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Just before the ground war, when Persian Gulf tensions were greatest, a senior official with the French government in Paris noted a peculiar phenomenon of geography and Arab politics. "The popularity of Saddam Hussein," he said, "seems to be inversely proportional to the distance between Iraq and other Arab countries." With the exception of Jordan, where politics were dictated by a dominant Palestinian population, the Arab countries closest to the Iraqi president all vehemently opposed him.

Just before the ground war, when Persian Gulf tensions were greatest, a senior official with the French government in Paris noted a peculiar phenomenon of geography and Arab politics. "The popularity of Saddam Hussein," he said, "seems to be inversely proportional to the distance between Iraq and other Arab countries." With the exception of Jordan, where politics were dictated by a dominant Palestinian population, the Arab countries closest to the Iraqi president all vehemently opposed him.