With the George W. Bush administration planning an attack on Iraq, accusing Saddam Hussein of possessing weapons of mass destruction, Abdullah opposed American intervention.[32] "A strike on Iraq will be disastrous for Iraq and the region as a whole and will threaten the security and stability of the Middle East", he warned during American vice president Dick Cheney's 2002 visit to the Middle East.[32] In March 2003, during a meeting with George W. Bush at the White House, Abdullah tried to dissuade the president from invading Iraq.[33] During the 1990 Gulf War, King Hussein's wariness of war was seen as siding with Saddam Hussein, which alienated Jordan from its Arab allies in the Persian Gulf region and the Western world;[34] his stance precipitated an economic crisis triggered by the suspension of foreign aid and investment to Jordan.[35] Failing to persuade Bush, Abdullah broke with domestic opposition.[33] He allowed American Patriot batteries to be stationed in the Jordanian desert along its border with Iraq, but did not allow coalition troops to launch an invasion from Jordan.[33] Jordan had received subsidized oil from Saddam Hussein's Iraq at a savings of about $500 million per year, equal to American aid to Jordan at the time.[33]