Desert StormEssay title: Desert StormThe 2nd Persian Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield, was a war that separated good vs. evil and whats right from wrong. It was the war that put the ravenous and dictatorial Iraqi president Saddam Hussein vs. the 41st American President, George H.W. Bush. It was the 1st major international clash since the end of the 1st Persian Gulf War a few years earlier (1980-1988). What many people dont actually know is: What events actually led up to and caused the 2nd Persian Gulf War?
There were three vital causes to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. First, Iraq had long considered Kuwait to be an element of Iraq and this claim led to several confrontations and continued hostility over time. For instance, in 1961, Iraq (Qasim was their president at this time) threatened Kuwait invoking old Ottoman claims. Kuwait was geographically located right on the border of the Ottoman Empire as either being under direct rule or secondary rule by the empire. The result of Iraqs Ottoman claim was that Britain supported Kuwait and Iraq backed down. In March of 1973, Iraq occupied as a border post on the Kuwait-Iraq border (Samitah). The dispute then began when Iraq demanded the right to occupy the Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan and Warbah. The result was that Saudi Arabia and the Arab league convinced Iraq to withdraw. Finally, in 1980-1988, Kuwait supported Iraq in the First Persian Gulf War with Iran, as did the United States. In addition, it can also be argued that because Saddam Husseins attempted invasion of Iran was defeated, he sought easier conquests against his feeble southern neighbors.
Second, rich deposits of oil straddled the imprecise defined border and Iraq continuously claimed that Kuwaiti oil rigs were illegally tapping into Iraqi oil fields. Middle Eastern deserts make border delineation difficult and this has caused many conflicts in the region. Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein also resurrected old Iraqi claims to Kuwaiti territory. He declared that Iraq had annexed Kuwait, and that Kuwait would be known as Iraqs 19th province. He also claimed a historical justification for this attempt by saying that Kuwait was once part of Iraq. That claim was false, but unfortunately, the allegation was repeated so frequently that some observers began to wonder whether it had any basis in truth. At various times throughout its brief modern existence, Iraq had made two claims concerning Kuwait. It had stated that Kuwait was previously under Ottoman ruling and that Iraq inherited the right to rule Kuwait from the Ottomans. The second claim held that no border between Iraq and Kuwait was ever agreed upon.
The third major cause of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was the strained relations between Iraq and Kuwait that resulted from the fallout of the 1st Persian Gulf War. This battle began with an Iraqi invasion of Iran and degenerated into a gruesome form of trench warfare as the Iranians slowly drove Saddams armies back into Iraq. Kuwait and many other Arab nations supported Iraq against the Islamic Revolutionary government of Iran, fearful that Saddams defeat could herald a wave of Iranian inspired revolution throughout the Arab world. Following the end of the war, relations between Iraq and Kuwait declined; with a lack of gratitude from the Baghdad government for help in the war and the reawakening of old issues regarding the border and Kuwaiti sovereignty.
A Saudi-led invasion of Kuwait in 1992 was a clear sign of the ongoing war in the region and a strong signal that Riyadh was taking another step forward – the strengthening of a Saudi-led military alliance with the Middle East to counter Tehran’s influence in the region.
A Saudi-led invasion of Kuwait in 1992 was a clear sign of the ongoing war in the region and a strong signal that Riyadh was taking another step forward – the strengthening of a Saudi-led military alliance with the Middle East to counter Iran’s influence in the region. As a result, Saudi Arabia quickly pushed back the United States during the first Gulf War, making it a serious threat to the country. To this end, in the final months of a Saudi-led coalition in 1993, some 10,000 American soldiers and civilians were shot dead in the central Baghdad neighborhood of Abu Kamal. In addition, more than half a million Iraqi civilians were wounded. Saudi-led forces also used the United States to drive over a million Iraqis out of their homes on the Persian Gulf, mostly by using chemical and biological weapons, resulting in a massive loss of civilians. The Saudi war ended with the US officially declaring that Saudi troops had won the right to operate in Iraq through their “responsibility to fight Daesh” in the Iraq conflict.[21]
As the country became increasingly isolated from the global community because of the Iraqi war’s consequences for the region, Saudi policy also shifted significantly. As Saudi Arabia expanded its forces from Iraq, fighting in Iraq helped the United States in its efforts against al Qaeda in Iraq and its affiliates as well as aiding its efforts against Houthi rebels.
While the Gulf War did not result in the end of the conflict, it was a step forward for Saudi Arabia and the broader global community. While the United States had no lasting political agreement on the role of Saudi Arabia in the Arab world, it remained close in a number of ways.[22][23]
As a result of the Saudi invasion, Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has been tense. Despite the threat from terrorist groups like Islamic Jihad and Hamas, Saudi Arabia saw a return to stability, but at the same time it was also a target – as the United Nations began to work on a comprehensive solution to the Palestinian refugee crisis.
Relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States have deteriorated significantly in the last few years due to the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and by recent diplomatic action on Libya and other Middle Eastern countries.[31] However, Saudi Arabia faces much more pressing issues to deal with as it continues to face serious political instability in the region.
Although Riyadh has largely been silent in the immediate aftermath of the first Gulf War, many in the Gulf community believed they were being helped by the American public. Saudi Arabia, however, seems to have accepted that the failure to address the regional challenge posed by the Islamic revolution in Iraq and Syria would not be able to help all those who had served and helped overthrow Saddam Hussein. Furthermore, the recent statements made by former American presidents George W. Bush
The events leading to one of historys shortest wars started on August 2nd, 1990 when the first Iraqi tanks crossed into Kuwait, as part of an invasion that claimed Kuwait in less than 24 hours. These tanks were ordered to invade Kuwait by Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi troops took money from Kuwaiti businesses and brutalized Kuwaiti civilians. Saudi Arabia began to fear that they may be invaded too, and on August 6th, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia formally asked President George Bush for U.S. military assistance. The U.S. promised to defend the Saudis, and President Bush declared that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait “will not stand”. Great masses of troops from many different nations were ordered by the United Nations, to protect and serve in the Persian Gulf area. On January 16, 1991, the first aircraft with orders to attack Iraqi targets was launched from Saudi Arabia, marking the beginning of Operation Desert Storm. It was always international law that dictators like Saddam Hussein cannot be allowed to take advantage of smaller countries like bullies after lunch money. There has to be someone to stop them, or they will gain more and more power and land, just like the lessons that the world learned when Adolph Hitler did the same in World War II. That someone who was called on to stop Hussein was the United States, with help, eventually, from a multinational coalition.
The U.S. had just cause in entering a war against