America and the First Gulf War

In 1980, the war between Iraq and Iran began, and it was initially thought that Iraq’s armed forces would defeat Iran quickly. Many factors led to this belief, such as the fact that Iran’s military had been weakened significantly during the Iranian revolution, as well as the fact that America had erased computer data in Iran that located “spare parts” throughout the country (Dunn). Despite these factors, this seemingly simple attack would span eight years, until 1988, and would lead to the involvement of America and other western nations on the side of Iraq. These events caused Iraq much financial stress, and eventually led to their invasion of Kuwait and what would be the Persian Gulf War, otherwise known as Operation Desert Storm.

Financially depleted from the eight years of war with Iran, Saddam Hussein led his forces into Kuwait in 1990 with intentions of taking control of their oil. In a short time, Saddam’s forces, the Iraqi Republican Guard had made their way into Kuwait and were lined up on Kuwait’s southern border, adjacent to Saudi Arabia. According to documents from the white house which were classified at the time, the U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf were vital to national security. Primary interests were access to oil and the security and stability of other “key friendly states” in the Gulf region. In August of 1990, four principals were determined to guide U.S. policy; (1) the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of all Iraqi forces from Kuwait, (2) the restoration of Kuwait’s legitimate government to replace the puppet regime installed by Iraq, (3) a commitment to the security and stability of the Persian Gulf, and (4) the protection of the lives of American citizens abroad (Bush).

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Kuwait and Saudi Arabia alone hold more than one third of the world’s petroleum, and the possible invasion of Saudi Arabia was perceived to be a serious threat. As a result, 50,000 U.S. troops were sent to Saudi Arabia, and Bush built up a Military coalition to include support of Arab and European nations, including Iraq’s ally, the Soviet Union (Marshall Cavendish Corporation 1314). On August 2, 1990 the U.N. Security Council issued Resolution 660, stating that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an international breach of peace and security. It demanded that Iraq withdraw forces immediately and Iraq and Kuwait begin peace negotiations. When ignored, a new resolution was created on November 29, 1990. Resolution 678 was adopted, giving Iraq a deadline of January 15, 1991 to comply with resolution 660. This new resolution authorized all member states to “use all necessary means to uphold and implement resolution 660.”

Although the deadline was set, and the U.N. had authorized full scale invasion and attack of Iraqi forces, the U.S. still needed Congress to approve war. Many American Citizens were concerned that Iraq forces, hardened by 8 years of war with Iraq, totaled over 500,000 troops and the war may not turn out to be as simple as perceived (Marshall Cavendish Corporation 1316). Protestors made statements and carried signs such as “No blood for Oil,” and in the month of January, 1991, it is estimated that 500,000 Americans were involved in protests against the war (Ells). Despite the protests, the House and the Senate approved the war, and Operation Desert Storm was initiated.

In response to the public reaction to the war, the media was restricted in the information it received, and the initial activities of the war were portrayed as bloodless, and the air attacks were referred to as “surgical strikes” (Snow). On February 13, 1991, however, American stealth bombers dropped laser guided bombs in a bunker thought to be occupied by Iraqi forces. This bunker was actually packed with over 400 civilians, over one hundred of which were killed, and at this point, the U.S. could no longer portray this image of “bloodless” to American citizens (Snow). At this point, Saddam had already begun igniting oil wells in Kuwait, and by February 23, in attempts to promote coalition forces to initiate a ground attack; Iraqi troops had set fire to roughly 700 of Kuwait’s oil wells (Force Health Protection and Readiness Policy & Programs ). On February 24, 2001, a ground attack began. Exhausted and dehydrated, the Iraqi response to the well planned ground attack was a surprise to allied forces. Many Iraqi troops had abandoned their positions in Kuwait, and many surrendered. Troops were fleeing Kuwait in tanks and other military vehicles, as well as stolen cars, which led to a massive traffic backup. American forces took advantage of this situation and aircrafts were sent to stop the fleeing troops, destroying over two thousand vehicles (Snow). At 8:01 a.m. on February 28, 2001, a cease fire was declared, and the liberation of Kuwait had been successful. The Gulf War was now over.

The U.S. interest in this war, as well as the Iran-Iraq War from 1980-1988, and the current war in Iraq, have all been based on control of Oil. As noted in National Security Directives from this time period, access to oil and the security and stability of other oil rich nations in the area are considered a threat to national security. In this respect, the U.S. has always taken military action when access to oil in the Middle East has been threatened. The role of America in this war was one of leadership. Bush sent troops into Saudi Arabia immediately after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and it was the U.S. who summoned over 30 other nations to send forces to build the coalition. Control of such a large proportion of the world’s oil by a leader such as Saddam Hussein does seem like a threat, however, this interest has been an ongoing concern for many years, and America will continue to play a role in this issue for years to come.

Bibliography

Bush, George. "National Security Directive 45, U.S. Policy in Response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait." 20 August 1990. The National Security Website. 21 February 2009 <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB39/document2.pdf>.

Dunn, Brian J. The First Gulf War. 1998. 21 2 2008 <http://www.geocities.com/brianjamesdunn/fgwsummaryforweb.html>.

Ells, Mark Van. "No Blood for Oil: Protestign the Persian Gulf War." 1999. Journal for the Study of Peace and Conflict. 21 February 2009 <http://jspc.library.wisc.edu/issues/1998-1999/article3.html>.

Force Health Protection and Readiness Policy & Programs . "Operations Desert Shield/ Desert Storm Timeline: February." GulfLINK. 29 February 2009 <http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/story/time_feb1991.jsp>.

Marshall Cavendish Corporation. America in the 20th Century: 1990-1999. Tarrytown: Marshall Cavendish, 2003.

Snow, Dan. "Desert Storm: 1991 Gulf War." 8 June 2008. BBC. <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2686391723139893228&ei=HaieSdrBC53eqAPMqrjCDA&q=gulf+war&dur=3>.

United Nations Security Council. Resolution 660. 2 August 1990. 21 February 2009 <http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0660.htm>.

United Nations Security Council. Resolution 678. 29 November 1990. 21 February 2009 <http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0678.htm>.