Arabistan.... having rather more oil, and suffering less losses in a shorter war then OTL, he is less in debt to the Kuwaitis....allowing him to put more funds into his nuclear program(partially because of the Arabistan oil as well). Somewhere between 1992 and 1995 he develops nukes, then invades Kuwait and the Oil provinces of Saudi Arabia. No one is prepared to invade, as he holds nukes, and an enormous part of the world oil supply.... the US is unable to react to the Iraqi invasion in time, and by the time they are prepared, the Iraqis are quite cappable of turning off the taps to the oil, thus causing a world wide recession, and perhaps depression.

Eventually an agreement is reached, were Iraqi control of Kuwait and Arabistan is recognized, in return for a withdrawal from SA's Persian gulf territories.

Your not going to get much further then that.
 
What's the POD that lets him take Khūzestān though? The Iraqi Army was remarkably incompetent and, to be honest, I highly doubt that the West will allow it through the simple means of more under the table arms shipments to Iran. As for his nukes, the US, Britain, and France have rather more and would be willing to utilize them if need be. Also, what about Israeli interference such as the Osirak bombing raid? How is he able to attack and seize the oil provinces of Saudi Arabia against Saudi forces and the Independence and Eisenhower battle groups?
 
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