Even a day before the Iraqi attack on Kuwait began, Kuwaiti defence minister Sheikh Salem al-Sabah received a text from the US: "We do not want to alarm you unnecessarily, but we think the contingency plan should be put into effect... under no circumstances should the Emir be allowed to spend the night in Kuwait city. He should cross into Saudi Arabia and go to Khafji, 20 kilometers south of the border."

Kalha's book comes at a time when the US' latest war in Iraq has sparked off a major debate in different parts of the world, particularly amongst Americans, many of whom are of the view that the war could have been avoided.

Many of the points raised by the former Indian envoy helps in establishing the link between the first Gulf War of 1991 and the US' current armed engagement in Iraq.

According to Kalha, the US, which had thrown its weight behind Saddam during the Iraq-Iran war of 1980, grew apprehensive about the Iraqi president's growing clout in the region. Initially, US officials had even thought that Saddam would only invade the oil producing islands of Kuwait and not take over the entire country.

"Obviously, I didn't think, and nobody else did, that the Iraqis were going to take all of Kuwait," the book quoted from an interview given by Glaspie to the New York Times on Sep 20, 1990.