Wars are generally begun or fought with a larger objective in sight to give the perpetrator an advantage that outweighs potential losses. Saddam Hussein’s August 1990 takeover of Kuwait, however misbegotten, temporarily gave him control of as much as 70 per cent of the world’s oil. That proved to be a fatal error, as neither America nor any other power could countenance such a drastic change to the balance of oil ownership. But there was an underlying logic to what he did, though his