Gulf War Essay Research Paper

Gulf War Essay, Research Paper

Gulf War

In 1979, Saddam Hussian took control of Iraq, and immediately set the tone for his rule

by killing twenty-one of his cabinet ministers. He wanted to make his country whole once again,

so in 1990 he invaded Kuwait and in less than 4 hours he had taken Kuwait and controlled 24%

of the world s oil supplies. This is when the United Nations declared that Iraq s annexation is

invalid. The UN gives the word for military force to be used. The beginning of the Gulf War

occurred on November 29, 1990. The war of religious strength, and cruel leadership lasted 17

months. The outcome of the war was known before it even started; the only thing that was to be

determined was how would the end come..

On July 17th Hussain accuses Kuwait of over producing oil, and stealing oil from the

Rumailia Oil Fields. The theft occurred when Kuwait was extracting oil from the ground. Since

borders are only seen on the top of the ground, oil fields can flow between the two countries

borders.(See fig 1). Iraq accused them of stealing two billion dollars worth of oil which belonged

to them. Iraq also accused Kuwait of OPEC production quotas for oil. On August 2nd Iraq

invades Kuwait and in only 4 hours they had control of Kuwait and 24% of the world s oil.

Initially, the United Nations warned Iraq to leave Kuwait, but they did not heed the warning. The

UN feared that Iraq s next target would be Saudi Arabia. The UN sets a deadline for all Iraqi

forces to leave Kuwait on January 15,1991.

The air campaign against Iraq was launched January 16. 1991, the day after the United

Nations deadline for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait expired. Saddam was given every

opportunity to conclude the stand off peacefully, but US/Iraqi talks in Geneva were inconclusive,

at best. The magnitude and the power of the air attack was a shock to all concerned. The initial

attack swept away much of Iraq’s ability to defend against further air assaults. Radar installations

were attacked by helicopters. F-117’s were sent to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad to destroy

command and control centers. Air bases and hangars were bombed. U.S. Navy bombers and

Tomahawk missiles wreaked havoc on all aspects of Iraqi air defense. The air campaign was

conducted not just by the United States, but the Saudi, British, French, Italian, as well as various

Arab Air Forces.

The Allied air campaign was thorough and devastating. Realizing that traditional anti-air

defense was futile, the Iraqis took to psychological methods that included using human hostages

as shields for prime targets. They placed their aircrafts near ancient historic sites and holy

places, knowing the allies would be reticent to attack where there might be significant “collateral

damage”.

In an effort to demonstrate their own air offensive capability, on 24 January the Iraqis

attempted to mount a strike against the major Saudi oil refinery in Abqaiq. Two Mirage F-1

fighters laden with incendiary bombs and two MiG-23’s took off from bases in Iraq. They were

spotted by US AWACs, and two Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s were sent to intercept. When the

Saudis appeared the Iraqi MiGs turned tail, but the Mirages pressed on. Captain Iyad Al-

Shamrani, one of the Saudi pilots maneuvered his jet behind the Mirages and shot down both

aircraft. After this episode, the Iraqis made no more air efforts of their own, only sending most

of their jets to Iran in hopes that they might someday get their air force back.

With Iraqi air defense effectively neutralized, the Allied Air Forces proceeded to pound

the Iraqi divisions arrayed in Kuwait and Southern Iraq. Utilizing fuel bombs, cluster bombs,

armor piercing guided bombs, missiles and various other ordinance, Allied forces degraded Iraqi

ability to fight on the ground. Attacks by B-52 bombers were noted to be especially terrible;

entire regiments, brigades and divisions were effectively crushed in a few minute air raid by

these powerful though dated bombers.

Desert Shield, was a group of troops in the region to stop Iraq from taking anymore land.

This lead to Desert Storm, or the all out attack and push to get Iraq out of Kuwait. Desert Storm

was the joint mission of twenty six countries which formed the Allied Forces. By January of

1991, over half a million allied troops were deployed in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Gulf

region. When diplomacy failed between the US and Iraq officials, the attack began. Allied forces

started the attack, bombing Iraq and her forces in Kuwait. Hussain s counterattack was to launch

SCUD missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia. He hoped that it would separate the Arab nations.

Israel almost retaliated but held back on the advice of President Bush. The Americans promised

to protect Israel from the SCUD missile by setting up Patriot Missile batteries, which would

shoot the missiles down. Meanwhile, the allied airforce made up of Apache helicopters an

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