Ba'thists came to identify the United States as an enemy

The Qasim Regime and the Kuwaiti Border
After the 1958 coup, Iraqi leaders actively promoted political instability in the oil-rich monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula. That policy had its roots in antimonarchical fervor and rivalry with Iran for influence in the Gulf. In Kuwait the long-standing border dispute exacerbated the conflict between the radical Iraqi regime and the traditional sheikhdom. Iraq based its maximum original claim to all of Kuwait on the sheikhdom's Ottoman past. The more recent minimum version focused on the islands of Warbah and Bubiyan, which dominated the approach to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr. Iraq claimed those as former parts of the Ottoman province of Al Basrah.
The Ba'th Regime
Qasim's government lasted five years before an Arab nationalist coup organized by the Ba'th ended his rule in 1963. The new regime fell apart within a year, but the Ba'th regrouped to lead a coalition back into power on 17 July 1968. Under Ba'th leadership, Iraq moved toward a more narrow, regional orientation, away from the West and Egyptian-sponsored Pan-Arabism. The Hashemite connection to Jordan was broken permanently, as was any meaningful relationship between the Iraqi Ba'th and the Syrian branch of the party. The Ba'thists also increasingly came to identify the United States as the major supporter of the conservative monarchies in the Gulf and as an enemy of reform.