The Persian Gulf War began in August of 1990 and lasted until President George H. W. Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28, 1991. This war was a result of Iraq invading Kuwait in order to gain control of the Persian Gulf and all trading posts in nearby port cities. Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq, believed that invading and seizing control of Kuwait would give him strategical and economical advantages over the other nations in the region. Once Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait, President Bush and the leaders of other nations sent troops to prepare for a war to break out. The Persian Gulf War was a short, four month war between Iraq and the rest of the world for the freedom of Kuwait.
Throughout history the Middle East
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He warned the world that if his troops were attacked, then he would inflict pain to the nations responsible. Hussein could not back his promises. U.S. Marines destroyed his “surprise” attack on them (Martin, 2005). The Iraqis eventually ended up having 8,000 to 10,000 casualties, while the allied forces only had 300. Allowing these things to happen without any retaliation proved to the world that Saddam Hussein was not as strong as he made himself out to be.
After the cease-fire agreement, Saddam Hussein pulled his troops and commanded them to put down the Shiite Muslims and Kurds. Shiite Muslims started an uprising in southern Iraq to overthrow Hussein. Iraq’s Republican Guard (army) strafed down civilians and poured gas on the wounded and set them on fire then publicly hung the captives. Saddam turned his attention to the Kurds after taking care of the Shiites. Thousands were massacred and they were killed with poison gas, tanks, artillery, and rockets from helicopters. Killing all these innocent people proved how insane and cruel Saddam Hussein
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Saddam Hussein was not forced out of power mainly because the cease fire treaty was declared by George Bush before the Iraqis were ultimately defeated (Persian Gulf War, 2009). In the years after the war, U.S. and Britain mandated a no-fly zone over Iraq but the country continued to shoot down aircrafts. Iraq made every attempt possible to frustrate the U.N. while they attempted to carry out peace terms, like the United Nations weapons inspections (Persian Gulf War, 2009). Peace terms were very difficult to carry out with Iraq.
The Persian Gulf War had a huge impact on all the countries that were involved. The victory gave the U.S. credibility since the loss in the Vietnam War (The Gulf War, n.d.). Kuwait’s infrastructure and oil fields were a complete wreck (The Gulf War, n.d.). Thousands of people in Kuwait and Iraq were displaced and wounded, this had a horrible social effect on the region (The Gulf War, n.d.). Iraq also suffered major damage in Basra and Baghdad. They had to restore their oil economy (The Gulf War, n.d.). Although not much good came out of the war, it left its mark in
Hussein was a ruthless dictator who ruled Iraq from 1979 to 2003 (Porter, 2017). On 2 August 1990, he invaded Kuwait; he subsequently occupied the country for six months, intentionally ignoring the UN Security Council’s demand for withdrawal until Operation Desert Storm expelled his forces on 27 February 1991 (Yoo, 2003, p. 2). Operation Desert Storm was “a massive U.S.-led air offensive” which attacked Iraq’s air forces, “communications networks, weapons plants, oil refineries and more” (History.com, 2009). On 3 April 1991, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 678, which was authorised by Chapter VII of the UN
The Persian Gulf War began with Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq moving his forces into the neighboring country Kuwait mid-1990. During this time Iraq had the fourth largest army in the world, after being supplied by the United Sates during their eight year war with Iran raised some concerns. (Operation Desert Storm) Also with the chance of Iraq controlling one-fifth of the world’s oil supply didn’t sit well with the United States, nor its Allied forces. (Operation Desert Storm) Early August 1990 the United Nations Security Council directed Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait by 15 January 1991. (Operation Desert Storm) Towards the end of 1990 United Sates began the defense of Saudi Arabia, which known as Operation Desert Shield. Along with multilateral support, the United States sent
The Iraq war was occurred in 2003 between Iraq and the Unites States. The United States invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam Hussein despite not being backed by the United Nations because they claimed that Iraq had a WMD program and were linked to Al-Qaeda. However, no WMD program nor any direct links to Al-Qaeda were found. After the United States had occupied Iraq for a few months, Islamic extremist groups were founded. The United States goal of overthrowing Hussein was accomplished, but this was the incorrect time to overthrow him, as Islamic terrorist groups came in his place. The short-term effects of the Iraq war were the formation of AQI and the increased tensions between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. The main long-term effect the Iraq War was an increase in worldwide distrust towards the United States. In conclusion, the Iraq War destabilized the Middle East by going against the UN security council and attacking Iraq, then finding neither a WMD program, nor links to Al-Qaeda, which were the reasons they invaded
In 2003, President George Walker Bush and his administration sent the United States military to war in Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s ruler and dictator, who murdered over 600,000 innocent people, and “...used chemical weapons to remove Kurds from their villages in northern Iraq…” (Rosenberg 2). According to the Department of Defense’s website, the war removed Saddam Hussein from power, ending an era when “Iraqis had fewer rights than when its representatives signed the Human Rights Declaration in 1948” (1). American blood, money, and honor was spent in what was allegedly a personal war and perhaps a fight to gain oil and natural resources, but only history may reveal the truth. Although the Iraq War removed tyrant Saddam Hussein from power, the failures of the war dwarf the successes.
The Persian Gulf War all started because of one country’s greed for oil. Iraq accused Kuwait of pumping oil and not sharing the benfits, and Kuwait was pumping more oil than allowed under quotas set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, it decreased the price of oil, Iraq's main export. Iraq's complaints against Kuwait grew more and more harsh, but they were mostly about money. When Iraqi forces began to assemble near the Kuwaiti border in the summer of 1990, several Arab states tried to intervene the dispute. Kuwait didn’t want to look weak so they didn’t ask for any help from the United States or other non-Arab powers for support. Arab mediators convinced Iraq and Kuwait to negotiate their differences in Saudi Arabia, on
“Early on the morning of January 17, 1991, a massive U.S.-led air offensive hit Iraq’s air defenses, moving swiftly on to its communications networks, weapons plants, oil refineries and more. The coalition effort, known as Operation Desert Storm, benefited from the latest military technology, including Stealth bombers, Cruise missiles, so-called “Smart” bombs with laser-guidance systems and infrared night-bombing equipment” (“Persian Gulf War - Facts & Summary”). The goal here was to win the war in the air in order to reduce combat on the ground as much as possible. “By mid-February, the coalition forces had shifted the focus of their air attacks toward Iraqi ground forces in Kuwait and southern Iraq. A massive allied ground offensive, Operation Desert Sabre, was launched on February 24, with troops heading from northeastern Saudi Arabia into Kuwait and southern Iraq. Over the next four days, coalition forces encircled and defeated the Iraqis and liberated Kuwait” (“Persian Gulf War - Facts & Summary”). Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28, ending the Persian Gulf War. According to the peace terms, Iraq would recognize Kuwait’s sovereignty and get rid of all of it’s weapons of mass
President George H. W. Bush served as the forty-first president of the United States from January 20, 1989 to January 20, 1993. During his presidency, the United States was still working to overcome its defeat in the Vietnam War. Two years into his presidency, peace was threatened in the Middle East when the oppressive dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, took over the small nation of Kuwait in attempts to have access to a supply of oil. President George H. W. Bush responded to this threat with military force. The conflict was extremely short, ending in approximately six weeks, with a United States victory. Although the United States involvement was originally believed that the president’s military response was to support the nation of Kuwait,
“One of the good things about the way the Gulf War ended in 1991 is, you 'd see the Vietnam veterans marching with the Gulf War veterans” (George H. W. Bush). President Bush stated that the Persian Gulf War was not fully supported by the soldiers who fought in the war. Gulf War veterans marched like Vietnam veterans because they also viewed the war as unjustified. Persian Gulf War veterans would say, “American soldiers lost their lives’ for oil.” The first Persian Gulf War started from August 2, 1990 and ended on February 28, 1991. This war began by the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. During this invasion some of the oil fields of Kuwait were set on fire and some of the oil spilled to the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf was the oil supplier for western countries. So anything happened to the Persian Gulf, the western countries will naturally react. The factors that led to The United States’ involvement in the first Persian Gulf War included Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, his control over a sizable share of the world’s oil reserves and his power over the economies of the world. Many Americans believe that the first Persian Gulf War was not necessary for the United States.
On March 19, 2003, Bush ordered American and British troops to invaded Iraq (Schultz, 2003, p. 524). They continue marching on the capital of Baghdad. Therefore, U.S. forces rooted Hussein out of a dirt hole in December 2003, later he was hunged, by his Iraqi enemies. The American military tried for eight years to create a democracy in Iraq. After ten more years of violent attacks, President Bush declared victory in 2003. Nevertheless, the attacks had caused nearly ten times more Americans died in Iraq.
The Iraq War, better known as the Second Gulf War was the war that saw Saddam Hussain toppled from power. It began on March 20th 2003 and finished 18 December 2011. It was a huge issue at the time and the contribution of Australia to the war was highly successful and acknowledged. In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait, a country south east of Iraq which led to the start of the First Gulf War.
Bombing occurred for several weeks before ground war began. 100 hours after ground war started, Kuwait was declared liberated. American troops then entered southern Iraq. Saddam’s concerns were that if his regime toppled, Iraq could disintegrate into a civil war. Iraq eventually agreed to a ceasefire and the conflicts became less severe. However, the conflict cost Kuwait millions of dollars in damage and disturbed oil wells. Iraqi troops detonated explosives in these oil wells on their way out of Kuwait and threw oil into the Persian Gulf. The end of this war proved to be a success and gave confidence to American people and soldiers.
known when he killed 21 of his cabinet members. He wanted to make his country whole once again. So in 1990 he invaded Kuwait and in less than
According to Biggar (2011), the removal of Saddam Hussein from power caused a regimen changed in Iraq, which was in the best interest of the Iraqi people. Without doubt, Saddam Hussein was a dictator that did not allow free elections and repressed any form of opposition to his rule. Saddam killed approximately 482,000 Kurds and Shiite rebels in 1988 and 1991. As a consequence of Hussein brutality, many people justified the invasion of Iraq. Biggar claimed that the military intervention of the United States “enabled the removal of a brutal tyrant from power – who was finally brought to justice – and the establishment of democracy in Iraq”
Although the war originally started as a foreign invasion in 2003, the internal struggle in Iraq has continued into the present day. The center of the unrest is due to the majority Shiite Arabs obtaining ruling status in Iraq after the fall of the regime. Sunni Arabs, who strongly oppose Shiites, long had control over the region. Sunni leader Saddam Hussein, reserved special torture for Shiite Muslims under his rule. However, after his fall during the war, Shiite Muslims started targeting Sunni Muslims, which caused great unrest in the years to follow. After the United States took down the regime, there were unintended effects. Without a stable government, the violence between the Sunnis and Shiite in Iraq escalated and led to an insurgency of sectarian violence.