Uhhhhhh .... with all due respect .... that is an incorrect statement.Why get technical I am referring to the Middle East as the region.
U.S. "got to the Middle East" during WWII with Truman continuing the presence through Eisenhower forward to the current period of time.
The confrontation with Iraq that culminated in the "invasion" (actually and legally a "re-invasion" after a "cease-fire") of 2003 was the invasion by Iraq of Kuwait with Bush I's response based on U.N. resolutions. There is some evidence (reported) that the "dust up" over Kuwait was the consequence of a diplomatically weak statement to Iraq that led Iraq to believe that the U.S. would do nothing if Iraq invaded Kuwait.
In the sixties there was more than one "war" ongoing on the planet.
During the Reagan administration the U.S. supported Iraq in its lengthy war with Iran, which may have contributed to Iraq's misinterpretation of the diplomatic statements made just prior to the its invasion of Kuwait.
Oil, Israel, and the Suez Canal have combined at one time or another to keep our presence active in the region for almost 70 years. Originally Posted by LexusLover
Jim