1991 takes place after 1990, which is when Saddam “brought in anti-woman legislation, such as the 1990 presidential decree granting immunity to men who had committed honour crimes.”
They started “attempting to maintain legitimacy with conservative Islamic fundamentalists” before the 1991 Gulf War, yet you think the 1991 Gulf War is what caused them to "maintain legitimacy with conservative Islamic fundamentalists”?
You also think that if it wasn’t for a war that took place after they started "attempting to maintain legitimacy with conservative Islamic fundamentalists” that they would’ve magically stopped "attempting to maintain legitimacy with conservative Islamic fundamentalists.”
Saddam Hussein, in an attempt to maintain legitimacy with conservative Islamic fundamentalists, brought in anti-woman legislation, such as the 1990 presidential decree granting immunity to men who had committed honour crimes.[123]: 202 However, despite Saddam’s appeals to the anti-women elements of Iraqi society, according to local NGOs, they concluded that “women were treated better during the Saddam Hussein era and their rights were more respected than they are now.”
It looks to me like this would’ve happened anyways, it was just a matter of time.
Did you think they were going to stop “attempting to maintain legitimacy with conservative Islamic fundamentalists” at any point?