The Kuwait and Iraq War - Research Paper Example

?The Kuwait-Iraq war Executive summary: This paper is based on a hugely important historical issue that bagged overwhelming attention from all over the globe for almost seven months. The historical issue that is comprehensively discussed in this paper is about the renowned Kuwait-Iraq war, which caused marked devastation and havoc for a very long time and engulfed not only the Kuwaiti public in its horror of pandemonium, but also brutally shattered the strong economy of Kuwait. Actually, Kuwait was invaded by its neighbor country Iraq back in 1990 when no one was expecting any such sudden and unjustified action. Heavy research has been done on this massively important war and myriad reasons have been exposed that explain the basic intentions of Iraq for attacking Kuwait. The reasons which have gained worldwide acceptance are highlighted and scrutinized in this paper along with the horrifying socioeconomic and public harms sustained by Kuwait during and after the war. The discussion on this Iraqi invasion also revolves around the incredibly disparaging consequences Kuwait had to bear and the massive costs it paid as a result of this vicious war. The war did not die away on its own after some months, rather many countries had to step in this critical issue that was rapidly getting out of control. Some of those countries, the peaceful roles they played, and the facilitating measures taken by them to reestablish the Kuwaiti public also form a part of the discussion presented in this paper. 2. Introduction: The Kuwait-Iraq war has been the biggest conflict between Iraq and Kuwait yet and was based on a seven month long period that resulted in the loss of many lives and gigantic economic crisis. The Iraqi occupation on Kuwait ignited worldwide condemnation due to which Iraq had to face much resistance in making Kuwait one of its own states. Clear disapproval and fury was shown by all countries for Iraq and immediate removal of Iraqi forces was demanded. (China-embassy.org, 2004). This brutal invasion was followed by military intervention by United States. Otherwise, there seemed to be no end to the Iraqi invasion which acquired complete control over Kuwait forcing the Kuwaiti forces to run away and find refuge in other countries. The relentless actions of Iraq on one hand, and the “brief and feeble resistance” displayed by Kuwait’s own forces made Kuwait all the more vulnerable, which led to increased ruthlessness practiced by the Iraqi forces. (Worldology, 2009). Initially, Iraq made an allegation on Kuwait that it was illegally stealing the Iraqi oil reserves through slant drilling so that it could invade Kuwait. (Patterson, 2010). Then, rumors came up that Iraq suddenly took the decision to invade Kuwait because it had no other hope for paying the loan it had previously taken for financing war with Iran. Kuwait is blessed with over-productivity of oil and this proved to be an enchanting delight for Iraq, which already needed some relief from the huge loan. (Kelly, 2011). Within a few days of the attack, Iraq declared Kuwait to be one of its provinces thus taking advantage of the weak defense by Kuwait. 3. Economic and geographical causes of the Kuwait-Iraq war: Conflict over the financial debt of Iraq: Iraq was under severe pressure of the huge loan it had to return, which was taken for financing the too long war with Iran. Too much money and resources had been wasted by Iraq to continue the war, so taking loan became an essential step. The Iraqi president, Hussein, had become too isolated politically and economically after war with Iran. (Simon & Harak, n.d.) mention that “He (Hussein) was some 60 billion dollars in debt from the war, and the West had cut off his credits after he had a British reporter executed as a spy.” This loan became a major hurdle in the path of progress later, due to which Iraq raised oil prices in order to repay the massive debts. In response to this strategy, Kuwait vigorously took steps that ensured over-productivity of petroleum, which prevented the global prices of petroleum from rising markedly and this also proved to be a huge obstacle that stopped Iraq from reestablishing its crippled economy. (Ghous, 2010) identifies that Iraq needed an increase in the price of oil for economic stability but, “Kuwait was deliberately producing oil far beyond its OPEC quota.” This brought down the price of oil per barrel. Iraq considered this step of Kuwait to be a clear signal of defiance and aggression, and this fueled the desire of Iraqi government to invade Kuwait without any warning. (Hindy, 2008). In the situation when Iraq needed to increase the petroleum price, Kuwait deliberately flooded the world market with petroleum and this further deteriorated the economic condition of Iraq. Iraq was resistant to pay the price of the 8 year long, atrocious and irresponsible battle with Iran for which it invaded Kuwait in order to grab its oil reserves. (HMForces.co.uk, 2010). Iran-Iraq war also played a role in leading to the Kuwait-Iraq war: As discussed above, the prejudiced dispute over the petroleum production and prices had already distanced Iraq and Kuwait from each other, so that presents the idea that Iraq was left with zero tolerance for Kuwait, which initiated the bloodshed soon after. Of course, the strategy planned by Kuwait that meant over-productivity of petroleum and a drop in the international petroleum price was hugely devastating for Iraq. The extent of economic crisis this strategy of Kuwait caused can be judged from the words of former Iraqi foreign minister (cited in Strok & Lesch, 1990, pp. 11-18), who said that “every US$1 drop in the price of a barrel of oil caused a US$1 billion drop in Iraq's annual revenues triggering an acute financial crisis in Baghdad.” It is also mentioned by the former minister that during the 8 year long battle with Iran, Iraq lost almost everything uselessly and Kuwait had heavily funded the Iraqi forces. After the war ended, Iraq was shattered economically and financially and was simply not in a position to repay the loan taken from Kuwait for years, which frustrated the Iraqi government. (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2006, p. 839). This helplessness of the Iraqi government ignited Kuwait’s fury and in a response to Iraq’s decision of increasing the petroleum prices, Kuwait decided that over-production of petroleum would lead to flooding of the international market with petroleum, which would consequently lead to a drop in oil prices. Research identifies that this oil price strategy caused a loss of about “US$14 billion a year” for Iraq which made the Iraqi government accuse both UAE and Kuwait that they had deprived Iraq of the badly needed revenues dropping down oil prices. (US Library of Congress, n.d.). This incredible loss was intolerable by Iraqi government, which already had a huge sum of money of about “$14 billion” that was due for payment to Kuwait. (Cooper, 2003). From these facts, it can be judged that Iraq was itself responsible for all the losses and had it not initiated war with Iran, the war with Kuwait also would have never happened. Geographical reasons for invading Kuwait: Iraq accused Kuwait for stealing oil by slant drilling before invasion, thus presenting a justification before the world in the hope of meeting with minimum resistance. Rumaila oil field was shared between Iraq and Kuwait, since it lies on the border between Kuwait and Iraq and this made Saddam Hussein accuse Kuwait for depriving the Iraqi government of its revenues by stealing oil. (Baxter, 2009). Though, research mentions facts that defy the accusations made by the Iraqi government, this accusation that Kuwaitis were stealing oil from Iraq’s oil reserves, played a major deadly role in initiating the war that lasted for full seven months. “To make matters worse, Iraq suspected the Kuwaiti's were drilling diagonally from their side of the border to tap Iraqi oil reserves.” (indepthinfo.com, 2011). The Iraqi president did not stop here but even went ahead to claim that Kuwait did not deserve to appear on the geographical map as an independent state, rather it was a natural part of Iraq that was separated from it injudiciously. The Iraqi armed forces were much stronger compared to the Kuwaiti forces, though the Kuwaiti forces did whatever there was in their control to defend the state, and it only took them 6 hours to reach the capital city of the state after invasion. Within that time, they had acquired control over 19% of the oil reserves and this shows that they met minimum resistance in Kuwait. (APFN, 2004). 4. Environmental damages caused by Iraqi invasion in Kuwait: Thousands of innocent lives were lost as a result of this war, life of every kind was paralyzed and affected, and huge socioeconomic and environmental crisis resulted for both countries. Iraq caused inexcusable and bloodcurling environmental damage to Kuwait. Though, the Iraqi president denied using chemical weapons still, facts like setting alight 600-700 oil wells by Iraqi forces made Kuwait suffer massive environmental loss. (Gearon, 2010). Thick black plumes were seen everywhere in Iraq as a result of burning of oil wells by Iraqi armed forces. The atrocities of Iraqi forces met with minimal resistance by the Kuwaiti forces, who also had a small proportion of weapons compared to the drastic weapons employed by Iraq. The issue of usage of chemical weapons by Iraq is still under debate with some people agreeing to the use of such weapons and Iraq defiantly denying this accusation. Still, the extent of damage caused is beyond belief. It is mentioned by (Rosenberg, 2011) in a research report that as the Iraqi troops withdrew from Kuwait, they were ordered to burn the oil wells and damage the oil pipelines by Hussein. “Oil pipelines were also opened, releasing 10 million barrels of oil into the Gulf and tainting many water sources.” The ocean life nearly died completely when massive amounts of impurities and Kuwaiti oil were dumped into the Persian Gulf. (Deese, 1991). Research reports identify that more than 800 oil wells were set on fire due to which it became almost impossible for life to sustain in some particular areas of Iraq. “The gushing oil and fallout from the oil fire plumes spread over the desert surface covering vast areas stretching from Kuwait through the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” (Kuwait NFP, 2006). Millions of barrels of Kuwaiti oil were lost everyday as a result of vicious atrocities committed by Iraqi troops. Close to the oil wells, the deposited oil turned into lakes or thin crusts of oil spreading away to far off areas away from the site of accident, thus terribly impacting the Kuwaiti environment. As mentioned earlier, massive amounts oil found way to the Gulf where it dumped into the ocean. The roles played by international community in ending the Kuwait-Iraq war: The atrocities committed by Iraq in Kuwait including damaging their food and medicine stores, was beyond tolerance. This violence was not hidden from the rest of the world, which really disapproved Iraq’s unjustified action. United Nations was the first to strongly disapprove this brutal invasion and imposed many economic sanctions on Iraq during the war in the hope that those tough sanctions might make the Iraqi government order its troops to retreat from Kuwait. Unfortunately, Iraq turned out to be unnecessarily stubborn in its defiant attitude and refused to call back its forces from Kuwait, no matter whatever price it might have to pay for that action. The diplomatic efforts of UN failed this way and the atrocities of Iraq continued without any difference. Considering this vicious attitude of the Iraqi government, USA decided to help Kuwait out of this tight situation and directed a 28-nation allied force to attack Iraq in January, 1991. This attack made Iraq suffer the worst consequences possible and it literally broke down the economic backbone of the country. “An estimated 150,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed and the same number captured, while the allies suffered fewer than 150 combat casualties.” (PERI, n.d.). The missile attacks by the US allied forces killed many Iraqi civilians in addition to damaging the water plants and electric power infrastructure of the country, thus paralyzing the whole system so bad that Iraq got forced to withdraw its forces from Kuwait. References: American Patriot Friends Network (APFN). (2004). Several Reasons Why Saddam Hussein Invaded Kuwait. Retrieved from http://www.apfn.org/Saddam-Hussein/Kuwait.htm Baxter, K. (2009). 10 events in oil's history that shook the world. Retrieved from http://www.arabianoilandgas.com/article-5817-10_events_in_oils_history_that_shook_the_world/9/ China-embassy.org. (2004). The Iraq Issue. Retrieved from http://il.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/dqwt/t159726.htm Cooper, T. (2003). Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait; 1990. Retrieved from http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_213.shtml Deese, D.A. (1991). Persian Gulf War. Retrieved from http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/misc/desertstorm.html Duiker, W.J. & Spielvogel, J.J. (2006). World History: From 1500. (5th ed.). Cengage Learning. Gearon, E. (2010). Kuwaiti meter still running on Iraq's 1990s war debt. Retrieved from http://www.faqs.org/periodicals/201010/2207238981.html Ghous, G. (2010). Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait. Retrieved from http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6181394-title-not-a-proper-english-phrase-07376339256136668 Hindy, L. (2008). Interrogator: Invasion surprised Saddam. Retrieved from http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=10698.0 HMForces.co.uk. (2010). The Gulf War - The Invasion of Kuwait 1990. Retrieved from http://www.hmforces.co.uk/Training/articles/3469-the-gulf-war---the-invasion-of-kuwait-1990. Indepthinfo.com. (2011). Factors that Led to the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait. Retrieved from http://www.indepthinfo.com/iraq/iraq.shtml Kelly, B. (2011). Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Invasion of Kuwait. Retrieved from http://www.brucekelly.com/saddam-hussein-kuwait.html Kuwait NFP. (2006). KUWAIT ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGES. Retrieved from http://www.kathystauffervines.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/kuwaitenvironmentaldamages.pdf Patterson, J. (2010). What is slant drilling? Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/1831077-what-is-slant-drilling PERI. (n.d.). MODERN CONFLICTS: CONFLICT PROFILE. Retrieved from http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/Iraq3.pdf Rosenberg, J. (2011). Top 5 Crimes of Saddam Hussein. Retrieved from http://history1900s.about.com/od/saddamhussein/a/husseincrimes.htm Simon, J. & Harak, S. J. (n.d.). Why DID Iraq Invade Kuwait?  -- A Brief History. Retrieved from http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/blog/harak.html Stork, J. & Lesch, A. M. (1990). Background to the Crisis: Why War?. Middle East Report, 167, 11-18. US Library of Congress. (n.d.). Oil and Natural Gas. Retrieved from http://countrystudies.us/persian-gulf-states/85.htm Worldology. (2009). Gulf War & Sanctions Against Iraq (1988 - 2003). Retrieved from http://www.worldology.com/Iraq/gulf_war_sanctions.htm Read More