“On July 25 [1990], President Saddam Hussein of Iraq summoned the United States Ambassador to Baghdad, April Glaspie, to his office in the last high-level contact between the two Governments before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2.” In defense of his buildup of troops at the Kuwaiti border, Hussein said: “ ‘It is not reasonable to ask our people to bleed rivers of blood for eight years then to tell them, *Now you have to accept aggression from Kuwait, the U.A.E. [United Arab Emirates] or from the U.S. or from Israel.* We do not put all these countries in the same boat. First, we are hurt and upset that such disagreement is taking place between us and Kuwait and the U.A.E. The solution must be found within an Arab framework and through direct bilateral relations. We do not place America among the enemies. We place it where we want our friends to be and we try to be friends. But repeated American statements last year made it apparent that America did not regard us as friends.’ ”
– Special to The New York Times, “Excerpts From Iraqi Document on Meeting with U.S. Envoy,” The New York Times, Sep. 23, 1990