Because Saddam Hussein was no threat to anybody, but still years of crippling sanctions & isolation was put in place to 'prepare the ground' for an invasion.
Now, we are starting to hear the 'sanction calls' for Syria and it feels like deja vu all over again.
And hoping he could be provoked into a serious blunder like attacking Saudia Arabia or Kuwait or the Gulf, the people just kept waiting in the wings.......praying for a reason. That's why things were constantly done like no-fly zone strikes, mini air campaigns, funding uprisings & general instability while air cover was provided etc.
So, I think the Syrians/Iranians (more so the Iranians) have learned the lesson from that war and came to the conclusion that if an invasion is forthcoming regardless of what they do (short of total surrender of sovereignty), then they are going to poise for it and face it head on as Iran has indicated it will do.
The funny thing is Syria was recruited for the 1st Gulf war, and now it looks like it will bite them in the butt. It seems like only the Iranians know how to make the right chess moves for the long-term. They come off as more intelligent and shrewd than the Syrians, or at least more disciplined & ideologically motivated.
And the North Koreans have effectively been taking the hardline "If you want war, then let's do this Sh#@ttttt" and it has been proven to be quite effective. Ofcourse though, you just can't be bluffing. You have to be ready and willing to really put it all on the line.......and I'm not sure people can read North Korea accurately.....so everybody's cautious. But judging from the sacrifices they have made thus far, it seems that they are more than ready to take the war road, especially considering they don't have much of a lifestyle or a standard of living to lose.......unlike their brothers in South Korea.
Besides, it's not the Middle East.......and the immediate near to mid future goal is to eradicate Islam and establish Israeli/Zionist hegemony in the region.
The Asians are no imminent threat, first off cause it's China's sphere of influence and economics & nukes will force a diplomatic resolution with North Korea.
Plus, if worst comes to worst, the US can OK the Japanese to make nuclear weapons as an effective deterrent against North Korea and rid themselves of having to police what is increasingly becoming China's sphere of influence.
So, I'm guessing the Japanese are more than capable financially & economically and could have it within a matter of years.......probably with better reliability & gas mileage too
So, if the US has to choose, they will definitely place their resources on the Middle East b/c this fighting 3 fronts stuff has proven to be unsustainable and they can't go halfway with the North Koreans.....Beijing, Seoul & Tokyo wouldn't let the US get too 'cowboy' in its own backyard.
The Middle East is reaching a turning point in the next several decades and the threat of Islamic resurgence in the Middle East is causing a lot of sleepless nights for Zionists. There's no way that Asia & the Middle East are equally important for the Zionists.
I think this is why the Iranians are pursuing the nuclear weapons unconditionally and why they are trying to establish strong ties with North Korea, who could use Iran's financial assistance. They are more or less in the same boat for different reasons, so I think they feel for them mutual cooperation is essential.
what a pure coincidence.
.oh god, I thought it is so clear to even Bush cows like u...Obviously NOT 
....now go n get busy in 