Non-Western militaries concluded they need nuclear weapons to deter the US

Evidence

In Iraq and also in Iran, it was deduced at the time that had Saddam already possessed a nuclear or comparable deterrent, the U.S. would have decided that intervention in an ultimately marginal affair was not worth the risk, and would therefore have left Kuwait—and the Middle East—to their fate. Such a deduction, certainly plausible and possibly correct, underlies the frantic search in both countries for weapons of mass destruction. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1664 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Iraq and Iran sought WMD as a deterrent against American intervention — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 1664; Weapons of mass destruction let regional powers dominate locally and deter Western intervention; Cheapening nuclear weapons is eroding the precondition for deterrence (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Iraq and Iran sought WMD as a deterrent against American intervention #exemplifies (0.92) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1664
• Cheapening nuclear weapons is eroding the precondition for deterrence #complicates (0.75)