Compare and Contrast the 1991 and 2003 Iraq War - Case Study Example

In addition was the allegation that Kuwait was stealing Iraqi oil from the Rumaila oil field by using slant drilling technology. Lastly, Kuwait had refused to allow Iraq access to the Persian Gulf. As a result, in May 1990, the world saw Saddam Hussein openly attacking the Kuwait economic warfare in the Arab League meeting. As Hinnebusch (2007) points out, even after the Iraq threat of military action if Kuwait failed to control over-production, the tiny nation remained firm on its decisions; and the support, undoubtedly came from the US.

This fact is evident from the understanding that the US military was preparing for a war against Iraq. For example, in 1989 itself, America had revamped its military doctrine in the Middle East. To illustrate, General Normal Schwarzkopf had already started war games in which US troops fought the Iraqi troops even before the Iraqi aggression on Kuwait. In addition is the fact that the US could not produce any proof to support their claims of Iraqi troop deployment against Kuwait. This is especially important considering the fact that Russia produced such satellite imageries that show no important troop deployment from the part of Iraq that threatened Kuwait.

Here, one has to again remember that there was no movement from the President to promote diplomacy and negotiations. Evidently, the US wanted to reduce the power and influence of Iraq in the oil rich region of Middle East. So, for the US, a war was necessary. This becomes very evident from the American aggression on Iraq a second time, and this time, on an even weaker and unbelievable basis. The allegation was that Iraq had a role in the 9/11 attack. Though the US could not come up with a believable story up to this time, the idea was supported by the hardliners in the nation.

As Kitfield (n.d.) states, another allegation was that there were WMDs but even after the war, no such evidences were brought to the world. In total, one can say that the aggression of Iraq on Kuwait was not a matter of more concern to America than to United Nations. According to Kitfield (n.d), if it took special interest in the matter, it had its own interests to be protected. In order to gain international support, America went on asserting that Iraq was violating Resolution 1441 of 2002 that mandated Iraq to fully declare and eliminate its WMD programs.

Also, America got the opinion of other nations including France, Germany, Russia, and China that Iraq was not properly following the guidelines. However, they were not in agreement with the American interest in an immediate attack as they thought the UN efforts should be given more time. Admittedly, the United Nations exhibited its inability and vulnerability to the world in the Iraq wars. For example, the Council used its Chapter VII powers to allow the coalition under the US to take military actions.

Soon, there was Operation Desert Shield and Storm, but there arose the issue that the military action was not authorized. For the purpose, Security Council Resolution 687 was passed on 29 November 1990. Here, the council, instead of showing any clearly defined responsibility, made the vague statement that the Security Council be regularly informed. According to Resolution 687, all weapons of mass destruction had to be removed. So, the sanctions for military action under the resolution would remain in force until this end