In 1980, the militant state of Iraq, led by President Saddam Hussein, invaded the Republic of Iran. Expected to be a crushing victory for Iraq, the war took a different turn. It was a balanced battle that lasted eight years. After these eight years, the Iraqi economy was in a dire situation. Iraq's oil sector was losing out to other Arab countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which produced more oil for less money. Iraq needed more oil money to support the massive army it had amassed. On August 2, 1990, Iraq decided to invade Kuwait so that it could obtain Kuwaiti oil and possibly gain access to Saudi oil fields. This led to a political conflict that ultimately sparked the Gulf War between United Nations coalition forces led by the United States and Iraq. Although the United States succeeded in forcing Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, it achieved a poor exit that allowed Iraq to retain much of its army and left Hussein in power, which caused many problems in the years to come. Iraq invaded Kuwait so that they could wipe out the debt they had incurred during the Iran-Iraq War, even with the threat of retaliation from the United States or the UN. In 1980, Saddam Hussein and Iraq invaded Iran because they believed they had a good chance of taking over the country. There had been a revolution and Hussein thought the Iranian army would be weak and easy to defeat. However, Hussein was wrong, as the army was much more powerful than expected. Their inability to quickly overtake Iran led them to enter a war from which it took eight years to emerge. After these eight long years, Iraq had a massive army to support, but there was no money left to support it. Iraq was dependent on the oil sector, but Kuwait's increased production lowered oil prices. As Hussein said, ...... middle of paper ...... it's small), it had a major impact internationally. Since Saddam Hussein remained in power and Iraq retained its army, many problems have arisen. The war in Iraq, caused by this decision, killed many people and destroyed the country of Iraq. He became heroic and innocent, the one the United States acquired after the Gulf War and September 11, to become a killer and a “policeman of the world.” The image of the United States has been tarnished and Iraq is in ruins. The U.S. economy was hurt by spending to support the Iraq War, and it was further hurt when an economic crisis erupted. Approximately $5,000,000,000,000 (five trillion dollars) was added to the national debt during the Iraq War (2003-2010). Due to the efforts to destroy the so-called weapons of mass destruction, which would have been possible thanks to the reserves left in Iraq, and to kill Saddam Hussein, many problems have arisen today and many more will arise soon..