Why did US officials decide to leave Saddam Hussein in charge of Iraq after the Persian Gulf War? A. Saudi Arabia insisted on keeping Saddam Hussein in place. B. They feared that chaos would engulf Iraq in the absence of a strong leader. C. They had no power to remove Saddam Hussein. D. They owed Saddam Hussein favors for his past actions in the Middle East.

The correct answer is B) They feared that chaos would engulf Iraq in the absence of a strong leader.

On February 24, 1990, the U. S. troops began the war in the ground. After the bombing, American ground troops liberated Kuwait and entered Iraq by the south. This created a big dilemma for President George Bush. The operation was completed but the question was if the U. S. officials wanted to leave Hussein in power or not. President Bush was not sure U. S. allies would support the occupation of Baghdad.

The issue was that if Hussein was removed, probably Irak could disintegrate and a civil war would start. Finally, Iraq agreed to terms for a ceasefire, and the conflict ended.

The original goal was to capture Hussein, but the U. S. considered those elements, as well as the United Nations support was to defend Kuwait from the invasion, not the removal of Hussein, and neither Bush or the United Nations wanted more soldiers or civilian casualties.