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PERSIAN GULF WAR.

Examines causes & consequences of war between Iraq and Western nations led by U.S. Oil, economics, politics, U.S. policy, leadership, goals, costs, outcome.

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PERSIAN GULF WAR: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
This research paper examines the causes and explores the consequences of the War in the Persian Gulf of early 1991. The basic cause of the war between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the allied coalition led by the United States was Iraq's armed seizure of Kuwait in early August 1990 and the decision by the United States and its allies that their vital interests required the restoration of the status quo ante bellum; however, various factors contributed to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and its refusal to relinquish its conquest. The consequences of the war largely flowed from the decisive nature of the allied victory, namely, the removal of Iraq's threat to Western oil interests in the Gulf and to the political stability of Gulf states. Other consequences were more indirect, some of which have longer range

New York: Henry Holt, 1992.----------------------- [1]Dilip Hiro, Desert Shield to Desert Storm The Second Gulf War (NewYork: Routledge, 1992), 12. [12]Mark Pythian, Arming Iraq (Boston: Northeastern University Press,1997), 51 and 42. The administration of President George Bush endorsed a 1989 CIANational Intelligence Estimate that said "war weary Iraq will pose amilitary threat to small neighboring states . [17]Ibid., 165. [5]Friedman, 33. Iraq's ability torepay these debts was hampered by the declining world price of oil. The MiddleEast remains desperately poor governed by centralized and despotic regimes-- not only in Iraq but throughout the region. New York: Interlink Publishing, 1991.Brzezinski, Zbigniew, Brent Scowcroft, and Richard Murphy, "Dual Containment Is More a Slogan Than a Policy." Foreign Affairs 76 (May/June 1997): 19-3 ."Darkness at Noon." Economist, 11 Jan. [15]Ibid., 431. [22]Walter Philips, "A Lingering Mystery," McLean's, 24 Feb. After 1988 Iraq"continued its long-term aim of achieving . American-Iraqi cooperation continued in 1989-199 despitemounting evidence that Iraq was pursuing policies which ran counter toAmerican vital interests. Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph: My Years As Secretary ofState (New York: Scribner's, 1993), 237. The basic cause of the warbetween Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the allied coalition led by the UnitedStates was Iraq's armed seizure of Kuwait in early August 199 and thedecision by the United States and its allies that their vital interestsrequired the restoration of the status quo ante bellum; however, variousfactors contributed to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and its refusal torelinquish its conquest. According to Gordon and Trainor, "respect for American militarytechnology and the quality of American troops was greatly enhanced."[18]Atkinson said the conflict "revealed the resurgent vigor of the Americanmilitary after a generation of convalescence."[19] President Bush largelydelegated the implementation of warfighting to the armed services, whichapplied America's high tech weaponry, logistic support and ground tacticsin a highly imaginative way to defeat the rigidly controlled and largelycommunications blinded Iraqi army. 1997,56; and "Darkness at Noon," Economist, 11 Jan. [9]Jean Edward Smith, George Bush's War (New York: Henry Holt, 1992),41. Hussein wasable to crush domestic opponents such as the Kurds and local Shia. [2]Ibid., 18. According to Hiro, theGulf states, exclusive of Iran, contained 655.5 billion barrels of theworld's 1, 12 billion proven reserves of crude oil[14]. PERSIAN GULF WAR: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES This research paper examines the causes and explores the consequencesof the War in the Persian Gulf of early 1991. UN Arms Control Inspectors largelycompleted the destruction of Iraq's chemical weapons and embryonicbiological and nuclear weapons programs despite considerable Iraqicheating. [7]Hiro, 59. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991.Gordon, Michael R., and General Bernard E. Trainor. Atkinson said "the war foretold . . [1 ]George P. The United States noted but took no action in1988-199 when Iraq used poison gas against its Kurdish minority, engagedin support of Palestinian and other terrorists, engaged in hardline anti-Israeli and anti-moderate Arab regime rhetoric and flouted American exportcontrol laws as part of its buildup of weapons of mass destruction. Hiro noted "Moscow could not veto any anti-Iraqresolutions of the UN Security Council" nor could it any longer defy theworld community by acting as Iraq's chief arms supplier.[17] Consequences Operation Desert Storm, a fearsome 39 day bombing and missileonslaught on Iraq's air defenses, command and control structure, industrialand other infrastructure and on its forces in Kuwait and a pulverizing fourday ground campaign supported by the coalition's tactical airforce, was anextraordinarily successful military operation which drove the Iraqi Armyout of Kuwait. . 1997, 56.Phythian, Mark. Beyond the Storm A Gulf Crisis Reader. [6]Ibid. 1997, 71-73. Desert Victory The War for Kuwait. Other consequences were more indirect, some of which havelonger range significance. Italso had acquired chemical weapons, intermediate range missiles and anembryonic biological and nuclear weapons capability. According to Hiro, Iraq emerged fromthe war with foreign debts to non-Arab nations of about $5 .5 billion(three times its GDP), plus Gulf loans and credits of another $45 to $55billion, including a debt to Kuwait of $14 billion[4]. Hiro said "the armed action [of the Alliedcoalition] had less to do with the recovery of Kuwait's sovereignty thanwith ensuring supplies of cheap oil and continued influence of the West inthe Gulf."[16] The ending of the Cold War greatly assisted the United States inmarshalling and holding together the coalition of nations it needed tofight (and to finance most of the costs of) the war under the auspices ofthe United Nations. . It was fought under conditions highlyfavorable to Allied forces, which are unlikely to be repeated. Desert Shield to Desert Storm The Second Gulf War. Causes of the War The border between Iraq and Kuwait was a line drawn in the sand by theBritish in 1922 which was accepted by the British-sponsored regime inBaghdad. At aseries of meetings among the leaders of Arab countries in early 199 ,Saddam Hussein demanded relief from this debt burden in form of lower oilproduction by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait which had exceeded their OPECproduction quotas and tens of billions of dollars in cash payments fromSaudi Arabia, Kuwait and the other Gulf states. Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1993.Bennis, Phyllis, and Michael Moushabeck (Eds.). According to Hiro, it was unpopular among Iraqi nationalistsbecause it limited "Iraq's access to the Gulf to a mere 36 miles ofcoastline infested with swamps and marshlands thus denying it thepossibility of a deep water harbor."[1] In 196 -1 Iraqi Prime MinisterAbdul Qasim "began reviving the old claim that Kuwait was an integral partof Iraq."[2] In February 1989, Iraq requested that Kuwait lease it thestrategic offshore Bubayan island. [2 ]Atkinson, 5. Gordon and General Bernard E. [16]Ibid., 44 . Trainor, The Generals'War The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf (Boston: Little, Brown,1995), 1 . [21]Ibid., 493. The Generals' War The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf. The relative success of precision weapons and other high technologymilitary applications, caused all nations to rethink the need formodernization of their forces. [11]Michael R. [19]Rick Atkinson, Crusade The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993), 5. but will be reluctantto engage in foreign military adventures."[11] The central finding ofNational Security Council Directive, NSD-26 of October 3, 1989 was that"normal relations between the United States and Iraq would serve our longer-term interests and promote stability in both the gulf and the MiddleEast."[12] When Iraq moved at first 3 , and then 1 , troops to theKuwaiti border in the summer of 199 , the administration dismissed themoves as Iraqi saber-rattling. . Hussein remained inpower as a result of Bush's decision to terminate the war short ofdestroying his elite Republican Guard and going on to Baghdad. The war did nothing tochange that situation; in fact it aggravated it by maintaining oil richsheikhs in power, a long term source of instability. . At the final meetingbetween Iraq and Kuwait on July 31, 199 , Friedman said he demanded "$1 billion plus some territory and drilling rights."[5] According to Friedman,the August 2, 199 invasion was the equivalent of "a debtor canceling hisdebt by robbing the bank."[6] Even though it had been weakened by the long Iran-Iraq war, Iraq, withits 1.2 million man army, which was supported by substantial armor,artillery and aircraft, had become the leader of the anti-Israel cause. Moslem fundamentalism."[9] American Secretary ofState George Shultz said: "our support for Iraq increased in roughproportion to Iran's military successes."[1 ] America provided Iraq diplomatic, economic and valuable intelligenceassistance. By seizing Kuwait,which had 1 percent of those reserves, Iraq doubled itsshare to 2 percent[15]. The principal consequence of the war, therefore, was the restorationof Kuwaiti independence and the neutering of Iraq as a formidable militarypower in the region for years to come. According to Brzezinski et al., "during the 198 s, the UnitedStates strove to maintain a de facto balance of power between Iran and Iraqso that neither would be able to achieve a regional hegemony that mightthreaten American interests."[8] This translated into American neutralityduring the first two years of the Iran-Iraq war and an increasingly pro-Iraq tilt thereafter. [18]Gordon and Trainor, 467. military parity withIsrael."[7] Under the Carter Doctrine adopted in 1979 after the KhomeiniRevolution in Iran and the taking of American hostages there, the UnitedStates had identified the Gulf Region as a region of vital nationalinterest. [4]Hiro, 42. "A Lingering Mystery." McLean's, 24 Feb. . Once Iraq's prestige was committed, Hussein wasunwilling to back down. Iraq's destruction of Kuwait's oil wells caused widespread ecologicaldamage in the region but Atkinson said "grim predictions of 'nuclearwinter' from airborne soot or 'greenhouse warming' aggravated by carbondioxide from the flaming wells proved to be exaggerated."[21] A disturbinglegacy of the war is the collection of diseases known as Gulf War Syndrome,which has afflicted at least 8 , American veterans of the war, and whichis probably due to their exposure to some as yet scientificallyundetermined combination of toxic chemicals in the war zone.[22] Conclusion The Persian Gulf War was caused by a combination of incrediblyreckless miscalculation by Iraq's dictator (which was complicated by theother factors mentioned above) and the determination of the United Statesand its allies to prevent Iraq from posing a serious threat to the Gulf'soil supplies. All this was accomplished with minimal Allied casualties. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1997.Shultz, George P. [8]Zbigniew Brzezinsky, Brent Scowcroft, and Richard Murphy, "DualContainment Is More a Slogan Than a Strategy," Foreign Affairs 76 (May/June1997): 22. [13]Phyliis Bennis and Michel Moushabeck (Eds.), Beyond the Storm AGulf Crisis Reader (New York: Interlink Publishing Group, 1991), 395. [3]Norman Friedman, Desert Victory The War for Kuwait (Annapolis:Naval Institute Press, 1991), 11. New York: Scribner's, 1993.Smith, Jean Edward. The Vietnam Syndrome, the use ofmilitary power in a graduated, indecisive manner had been ended. The consequences were a military triumph by the UnitedStates and its allies and the removal of a serious threat to their vitalinterests as well as a variety of other collateral results. [14]Hiro, 43 . 1997, 71-73.Friedman, Norman. Arming Iraq. American Ambassador April Glaspie toldHussein on July 25, 199 : "we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts,like your border disagreements with Kuwait."[13] The United States indirectly contributed to Iraq's invasion by sendingmixed signals which were misread by Hussein to indicate he could seizeKuwait with impunity. New York: Routledge, 1992.Philips, Walter. Smith said "Iraq was seen as a valuable bulwarkagainst Iran and . Heremains a thorn in the Western side. Iraq had prevailedagainst Iran largely because of financial assistance from Saudi Arabia,Kuwait and the other Gulf emirates. BibliographyAtkinson, Rick. The Gulf War did not establishAmerican military omnipotence. Boston: Little, Brown, 1995.Hiro, Dilip. Crusade The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. Shortly before Iraq invaded Kuwait onAugust 2, 199 and thereafter, Friedman said it repeated these claimstogether with the assertion that "Kuwait was illegally poaching on theIraqi side of the border" by pumping oil from the Rumaylah oil field.[3] A more immediate reason for Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was Iraq'sfinancial situation at the end of the Iran-Iraq war. George Bush's War. By seizing Kuwait and posing a threat to SaudiArabia, he grossly miscalculated American resolve. Not only had the developed world's access to the Gulf's oil suppliesbeen assured for the foreseeable future, but the stability of moderate Arabregimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere had been reinforced. .how men would kill each other in the twenty-first century."[2 ] Not all of the legacies of the war were positive. The consequences of the war largely flowed fromthe decisive nature of the allied victory, namely, the removal of Iraq'sthreat to Western oil interests in the Gulf and to the political stabilityof Gulf states. Presidentialleadership abroad and at home where Congress had only hesitantly supportedthe war had been vindicated. . Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State. Onedividend from this effort, and the Allied ability to keep Israel out of thewar, was the facilitation of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process whichgathered momentum in 199 -1991. Thevirtues of the all Volunteer Army had been demonstrated.

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