Dick Cheney and George Bush in '94/'98: "Invading Baghdad Is A Bad Idea"

This mirrors the "Why We Didn't Remove Saddam" article George Bush, Sr. and Brent Snowcroft penned for a 1998 issue of Newsweek. Some choice selections from the article:

Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different--and perhaps barren--outcome.

Our prompt withdrawal helped cement our position with our Arab allies, who now trusted us far more than they ever had. We had come to their assistance in their time of need, asked nothing for ourselves, and left again when the job was done.

First and foremost was the principle that aggression cannot pay. If we dealt properly with Iraq, that should go a long way toward dissuading future would-be aggressors. We also believed that the U.S. should not go it alone, that a multilateral approach was better.