Absolute rubbish BigTimeWannabe: some joined as flight attendants, and others became cruise pilots in Cathay or got other flying jobs, or did something entirely different. It was just convenient for some to do this.
The problem was not the Gulf War, but a slowdown in the whole economy of the time caused by the overspending of Reagan and the trough in the business cycle. Look at Serbian bombing for example, which took up a lot of the airspace over Europe last year: this alone did not stop the airlines recruiting.
BA hire you as a pilot, and if there are no jobs available at the time, you can go where you want, and come back if there are vacancies later.