The Gulf War Of 1990

The Gulf War in 1990 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 both had a profound impact not just on the countries directly involved - primarily Iraq and the United States (US) - but also on the geo-politics of the world. Arguably, the War ended in a stalemate because the Iraqi regime that had started the War by invading Kuwait remained in power. Perhaps inevitably then, in March 2003 the US and its allies invaded Iraq with the stated aim of overthrowing the regime of Saddam Hussein and destroying that regime's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Some similarities between both Wars are immediately obvious: for example, the same country, the

In mid-1990, the leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, delivered a speech accusing the nation of Kuwait of stealing crude oil from their oil field called Ar-Rumaylah on their border. He wanted Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to pay for Iraq’s $30 billion dollar debt, saying that they caused the oil price to be low. After the speech, Iraq even put troops on Kuwait’s border. When President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt heard about these actions, he tried to negotiate with Kuwait and Iraq. But Saddam Hussein refused. On August 2, 1990, Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait. Hussein later declares Kuwait the 19th providence of Iraq. Kuwait’s government turned to the United States for help.

Saddam then staged him armies along the Kuwaiti/Iraq border and the military waited for the order to invade Kuwait. The small country could not defend themselves with the overpowering larger force and within hours, Kuwait City had collapsed. The Emir fled to Saudi, taking his family and regime with him. Now Saddam that his military had seized the country, he was in control of 20 percent of the world’s oil

On August 2nd, 1990 Iraqi military forces invaded and occupied the small Arab state of Kuwait. The order was given by Iraqi dictatorial president Saddam Hussein. His aim was apparently to take control Kuwait's oil reserves (despite its small size Kuwait is a huge oil producer; it has about 10 per cent of the world's oil reserves ). Iraq accused Kuwait, and also the United Arab Emirates, of breaking agreements that limit oil production in the Middle East. According to Saddam Hussein, this brought down world oil prices severely and caused financial loss of billions of dollars in Iraq's annual revenue.

During the Cold War Saddam Hussain and the Arab Socialist Ba 'ath Party lead Iraq. Sunni Muslims, who were a minority in Iraq, enjoyed increased political power as most politicians were Sunni. During the Cold War Iraq began to increasing align itself with the USSR and espouse the philosophy of uniting all the Arab world under socialism. However the dream of Arab unity was shattered during the Iraq-Iran War. In Iraq 400,000 soldiers died, 400,000 were wounded, and 100,000 civilians died. A few years after the war, the USSR collapsed, and Iraq lost its biggest supporter, and dream of socialism began to fade in the population’s eye. Right after the collapse, Iraqi invaded Kuwait, triggering the Gulf War. Iraq was defeated by the USA. Sensing weakness in the Iraqi government, full scale rebellion broke out in Northern Iraq. Saddam accused

The Gulf War is often remembered as an easy victory by most Americans. Perceived as an intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory, and often referred to as a battle between good and evil. In reality, the U.S. military had a host of troubles in the conflicts of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Sheild which became known as the Gulf War of 1990-91, many of troubles were caused by the unnecessary deaths of allied troops, and the Iraqi civilians alike. Other catastrophes were avoided purely by luck or incompetence of the Iraqi Military. What new military strategies, procedures and technologies are now in place as a result of lessons learned. Hopefully to ensure that some of the worst mistakes that were made evident by the Gulf War will not be repeated in a subsequent war in Iraq or elsewhere. The intense reality of the actual battle fought by the United States and its allies against Iraq, left many a U.S. military spokesmen were scoffing at the Iraqi forces as “the fourth-largest army in the world.” And “the second-largest army in Iraq” by the world at the end of the Gulf War,

Iran cut all ties with the United States and lost its dominance in the area; it’s army was disorganized and weak. The Iranian Revolution created disorder in many Iranian military units and Iranian confrontation with the U.S. ensured it would be cut off from its primary weapons supplier. During the year after the fall of the Shah, many areas of Iran were approaching civil war; this frenzy in Iran made the country seem much more vulnerable than it really was, and led Saddam Hussein to feel he had his first genuine opportunity to make Iraq the dominant power in the area and the Arab world (Cordesman & Wagner, 1990).

The Persian Gulf War was between the United States and Iraq. It started August 2, 1990 and didn’t end until February 28, 1991. Iraq was ordered by their leader Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait because they had to pay for 8 year war between them and Iran and they wanted to gain access to the oil market. Which the only way to do this was accessing the Persian Gulf and Kuwait was the easiest country to invade for them to do this. This brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the U.N. Security Council this was because Iraq violated U.N. sanctions. The U.S. President George H. W. Bush deployed U.S. forces into Saudi Arabia,

government officials that were identified as conspirators against the Ba’ath party. (5) His ruthless and brutal dictatorship would bring his country to war with neighboring Iran from 1980 to 1988. Initially a territorial dispute, Hussein would cite Iran’s Islamic fundamentalism as his motives for continued combat and Iraq’s use of chemical weapons. (6) The war resulted in more than 100,000 combat deaths and drove Iraq deep into debt. The military annex of Kuwait in 1991 was intended to absolve Iraq of this financial responsibility to it’s neighbor. (7) The United Nations Security Council, in particular the United States, responded with force to drive Saddam Hussein’s army

was a Persian Gulf war between united state and Iraq for an invasion of Kuwait that

The Iraq war had a lot of different causes and effects on the United States. There has been a lot of controversy about why we started the War; a big theory is that we entered the war over oil because Iraq wouldn’t let America buy oil. Another big reason is because of the 911 attacks on the World Trade Center. Combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, invaded. Hard fought war which concluded with the capture of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad by American troops. The main reason is that the United States and the United Kingdom thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which they didn’t.

While the Iran-Iraq War during the 1980's may have permanently altered the course of progress in Iran and Iraq, the war also altered the resulting permanent involvement of the rest of the world in the middle-east. The rich and complicated history in Iraq has established numerous cultural and ethnic traditions that all play a part in where the country is today. The Iran-Iraq War brought into focus some of those traditions and how they conflicted, while also bringing Iraq and its economic situation into the spotlight. Being on top of some of the most mineral rich soil in the world makes Iraq a major contributor to the world's economy through petroleum and crude oil exports. This, among other reasons, ties nations

Iraq and Kuwait are both member nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and by no doubt were rich from the oil revenue. Iraq mainly utilized this wealth into constructing a strong army, whereas Kuwait used the money to provide a better quality of life for its citizens. Hussein had major war-debts that incurred from Iran-Iraq war that he could not pay off. Kuwait seemed to be a good choice for Hussein as the country was a part of Iraq during the Ottoman Empire and only gained sovereignty in 1961. Furthermore a significant amount Iraq’s war debts are from Kuwait. Seizing Kuwait for Hussein proved

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

“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.