THE WarofGulf it was a conflict that stretched from August 1990 to February 1991. This war began with the Kuwait invasion by the Iraqi army and ended up relying on foreign interference with international forces that, led by the Americans, attacked the Iraqis, forcing them to leave Kuwait.
THE american interference in the Gulf War created a deep enmity between Iraq and the United States. Many historians understand this conflict as the First Gulf War, since the enmity between the two nations led to a new US intervention against Iraq from 2003 onwards.
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Causes of the Gulf War
The immediate cause of the Gulf War was the disagreementsdiplomatic existing between Kuwait and Iraq and also by the expansionism ofsaddamHussein, the ruler of Iraq. Iraq's motivations for invading Kuwait are only understood if we look for its roots in the early 1980s, in the issue surrounding Iran and Iraq.
The year of 1979 was marked by the rise of Saddam Hussein to the power of Iraq and for the Islamic revolution, which placed Iran in the hands of Muslim extremists. The events in Iran dealt a heavy blow to the United States as the rise of Shiites caused the Americans to lose an important ally in the Middle East.
Immediately, Iraq was used as a play to contain Iranian influence in the Middle East, and the Iran-Iraq War, started in 1980, is a consequence of this. The United States provided military support to Iraq during this conflict that dragged on until 1988 and caused the deaths of approximately one million people.
During that war, Iraq also received billions of dollars in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait loans – countries interested in the weakening of Iran. The Iran-Iraq War created an impasse, as neither country managed to impose itself by force of arms.
It was in the context after the Iran-Iraq War that the diplomatic disagreements that led Iraq to attack Kuwait. First, Saddam Hussein needed to rebuild Iraq economically and militarily. The key to the Iraqi recovery would be its most valuable product: the Petroleum.
Saddam Hussein needed the price of a barrel to be high so that he could increase his country's revenue. The reality, however, was different: the price of a barrel was at U$11.00, and one of the main factors responsible for this drop in price was exactly Kuwait. This was because Kuwait purposely sold above its quotas to force the price of a barrel down as way to get other oil exporting nations to join the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Iraq was bothered by Kuwait's posture, and the situation got worse, because the Kuwaitis started to require Iraq to repay the loans that they had done during the Iran-Iraq War. Saddam Hussein, however, considered the Kuwaiti charge to be abusive, as he considered that Iraq he had fought a war that was also in the Kuwaiti interest and so it was not fair that it was charged.
Finally, Iraq accused Kuwait of exploring oil wells near Iraqi territory and demanded indemnity for that reason and claimed the right to explore two islands on the Kuwait-Iraq border as a way to expand the country's coastline. Kuwait did not authorize the exploration of the islands, nor did it agree to indemnify Iraq.
Beginning of the Gulf War
Tension between Iraq and Kuwait dragged on through the 1990s, and diplomatic negotiations were conducted by United States intermediary. As these negotiations failed, Saddam Hussein put into practice the Kuwait invasion, as of August 2, 1990. Because Kuwait is a very small country and has basic military defenses, it was quickly conquered and, within 12 hours, Iraqi troops were already installed in the capital of Kuwait.
Kuwait's royal family fled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a major international negotiation began. O security advice gives UN condemned the invasion of Kuwait and demanded withdrawal Iraqi troops there, but the most uncomfortable with the Iraqi action were the Americans and the British.
The invasion of Kuwait represented a serious threat to US interests in the Middle East, because by taking over Kuwait's oil wells, Iraq was transforming itself into one of the biggest producers in the In addition, the Iraqi action posed a serious threat to the situation of the Saudi royal family, the great ally of the US in the region.
Thus, in August, the United Nations, the UN, issued tworesolutions. One condemned the invasion and the other imposed economic embargoes to force Iraq to retreat. As the Iraqis showed no interest in leaving Kuwait, the US president began sending troops to strengthen Saudi Arabia's defense.
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Why did the US intervene in the Gulf War?
The US intervention in the conflict happened to defend the country's biggest ally in the region, Saudi Arabia. This is because the US believed that the Iraqis could continue their military action by invading Saudi territory. Thus, troops began to be sent to Saudi Arabia on August 7, 1990.
The United States coordinated a coalitionInternational who gathered approximately 750,000 soldiers from more than thirty countries. The leadership of this international coalition was handed over to US General Norman Schwarzkopf.
In November 1990, the UN issued an ultimatum to Iraq, from the Resolution 678: If Iraqi troops did not leave Kuwait by January 15, 1991, there would be an international military intervention to force this to happen.
Saddam Hussein did not order his troops to withdraw and so the deadline ran out. Two days later, the United States began military actions against Iraq, starting from the Operation Desert Storm. From January 17th to February 23rd, the Americans performed massive air strikes to destroy the Iraqi air force and air defense system and to weaken the soldiers' courage.
After 42 days of air strikes, the Americans began, on February 24, the ground operations against Iraqi forces. In less than 100 hours, the international coalition expelled the Iraqis from Kuwait, causing the deaths of thousands of soldiers. With the flight, the US president put an end to the campaign against Iraq.
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