PERSIAN GULF WAR 1990-1991
MAJOR COUNTRIES AND GROUPS INVOLVED
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ABOUT THE WAR
The Persian Gulf War was the first major conflict, or war the United States has been involved in since the Vietnam War. It was probably one of the most successful of all the wars America has ever participated in. We were able to go up against one of the world's most powerful nation, Iraq, within less than a years time was able to destroy almost all of its military, stop it's invasion of Kuwait, and all with minimal loss to American lives. The sad part is that after all the planning, money, and what lives were lost was not able to overthrow the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. Hussein is still in power to this date and Iraq continues to have skirmishes and disputes with the United States and the United Nations.
The Iraqi attack began shortly after
midnight on August 2. About 150,000 Iraqi troops, many of them veterans of the
Iran-Iraq War, easily overwhelmed the unprepared and inexperienced Kuwaiti forces,
which numbered about 20,000. By dawn Iraq had assumed control of Kuwait city, the
capital, and was soon in complete control of the country. Hussein's political
strategy was less clear than his military strategy. The Iraqis initially posed as
liberators, hoping to appeal to Kuwaiti democrats who opposed the ruling Sabah
monarchy. When this claim attracted neither Kuwaiti nor international support, it was
dropped. In place of the Sabahs, most of whom fled during the invasion, Iraq
installed a puppet government.
The United Nations Security Council and the Arab League immediately condemned the
Iraqi invasion. Four days later, the Security Council imposed an economic embargo on
Iraq that prohibited nearly all trade with Iraq. Iraq responded to the sanctions by
annexing Kuwait on August 8, prompting the exiled Sabah family to call for a stronger
international response. In October, Kuwait's rulers met with their democratic
opponents in Jiddah, with the hope of uniting during the occupation. The Sabah family
promised the democrats that if returned to Kuwait, they would restore constitutional
rule and parliament (both of which had been suspended in 1986). In return, the
democrats pledged to support the government in exile. The unified leadership proved
useful in winning international support for an eviction of Iraq. Fewer than half of
all Kuwaitis stayed in Kuwait through the occupation; of those who stayed, some
formed resistance organizations but with little effect.
Any armed attempt to roll back the Iraqi invasion depended on Saudi Arabia, which
shares a border with both Iraq and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia had neither the power nor the
inclination to fight Iraq alone; if the Saudi government invited foreign troops into
the country to attack Iraq, however, it risked appearing to be under their influence.
Saudi rulers did eventually open the country to foreign forces, in large part because
they were alarmed by Iraq's aggressive diplomacy and because U.S. intelligence
reports claimed that Iraqi forces were well positioned for a strike against Saudi
Arabia. Other Arab countries, such as Egypt, Syria, and the smaller states along the
Persian Gulf, feared that even if Iraq's conquests stopped at Kuwait, Iraq could
still intimidate the rest of the region. Western powers supported a rollback of Iraqi
forces because they were afraid Iraq could now dominate international oil supplies.
Finally, other members of the United Nations (UN) did not want to allow one UN member
state to eliminate another.
Beginning a week after the Iraqi takeover of Kuwait and continuing for several
months, a large international force gathered in Saudi Arabia. The United States sent
more than 400,000 troops, and more than 200,000 additional troops came from Saudi
Arabia, the United Kingdom, France, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, Senegal, Niger, Morocco,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain. Other
countries contributed ships, air forces, and medical units, including Canada, Italy,
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
Czechoslovakia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Poland, and South Korea. Still other
countries made other contributions: Turkey allowed air bases on its territory to be
used by coalition planes, and Japan and Germany gave financial support. The initial
goal of the force was to prevent further Iraqi action, but most countries were aware
the force might ultimately be used to drive Iraq from Kuwait.
The Iraqis tried to deter and split the growing international coalition through
several means. They made it clear that their adversaries would pay heavily if war
broke out, and they hinted they would use chemical weapons and missile attacks on
cities, as they had against Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. Iraq also detained
citizens of coalition countries who had been in Kuwait at the time of the invasion
and said they would be held in militarily sensitive areas—in effect using them as
human shields to deter coalition attacks. Iraq eventually released the last of the
foreigners in December 1990 under pressure from several Arab nations. In an effort to
weaken Arab support within the coalition, Iraq tried to link its occupation of Kuwait
to the larger Arab-Israeli conflict in the region. The Iraqis argued that since the
UN had not forced Israel to leave Arab territories it occupied during and after the
Six-Day War of 1967, it should not force Iraq to leave Kuwait. The Iraqis further
implied they might leave Kuwait if Israel withdrew from the Occupied Territories.
Several Arab countries responded positively to Iraq's statements; however, most of
these were states such as Jordan and Yemen, which were not part of the coalition.
Only in Morocco and Syria did government support for coalition involvement weaken as
a result of Iraq's initiative.
The coalition's greatest military concern during the closing months of 1990 was that
Iraqi forces would attack before coalition forces were fully in place, but no such
attack took place. The coalition was also troubled that Iraq might partially withdraw
from Kuwait, which could split the coalition between nations eager to avoid fighting
and nations wanting to push for full withdrawal. The United States in particular
feared that signs of progress might lessen the resolve of some coalition partners and
so discouraged attempts to mediate the crisis. Iraq's uncompromising stand helped
build support among coalition members for the American hard line.
On November 29, with coalition forces massing in Saudi Arabia and Iraq showing no
signs of retreat, the UN Security Council passed a resolution to allow member states
to "use all necessary means" to force Iraq from Kuwait if Iraq remained in
the country after January 15, 1991. The Iraqis rejected the ultimatum. Soon after the
vote, the United States agreed to a direct meeting between Secretary of State James
Baker and Iraq's foreign minister. The two sides met on January 9. Neither offered to
compromise. The United States underscored the ultimatum, and the Iraqis refused to
comply with it, even threatening to attack Israel. For the United States, the meeting
was its way of showing the conflict could not be resolved through negotiation.
A large minority of the U.S. population opposed military action. Opponents were
concerned that the armed forces would suffer large casualties and argued that the
only reason for the invasion was to guarantee a cheap supply of oil. Many such
opponents thought economic sanctions would eventually force Iraq to leave Kuwait.
President George Bush maintained that larger political principles were involved and
that economic sanctions would not work. He also argued that the UN resolution gave
him the authority to use military force. Other Americans believed the president did
not have the constitutional authority to order an attack without a congressional
declaration of war. On January 12, 1991, the U.S. Congress narrowly passed a
resolution authorizing the president to use force, nullifying the domestic debate.
When the UN deadline of January 15 passed without an Iraqi withdrawal, a vast
majority of coalition members joined in the decision to attack Iraq. A few members,
such as Morocco, elected not to take part in the military strikes. In the early
morning of January 17, 1991, coalition forces began a massive air attack on Iraqi
targets.
The air assault had three goals: to attack Iraqi air defenses, to disrupt command and
control, and to weaken ground forces in and around Kuwait. The coalition made swift
progress against Iraq's air defenses, giving the coalition almost uncontested control
of the skies over Iraq and Kuwait. The second task, disrupting command and control,
was larger and more difficult. It required attacks on the Iraqi electrical system,
communications centers, roads and bridges, and other military and government targets.
These targets were often located in civilian areas and were typically used by both
civilians and the military. Although the coalition air forces often used very precise
weapons, the attacks caused many civilian casualties and completely disrupted Iraqi
civilian life. The third task, weakening Iraq's ground forces, was larger still. The
coalition used less sophisticated weaponry to strike Iraqi defensive positions in
both Iraq and Kuwait, to destroy their equipment, and to undermine morale. After five
and a half weeks of intense bombing and more than 100,000 flights by coalition
planes, Iraq's forces were severely damaged.
In an attempt to pry the coalition apart, Iraq fired Scud missiles at both Saudi
Arabia and Israel, which especially disrupted Israeli civilian life. Iraq could thus
portray its Arab adversaries as fighting on the side of Israel. The strategy failed
to split the coalition, in part because the Israeli government did not retaliate.
Iraq also issued thinly veiled threats that it would use chemical and biological
weapons. The United States hinted in return that such an attack might provoke a
massive response, possibly including the use of nuclear weapons. Iraqi ground forces
also initiated a limited amount of ground fighting, occupying the Saudi border town
of Khafji on January 30 before being driven back.
One month into the air war, the Iraqis began negotiating with the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR) over a plan to withdraw from Kuwait. Had this initiative
come before the start of the coalition's attack, it might have split the coalition;
now it simply seemed a sign that the war was weighing heavily on Iraq. The war made
diplomacy difficult for Iraq: officials had to travel overland to Iran and then fly
to Moscow to ferry messages back and forth. Sensing victory, the coalition united
behind a demand for Iraq's unconditional withdrawal from Kuwait.
The end of the fighting left some key issues unresolved,
including UN sanctions against Iraq, which did not end with the war. On April 2,
1991, the Security Council laid out strict demands for ending the sanctions: Iraq
would have to accept liability for damages, destroy its chemical and biological
weapons and ballistic missiles, forego any nuclear weapons programs, and accept
international inspection to ensure these conditions were met. If Iraq complied with
these and other resolutions, the UN would discuss removing the sanctions. Iraq
resisted, claiming that its withdrawal from Kuwait was sufficient compliance.
Many Western observers believed the victory was hollow because Saddam Hussein was
still in power. At first, when Hussein was greatly weakened, Western powers believed
a rebellion might succeed in overthrowing him. Meanwhile, potential rebels within
Iraq believed they might receive international help if they rebelled. But when the
Shiite population of southern Iraq rebelled shortly after the cease-fire, they were
greeted not with international help but with Iraqi military forces returning from the
southern front. It quickly became clear that the rebels would receive no
international help, although several governments gave them verbal support. Under the
terms of the cease-fire, which established "no-fly zones" in the north and
south, Iraqis could not attack the Shiites with airplanes, but could use helicopters,
which they did to great effect. Spontaneous and loosely organized, the rebellion was
crushed almost as quickly as it arose.
The defeat of the Shiites made the debate over helping Iraqi rebels even more urgent.
Ultimately, however, most Western governments decided that if Hussein collapsed, Iraq
might disintegrate, ushering in a new round of regional instability. A short while
later, Kurds in the north of the country rebelled, and they too received no help. The
Kurds were able to withstand Hussein longer than the Shiites, in part because they
had a history of organized, armed resistance. In the end, though, the Kurds achieved
only a very modest success: a UN-guaranteed haven in the extreme north of the
country. No permanent solution—such as Kurdish self-rule—was negotiated.
Elsewhere the effects of the war were less severe. In Kuwait the prewar regime was
restored, and in 1992 the emir, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, honored his
pledge in exile to reconvene the country's parliament. Palestinians in Kuwait fared
poorly after the war, in large part because Yasir Arafat of the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) and other prominent Palestinians had endorsed Hussein and his
anti-Israeli rhetoric. Blamed for collaborating with the Iraqis, most of the
Palestinian population (estimated at 400,000 before the war) was expelled from Kuwait
or forbidden to return.
Following the war, thousands of American soldiers developed mild to debilitating
health problems, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, insomnia, short-term memory
loss, rashes, headaches, blurred vision, and aching joints. The symptoms became known
collectively as Gulf War Syndrome but their cause was unknown. Speculation about the
cause centered on exposure to chemical and biological weapons; experimental drugs
given to troops to protect against chemical weapons; vaccinations against illness and
disease; insecticides sprayed over troop-populated areas; and smoke from burning oil
wells ignited by retreating Iraqis. The U.S. Department of Defense originally stated
it had no conclusive evidence that troops had been exposed to chemical or biological
weapons. However, in 1996 the department acknowledged that more than 20,000 American
troops may have been exposed to sarin, a toxic nerve gas In 1997 the U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) suggested the deadly gas may have spread farther than
previously thought, affecting perhaps hundreds of thousands of troops.
The UN continued to maintain most of the economic embargo on Iraq after the war, and
several coalition countries enforced other sanctions, such as the no-fly zones. As
hardships to the Iraqis mounted, the consensus on sanctions decayed. The United
States, the United Kingdom, and Kuwait insisted on maintaining the sanctions,
however, arguing that many of the hardships were the fault of the Iraqi government.
For example, the sanctions allowed Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil for food and
medicine if it also designated some of the revenue to pay for damages caused by the
war. Until December 1996, Iraq rejected this deal as an infringement on its
sovereignty. Hussein also complicated matters by mobilizing forces on the Kuwaiti
border in late 1994 and by interfering with the work of UN inspectors. This
interference nearly led to renewed military conflict in 1998, but a UN-brokered
agreement allowing the inspectors to resume work averted the immediate crisis.
Reports that Iraq was continuing to block inspections prompted the United States and
Britain to launch a four-day series of air strikes on Iraqi military and industrial
targets in December. In response, Iraq declared that it would no longer comply with
UN inspection teams, called for an end to the sanctions, and threatened to fire on
aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones. Through early 1999, Iraq continued to challenge
the patrols, and British and U.S. planes struck Iraqi missile launch sites and other
targets.