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The Persian Gulf War, often referred to as Operation Desert Storm, was perhaps one of the most successful war campaigns in the history of warfare. Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq, invaded Kuwait in 1990. In 1991, after weeks of air strikes, US ground forces entered Iraq and Kuwait and eliminated Iraqi presence in 60 hours.
Why Would Iraq invade Kuwait?
Kuwait supplies much of the world’s oil supplies, and when Hussein invaded Kuwait, he controlled 24% of the world’s oil supplies (O’Hara). Though this is a good reason, it is not the only one. Iraq’s real excuse for annexing Kuwait was that he believed that Kuwait was producing more oil than it was supposed to, taking out of Iraq’s profits. Also, Iraq was $80 billion in debt to Kuwait, and Iraq thought that the debt should be forgiven (Brown). After Iraq attacked Kuwait, the United States and other countries feared that Saudi Arabia would be next and that the world’s oil supply was in jeopardy. This was the spark that leads to the Persian Gulf War.
There was also controversy with Iraq even before the invasion of Kuwait. Iraq was suspected of developing chemical weapons. The United Nations had often asked to check their weapons supplies to prevent Iraq from gaining great military power. When Iraq refused to let the UN inspectors into the country, suspicion was raised.
One final thing that began the Persian Gulf War was Iraq’s development of the SCUD Missile. Though not as powerful as any weapon in the United States’ arsenal, the SCUD Missile still had the ability to hit any target within 500 miles, and destroy large buildings. Just before the United States began air strikes over Iraq, Hussein decided to test his new weapon on the city of Iraq. Little damage was caused, but it just was another excuse for the United States to attack (NSA).
What happened after the Persian Gulf War?
“Because the world would not look the other way…tonight, Kuwait is free.” Those were the words of President Bush after the end of Operation Desert Storm. Though free, Kuwait was a war torn country. While Iraqi troops were retreating, they set fire to many of the Kuwait oil fields causing a constant blaze. Along with a defeat, Iraq has to accept strict cease-fire terms set on by the UN. They include No-Fly-Zones on the north and south borders of Iraq, frequent military inspections, destroy all chemical and ballistic missiles in its possession, and stop any nuclear weapons programs (Brown).
Though only about 367 Americans died in this war, about 160 of them were from friendly fire, which is when someone is killed by their own country on accident. This is because of the new “high-tech” weapons where at times, only infrared light can be read, making it impossible to decipher which is friend or foe (Friendly Fire).
After the war, many of the soldiers who fought developed what is known as Gulf War Syndrome. Speculation is that the cause may be chemical or biological weapons used, but nothing has ever been confirmed (Brown).
Towards the beginning of the time that sanctions were placed on Iraq, many of the countries kept the embargoes, but as economic hardships grew in Iraq, the strictness of the sanctions became less and less; most likely out of sympathy. Medical supplies and food were eventually offered, but Hussein refused out of pride, and his people suffered from it. Many died of disease and starvation (O’Hara).
Early 1999, the United States destroyed many military installations in Iraq after refusing to inspections from the UN. Before that, often Iraq had refused to the inspections, but this was the first time since the Gulf War that action had been taken (Brown).
Conclusion
I believe that this war of Hussein not cooperating with the rest of the world is far from over. Time and time again he has shown that he will not comply with the demands of others, and it will only lead to future military actions taken against Iraq.
Bibliography
“Friendly Fire Notebook”. May 6, 2002.
O'Hara, Scott. “Desert-Storm.com”. May 3, 2002.
President Bush. “New world order”. March 6, 1991.
“Operation Desert Storm”. National Security Archive. May 3, 2002.
Brown, Nathan J. “Persian Gulf War”. Microsoft Encarta 2002.
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