Persian Gulf
War
“Operation
Desert
Storm”
Key People
Key people
• President
• George H. Bush
• Saddam Hussein
• Colin Powell, Chairman, Joint
Chiefs of Staff
• Norman Schwarzkopf, US Commander
Background
• Prior to WWI, what is now Kuwait was part of
what is now Iraq in the Ottoman Empire.
•
• After the war, Britain ruled Kuwait and Iraq, and
treated them as separate countries.
•
• Iraq did not recognize Kuwait as a sovereign
nation …and Britain had to use troops to stop an
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in the 1960’s.
• During the Iraq -Iran war (1980-1988, ended in a
stalemate) Kuwait allied with Iraq for protection against
Iran.
•
• After the war, Iraq had large war debts, including $14
billion to Kuwait!
•
• Iraq planned to pay these debts by getting OPEC
members to decrease production and increase prices.
•
• But Kuwait does the opposite- increases production and
lowers the rate- to get better negotiating terms !
• Iraq accuses Kuwait of “slant drilling” into Iraqi land
•
• Iraq claims it helped Saudi Arabia and Kuwait by acting
as a buffer against Iran, so these two countries should
negotiate or cancel Iran’s debts.
•
• Most of Iraq’s ports were destroyed in the Iraq – Iran
war, so it could use Kuwait’s ports in the Persian gulf.
•
• Many middle eastern nations were dependent on trade
with western countries. Saddam Hussein portrays
himself as an Arab statesman willing to stand up to Israel
and the u.s.
• President George H. W. Bush quickly
announced that the US would launch a
"wholly defensive" mission to prevent Iraq
from invading Saudi Arabia - Operation
Desert Shield - and US troops moved into
Saudi Arabia on August 7.
• Osama Bin Laden will use America’s
involvement as justification for the 9/11
attack
• August 2, 1989 –
Iraq invades
Kuwait
• UN Security
Council condemns
invasion, imposes
economic
sanctions
• Invasion is a big threat to Saudi
Arabia and US oil supply
• UN Security Council issues ultimatum:
withdraw by January 15, 1991, or force
will be used
• On January 12, 1991 the United
States Congress authorized the
use of military force ( as part of the
UN coalition) to drive Iraq out of
Kuwait. This is not the same as
declaring war!!!
• The United States gave several public
justifications for involvement in the conflict.
The first reason given was the importance of
the United States' longstanding friendly
relationship with Saudi Arabia.
• Later justifications for the war included Iraq's
history of human rights abuses under
President Saddam Hussein, the potential that
Iraq may develop nuclear weapons or
weapons of mass destruction and that
"naked aggression will not stand.“
• Osama Bin Laden will use America’s
involvement as justification for the 9/11
attack
Coalition members
• Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain,
Bangladesh, Canada, Czechoslovakia,
Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Honduras, Italy, Kuwait, Morocco,
The Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger,
Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Korea,
Spain, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab
Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United
States itself.
• US troops represented 74% of 660,000 troops
in the theater of war.
• Afghanistan
• Egypt
• Kuwait
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Saudi Arabia
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• Greece
• Syria
The War
• Smart bombs, the Nintendo War
• Iraq bombed Israel
• Escalated to ground battles in
February
• February 28th – victory
• Kuwait liberated, Saddam Hussein
remains in Iraq
• US deaths – 345, casualties about
1,000
• Iraqi deaths – 50,000 – 100,000
TV Coverage
• Journalists embedded with US
troops
• Information censored
• Americans watched live Scud
missile attacks on CNN
Environmental Damage
• the Iraqi military forces in Kuwait
opened valves at the Sea Island oil
terminal near Kuwait City and
released large quantities of crude
oil into the Gulf, an act of
environmental warfare
• When Iraqi troops withdrew from
Kuwait at the end of the Persian
Gulf War in early 1991, they set fire
to more than 600 oil wells and
pools of spilled oil in Kuwait.
Gulf War Syndrome
• A growing number of Gulf War vets
have unexplained symptoms
including fatigue, respiratory
illness, muscular pain, skin rash,
memory loss, dizziness
• This may be the result of exposure
to toxic gases, radioactive
exposure from ammunition, or
other sources
• Studies inconclusive and more
research is being done.