Because Bush Dad did not want to deal with the factional fighting and Nation building BS that Bush son got stuck with. The Libs bash W for invading Iraq but it was something that would need to be done as long as Saddam was in power. What westerners Especially self righteous liberals have a hard time understanding, ( and I think Ratcatcher will confirm this) to their way of thinking Saddam won Gulf war 1. His army got wrecked, and he had to pull out of Kuwait, but he was still securely in power, he didn't lose any territory, he still had a free hand to crush the Shiites and Kurds, He still had the Kuwaiti gold reserves that he stole ($800 MILLION) and the billions he owed other Arab countries for the war against Iran was written off as bad debt. Trying to get oil and money to pay that debt was his objective in invading in the first place, so even though his army was crushed and Kuwait was liberated he still achieved his objective, that makes it a win. As we all know the real issues could not be settled, victory of the west would not be accepted by the Arab world, as long as Saddam stayed in power, so a second war was inevitable.
Yep. Maybe Bushdaddy recognized the culture better than most. The culture recognizes strength...aka Colonel Momar Quadaffi, Sadam Hussein, etc. Yak, yak, yak...we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that, yak, yak, yak, until you punch them in the nose and then they bow down to you just like out BHO did in Saudi. Iron fist...that's what rules in the region and the population will not be orderly without that.
Take a look at Colonel Momar...yak, yak, yak....F-111 and bombs, couple of splash downs in the Med...no more yak-yak....he did oversee Lockerbee after that, but quietly. Once exposed...he didn't say a lot about anything...bow down. Now, look at his playbook, he was doing footsee with the terrorist but by the mid-90's he had his own problems with the iman dudes. What...you didn't hear about that....well, look it up for yourself...the imans were yak-yak-yak squawking about the same things they do in the Middle East...however, Colonel Momar reminded them he was the ruler...and they disappeared...no more yak-yak from the population, he zeroed out the imans and now he has no political dissent. That's what works, if you disagree fine, but they are not like your neighbors next door and history shows they respond well to the iron fist.
Without going into to much detail I can say that during the cold war, we kept a real close eye on the French Naval Forces, surfaced and submerged. Doubt things are much different today.
We trust the French only so far which is about the range of a Mark 48 torpedo....
Obviously an inside joke...and I do get it and appreciate it.