The Saudis "inviting" US troops onto their soil was not so clear-cut. It was well known that Iraq was upset with Kuwait over slant drilling into their oil fields, among other things. The Kuwaitis were stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil at a time when Iraq was attempting to pay back debts owed from their war with Iran.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the Saudis did nothing. They understood that Saddam Hussein had no interest in invading Saudi Arabia. Days later, Secretary of State James Baker was rushed to SA claiming to have satellite pictures showing a massive military build-up on the Saudi/Iraqi border. Photos later obtained from the SoyuzKarta satellite show the US claim to be false. By then, the troops were in. Saudi Arabia was also promised $12 billion in arms sales. The Saudis were not the only ones manipulated into supporting the gulf war. The Soviet Union was promised $7 billion in aid from various countries and shipments of food from the US. Zaire was promised forgiveness of part of this debt as well as military assistance. A $7 billion loan to Egypt was forgiven, a loan the president had no authority to forgive under US law. Syria was promised that there would be no interference in its actions in Lebanon. A $140 million loan for the World Bank to China was unblocked by the administration. The US also paid off $187 million of it's debt to the UN. Numerous other instances can be cited. Some countries, such as Yemen, were threatened. When Yemen voted against the UN resolution, the US immediately cut off US funds for food and medicine.

The recent decision by Pakistan to allow the US military to use the country as a staging area can be seen in the same light. It was in todays news that some of the sanctions, imposed after Pakistan exploded a nuclear device, will be lifted. Billions of dollars in debt will be forgiven. One can imagine what kind of threats were used if Pakistan refused to submit.