George H. W. Bush on Iraq

I'm currently reading a case study on Iraq from the National Defense Univeristy written by the former chief adviser of Rumsfeld. It is a most interesting and a very in-depth scholarly essay about the security situation in Iraq.

This is a quote in the document by George H. W. Bush explaining why he didn't go into Iraq in 1991. (the quote is from 1998)

In 1991, however, President George H.W. Bush and his National
Security Advisor, Brent Scowcroft, saw it differently. Years later, President
Bush and Scowcroft wrote:

"While we hoped that a popular revolt or coup would topple
Saddam, neither the United States nor the countries of the
region wished to see the breakup of the Iraqi state. We were
concerned about the long-term balance of power at the head
of the Gulf. Breaking up the Iraqi state would pose its own
destabilizing problems. . . . Trying to eliminate Saddam,
extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would
have violated our guideline about not changing objectives
in midstream, engaging in “mission creep,” and would have
incurred incalculable human and political costs. . . . We would
have been forced to occupy Baghdad, and, in effect, rule Iraq.
The coalition would instantly have collapsed. . . . Under those
circumstances, there was no viable “exit strategy” we could see,
violating another of our principles. . . . Going in and occupying
Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations’ mandate,
would have destroyed the precedent of international response to
aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion
route, the United States could conceivably still [in 1998] be an
occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."