I know what can happen when an American president calls for an uprising and then doesn't get involved when it starts. That's because I've seen it before. In 1991, on 15 February to be precise, the first President George Bush made a speech that he probably regretted until the end of his days. It was at the factory in Massachusetts where they built Patriot interceptors, which were making their debut as the most advanced weapon of that first Gulf war. Patriots, which shoot down incoming missiles, still have a vital role in Ukraine and in the war with Iran. When Bush went to the Patriot factory, Desert Storm, the massive military operation to drive Iraqi troops out of Kuwait was under way. The combined air forces of the US, the UK and their allies were hammering them -and Iraq's cities. Tens of thousands of allied troops were massed on Iraq and Kuwait's borders for the ground war, which was still nine days away. I was in Baghdad, my hands full reporting the war.…