The Persian Gulf War 2 Essay, Research Paper

The Persian Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War, besides known as Operation Desert Storm, was a war that separated good versus immorality and what s right from incorrect. It was the war that put the greedy and totalitarian Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein versus the American President George Bush. It was the 1st major international struggle since the terminal of the Cold War old ages earlier. The events taking to one of history s shortest wars started on August 2nd, 1990 when the first Iraqi armored combat vehicles crossed into Kuwait, as portion of an invasion that claimed Kuwait in less than 24 hours. These armored combat vehicles were ordered to occupy Kuwait by Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi military personnels took money from Kuwaiti concerns and brutalized Kuwaiti civilians. Saudi Arabia began to fear that they may be invaded excessively, and on August 6th King Fahd of Saudi Arabia officially asked President George Bush for US military aid. The US promised to support the Saudis, and President Bush declared that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait will non stand. Great multitudes of military personnels from many different states were ordered by the United Nations, to protect and function in the Persian Gulf country. At 4:30 PM EST on January 16, 1991, the first aircraft with orders to assail Iraqi marks was launched from Saudi Arabia, taging the beginning of Operation Desert Storm.

It has ever been international jurisprudence that Dictators like Saddam Hussein can non be allowed to take advantage of smaller states like toughs after tiffin money. There has to be person to halt them, or they will derive more and more power and land, merely like the lessons that the universe learned when Adolph Hitler did the same in World War II. That person who was called on to halt Hussein was the United States, with aid, finally, from a transnational alliance. The US had merely cause in come ining a war against Iraq because of Iraq & # 8217 ; s invasion of the little and defenceless state of Kuwait. Iraq had no merely cause in occupying Kuwait. Their grounds for their ain benefit. Hussein wanted to command Kuwait because of the wealth Kuwait had in oil and besides he wanted better entree to the Persian Gulf. Another ground why the United States entered the war was because of the menace that Iraq might declare war on Israel. Israel is one of the US s closest Alliess.

Dayss after the invasion of Kuwait the United Nations put an trade stoppage on Iraq that prohibited all trade with Iraq except for medical grounds. At this point all of Iraq s foreign dealingss were reasonably much gone. Iraq had no Alliess. Following the proclamation Iraq declare that they officially annexed Kuwait. At the same clip the United States were directing over the first batch of American military personnels who would be based in Saudi Arabia. Weeks subsequently Iraq began to take any guiltless aliens who were based in either Kuwait or Iraq as sureties. They were all moved to Iraqi military bases and served as human shields to deter any states from assailing.

On August 25th, the same month in which all of this started, The United Nation Security Council authorized any military force needed in implementing the trade stoppage against Iraq. This finally escalated to the determination by the Security Council to allow permission to the alliance of states against Iraq, to utilize all agencies necessary to kick Iraq out of Kuwait unless the Iraqi forces did non draw out all their military forces by January 15, 1991.

United States Congress subsequently voted on whether they would back up the permission granted to them. They nem con agreed. The ballot was every bit good as a declaration of war, every bit far as legitimate authorization is concerned. The January 15th deadline for Iraq was fundamentally set so that the states could one-fourth up plenty military personnels and develop a conflict program. The conflict program was non to destruct Iraq s military, but to merely acquire Iraqi troops out of Kuwait. President Bush planned to acquire Iraq & # 8217 ; s troops out of Kuwait and so halt. He had no purpose of transporting the war farther. Although Bush likely would hold in a heartfelt way liked to hold marched US troops toward Baghdad to destruct Hussein & # 8217 ; s authorities, he did non, because of the hazard of heavy casualties, and it would hold been a negative representation of a universe leader.

The United Nations knew that Saddam Hussein was much excessively proud of a dictator to draw his military personnels out of Kuwait by the January 15th deadline. So of coarse he did non take any military personnels at all. When the deadline passed the states had their conflict plans all mapped out. What was named Operation Desert Storm by U.S. ground forces leaders like Colin Powell and General Schwarzkopf, officially started at 3 A.M. , Iraqi clip, on January 17th, 1991 when aircraft bombed parts of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. The war started in the air. The Air Force and other allied air degree Celsiuss

raft aimed to destruct Iraq s ability to establish missile onslaughts and besides aimed at extinguishing all of Iraq s lifelessly weapon installations.

The aims on the most portion were obtained with the aid of new engineerings. The usage of dark vision systems and preciseness guided arms were foremost introduced to warfare. The preciseness warfare enabled the US to establish sail missiles, like the Tomahawk Missile, from the Persian Gulf and hit a specific mark exactly.

Iraq responded to the start of the war by establishing inaccurate SCUD missiles to topographic points in Saudi Arabia and Israel. The onslaughts killed many guiltless civilians in both Israel and Saudi Arabia. Iraq wanted Israel to come in the war because they wanted Arab Alliess. It is good documented that Arabs and Israelis have been at struggle throughout the old ages. Hussein thought that if Israel entered the war, Arab states would side with Iraq seeing that the war was another Arab-Israel struggle. Israel would non give in and they remained out of the war.

The alliance against Iraq applied a land onslaught against the Iraqis. It was good known that the Iraqis had several hundred thousand ill trained, ill equipped, and ill led military personnels, while the allied forces numbered about 800,000 professionally trained and experient military personnels. After the war in Vietnam it can be said that the US would non hold entered into this struggle if they had non clearly known that they would win. Without any uncertainty, this was a war they could easy win.

On February 24th the land troops for the alliance forced their manner into Iraq and Kuwait. The onslaught was a mass of different operations executed at the same clip in different countries. Iraqi forces proved much excessively weak for the strong discourtesies brought by alliance military personnels. The allied forces ended all Iraqi military operations on February 28. They fundamentally won the full war in about 100 hours.

On April 6th, Iraq agreed to a armistice and the war was official declared to an terminal on April 11, 1991, by the UN Security Council. Iraq agreed to pay Kuwait for war amendss. All of the United States aims were completed. The Iraqis were forced out of Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia was protected. Iraq lost every bit many as 100 000 casualties in the war, while alliance forces merely lost about 370 soldiers. However, politically, the war may hold resulted in a draw. Saddam Hussein is still in control of Iraq, and is still a large menace to the security of the universe. The UN diminution to forcefully take Hussein from office.

On the manner out of Iraq, Iraqis disposed of many of Kuwait s oil Wellss by agencies of puting fire to them. This jeopardy to the environment was escalated when Iraq dumped every bit much as 465 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf.

Iraq was in atrocious province after the war. The bombardments by allied military personnels destroyed many transit systems, communicating systems, infirmaries and other of import installations. Many civilians died after the war because of the deficiency of nutrient and medical specialty.

Old ages after the war had ended many veterans of the war complained of physical and psychological illnesss that they believed were related to their services in the war. The illnesss were given the name Gulf War Syndrome Symptoms consisted of weariness, joint strivings, and memory loss. Troops cited that their symptoms could hold been brought upon when military personnels destroyed a chemical arms installation and were perchance exposed to risky chemicals. There is people debating that the symptoms are from post-war emphasis. It is still unknown today what the truths are to the theory of Gulf War syndrome.

The Persian Gulf War was merely another premier illustration of how the United States are the police officers of the universe. We entered the war cognizing that there was nil to derive and more to lose. I think that the US used this war to do a statement that the universe will stay a peaceable topographic point every bit long as we remain the world power of the universe.

Bibliography:

James F. Dunnigan & A ; Austin Bay, From Shield To Storm, right of first publication 1992, William Morrow and Company, INC, New York

Mark Grossman Encyclopedia of the Persian Gulf War Abc-Clio Co. 1995

David A. Deese, Persian Gulf War. World Book Online, hypertext transfer protocol: //www.worldbookonline.com/na/ar/fs/aar424190.htm, April 5, 2000

Frontline Weapons of the Gulf War. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/weapons, Copyright 1998, PBS and WGBH/Frontline

The Persian Gulf War Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia, 1999, Microsoft Cooperation

Chronology Of The Persian Gulf War hypertext transfer protocol: //www.desert-storm.com/War/chronology.html Desert-Storm.com, 1997

Operation Desert Storm Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Grolier Inc. 1995