GULF
WAR
Introduction: The first major conflict involving the United States since Vietnam proved
to be a catharsis of sorts for the American military and public. Just as the Spanish-American
War of 1898 gave the nation a "short victorious war" following the
angst of the Civil War, the Gulf War lifted the U.S. out of a self-conscious,
post-Vietnam malaise. However, the Gulf War's dark legacy soon reared its ugly
head; the Gulf War Syndrome still plagues veterans.
There are nearly as many
links dealing with Gulf War Syndrome as there are on the war itself. This is not really a surprise,
considering the relative brevity of the war compared to the serious long-term
consequences of the disease from which many veterans suffer.
I)CAUSES OF CONFLICT
There are three basic causes to the Iraqi
invasion of Kuwait
in 1990. First, Iraq had long considered Kuwait to be a
part of Iraq.
This claim led to several confrontations over the years (see below), and
continued hostility. Also, it can be argued that with Saddam Hussein's
attempted invasion of Iran
defeated, he sought easier conquests against his weak southern neighbours.
Second, rich deposits of
oil straddled the ill-defined border and Iraq constantly claimed that Kuwaiti oil rigs
were illegally tapping into Iraqi oil fields. Middle Eastern deserts make
border delineation difficult and this has caused many conflicts in the region.
Finally, the fallout from
the First Persian Gulf War between Iraq and Iran strained relations between Baghdad and Kuwait. This
war began with an Iraqi invasion of Iran and degenerated into a bloody
form of trench warfare as the Iranians slowly drove Saddam Hussein's armies
back into Iraq.
Kuwait
and many other Arab nations supported Iraq against the Islamic
Revolutionary government of Iran,
fearful that Saddam's defeat could herald a wave of Iranian-inspired revolution
throughout the Arab world. Following the end of the war, relations between Iraq and Kuwait
deteriorated; with a lack of gratitude
from the Baghdad
government for help in the war and the reawakening of old issues regarding
the border and Kuwaiti sovereignty.
Iraq-Kuwait
Relations Prior to the 1990 Invasion.
1961- Iraq (President
Qasim) threatens Kuwait, invoking old Ottoman
claims. Britain
supports Kuwait
and Iraq
backs down.
1973, March- Iraq occupies
as-Samitah, a border post on Kuwait-Iraq border.
Dispute began when Iraq
demanded the right to occupy the Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan
and Warbah. Saudi Arabia and the Arab League
convinced Iraq
to withdraw.
1980-1988- Kuwait supports
Iraq
in the First Persian Gulf War with Iran.
II) DESCRIPTION OF CONFLICT:
Amid
growing tension between the two Persian Gulf
neighbours, Saddam
Hussein concluded that the United
States and the rest of the outside world
would not interfere to defend Kuwait. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait and
quickly seized control of the small nation. Within days, the United
States, along with the United Nations,
demanded Iraq's immediate withdrawal. U.S. and other
UN member nations began deploying troops in Saudi Arabia within the week, and
the world-wide coalition began to form under UN authority.
By January of 1991, over
half a million allied troops were deployed in Saudi Arabia and throughout the
Gulf region. Intense diplomacy between U.S. and Iraqi officials failed to
bring an Iraqi withdrawal, so, on January 16, 1991, Allied forces
began the devastating bombing of Iraq and her forces in Kuwait. The
Allied bombing sought to damage Iraq's
infrastructure so as to hinder her ability to make war while also hurting both
civilian and military morale. To counter
the air attack, Saddam ordered the launching of his feared SCUD missiles at
both Israel and Saudi Arabia. He hoped to provoke the Israelis into
striking back at Iraq,
which he theorized would split the Arab nations from the anti-Iraq coalition
due to the ongoing hostility between Israel and the
Arab world. Israel came very close to retaliating, but held
back due to President George Bush's pledge to protect Israeli cities from
the SCUDs. As a result of this promise, U.S. Patriot missile batteries found
themselves deployed in Israel
to shoot down the SCUDs. Another result of the SCUD launches was to divert
Allied air power from hitting the Iraqi army to hunting for the elusive mobile
missile launchers. Even so, the Allied air strikes and cruise missile attacks
against Iraq
proved more devastating than expected.
When the Allied armies
launched the ground war on February 23,
the Iraqi occupation forces in Kuwait
were already beaten. Cut off from their
supply bases and headquarters by the intense air campaign, thousands of
Iraqi soldiers simply gave up rather than fight, as the Allies pushed through Iraq's defences
with relative ease. In the few cases where the more elite Iraqi forces, such as
the Republican Guard, stood and fought, superior American, British and French
equipment and training proved the undoing of the Soviet-equipped Iraqis.
By February 26,
U.S.
and Allied Arab forces, along with the underground Kuwaiti Resistance,
controlled Kuwait
City and Allied air
forces pounded the retreating Iraqi occupation army. In southern Iraq, Allied armoured
forces stood at the Euphrates
River near Basra, and internal
rebellions began to break out against Saddam's regime. On February 27,
President Bush ordered a cease-fire and the surviving Iraqi troops were allowed
to escape back into southern Iraq.
On March 3, 1991, Iraq accepted the terms of the
cease-fire and the fighting ended.
III) CONSEQUENCES OF CONFLICT:
1. Saddam's
second war of foreign conquest ended even worse than the first one. Iraq again
stood defeated with the liberation of Kuwait.
2. Despite the crushing
defeat and subsequent Shiite and Kurdish rebellions, Saddam's government
retained a strong grip on power in Iraq.
3. As a result of the
cease-fire terms, Iraq
had to accept the imposition of "no-fly zones" over her territory and
United Nations weapons inspection teams sifting through her nuclear and other
weapons programs.
4. The economic and trade
sanctions begun during the war continue to the present day, contributing to
severe economic hardship in Iraq.
Some reports say hundreds of thousands of children have died due to the
sanctions. There are no indications that the government or military suffer undo
hardships.
5. While the world (and the
United States
and Europe), concentrated on Iraq, Syria moved to
crush the last resistance to her de facto control of Lebanon, thus ending that country's
long civil war. It is believed that Syria's President Assad was given a
free hand to deal with Lebanon
in return for joining the war in Kuwait.
6. When Yemen declared
sympathy for Iraq,
Saudi Arabia
expelled upwards of a million Yemeni guest workers, causing economic hardship
in Yemen
and increased tension between the two neighbours.
IV) CASUALTY FIGURES:
Iraq: Original figures listed 100,000
Iraqi military dead, but more recent estimates place Iraqi dead at 20,000
military and 2,300 civilians.
United
States: 148 killed in action, 458 wounded. Also, 121
Americans died through non-combat incidents.
Contextual Map of
the Middle East
The position of the players
in the Gulf War were, of course, very important. Little Kuwait is
wedged between two greater powers, Iraq and Saudi Arabia - making it vulnerable
to conquest by one state, but assuring it the likely aid of the other. The open
terrain between and the unnatural boundaries make military movements easier in
modern warfare. Notice that Jordan
is connected to Iraq
on the west. Jordan
acted as Iraq's
primary supply line during the war and tacitly supported Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. Note
also Israel's proximity to Iraq and imagine the threat posed by ballistic
missiles on the Israeli population, especially considering the fact that Saddam
tried to draw Israel into the war and gain Arab support by lobbing a few
missiles at the proud Iraelis.
Allied Liberation of Kuwait
On February 24 1991 the Allied Forces under the
de facto command of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf moved to liberate Kuwait. The
plan involved a wide flanking manoeuvre around the right side of the Iraqi line
of battle. This part of the attack was carried out by US, British and French
forces. JFC-N and JFC-E comprised the Arab segment of coalition forces. Note
the feint attack by the US Marines on the coast. This move effectively
distracted a large part of Iraqi forces.
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GULF
WAR- prep
1-What are the positive and negative aspect of
the Gulf war ?
a-
positive:
b-negative:
2-Summarize the three causes to the Iraqi
invasion of Kuwait:
a-a question of territory:
b-an economic problem:
c-a political problem:
3-Was it the first time Iraq had tried
to invade Kuwait?
YES q NO
q
Justify:
..
4-What does U.N stand for?
Unit number
q Uncivilized
Nations q United
Nations q
5-Did Saddam Hussein fear that the USA would
intervene? YES q NO
q
Justify:
.
6-It took the US and UN nations a long time to react: YES q NO q
Justify:
7-The Allied Forces started the bombing of Irak without previous negociations: YES q NO
q
Justify :
..
8-What were the two aims of this Allied
bombing?
a-
b-
9-How did S.Hussein
respond to the air attack?
10-What were his real intentions?
11-How did the USA help Israel?:
12-How long after the air attack was the ground
war launched?
a- 1 month
and 2 weeks b-1 month
and 1 week c- 2
months and 1 week
13- What factors helped the Allies to get a
rapid victory?
a-
b-
14- The Allied Forces emprisoned
all the Iraqi soldiers they had captured during the war:
YES q NO
q
Justify:
15- What were the sanctions applied to Iraq after the
war?
.
16-Another consequence was the loss of power in
his own country of Saddam Hussein
YES q NO
q
Justify:
..