It was only Yugoslavia that resisted this trend. It had a strong military, a relatively developed economy and was resisting the U.S.-sponsored privatization schemes for the region. Yugoslavia, which had maintained relatively friendly relations with the U.S. during the Cold War, became perceived in the 1990's as an obstacle to U.S. plans for total hegemony in a vital region. Yugoslavia, like Iraq, is a sanctioned country, a country that was bombed by U.S. and NATO warplanes, and then ripped apart by western powers who armed and financed ethnic armies inside the country. These sanctions have hurt all the people regardless of ethnic origin.
Any socialist government is certainly a target.
But so is any nationalist regime that has the power and potential to pursue its own aims. There are only two countries in the Gulf region who have the size, natural resources and military clout capable of aspiring to be regional powers. They are Iran and Iraq. After Iran's revolution in 1979 overthrew the U.S.-puppet government of the Shah, the policy of the United States was to encourage Iraq toward a boundary war with Iran. The U.S. provided military aid and shared intelligence with Iraq in its war with Iran while covertly sending smaller amounts of military equipment to Iran.