The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait - Essay Example

Plenty of literature has been written concerning the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and most of it has tended to put Iraq, and the regime that ruled it, in an extremely negative light. However, Hamdi Hassan1in his book focuses more on the factors, both historical and contemporary, which led to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Hassan states that among the most influential factors that led to the Iraqi invasion was that Saddam Hussein was confident enough in his popularity in the Middle East to attack this tiny state without any repercussions to his fame. Hussein’s popularity among his fellow Arabs came about because he publicly voiced his opposition to the United States’ stationing of its forces in the Arab territories. In addition, he was a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause against the Israeli occupation, a fact which was noted by his fellow Arabs and appreciated. It is therefore a fact that when he eventually attacked Kuwait with the intention of annexing it, there was widespread support for his action. Hassan notes that despite the fact that many Middle Eastern governments condemned the invasion, they did not do it in support of the Western response of it, but through the use of religion. They used Islamic teachings to condemn the invasion because their own popularity depended on the good opinion of their citizens, who supported the Iraqi leader. Jerry Long2on the other hand, states that Hussein used religion and Arabism as a means through which to justify the invasion. Long states that despite being the head of a secular regime, Hussein used Islam and its defense as a justification for the invasion and this shows that the Iraqi regime was not beyond using religion as a tool for attaining its goals. Iraq had long viewed Kuwait as a renegade province which had to be brought back under Iraqi control. To achieve this end, the Iraqi regime knew that nothing would be more appealing in the Arab world than the religion, since it is what holds the Arab society together. Furthermore, the idea of Arabism was also a uniting factor in the Middle East and because of the appeal to it made by the Iraqi regime, many Arabs ended up supporting the invasion. Long states that the Iraqi propaganda was so effective that when the Allied coalition attempted to push Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, it had to use the exact same propaganda to justify why it were doing so. The coalition ended up using Islamic teachings in an attempt not only to bring the Arab public to its side, but also to justify the presence of non – Muslim forces in the Middle East. However, when one considers Long’s analysis, it will be noted that most of his utterances are pro-West at best and are not balanced. According to Rahman3, while a lot has been written concerning the reasons for the invasion of Kuwait, including the fact that Iraq claimed sovereignty over Kuwait and the latter’s overproduction of oil at Iraq’s expense, the fact that there was a long standing border dispute has rarely been covered. This border dispute was concentrated on an oil rich area between these two countries and this became a contentious issue because it was not known who had the right to extract this valuable resource from this area. Rahman states that the border dispute originated at the beginning of the twentieth century when the Ottoman Empire established outposts in this area, causing the ruler of Kuwait, in alarm, to declare that these territories were a part of Kuwait. After Kuwait, which was a British protectorate, gained independence, the British recognized the border territory to be a part of Kuwait and this led to a lot of bitterness from the Iraqis. The British recognition of Kuwaiti suzerainty over this area without any consultation with Iraq meant that the door for future conflict between these two states was left open and this would eventually culminate in the invasion of Kuwait.4 One would therefore state that Rahman implies that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait did not originate with Saddam Hussein but with the border dispute caused by the British. Ali Mohamed Al-Damkhi5states that despite all the reasons for the invasion of Kuwait, the major result of this conflict was the destruction of the Kuwaiti environment by the invading forces. The negative environmental impact of the invasion was caused mainly by the fact that the Iraqis resorted to the scorched earth policy to cripple their enemy. The destruction of the Kuwaiti oil wells was aimed, first, to destroy the economic capability of this nation, which Iraq believed to be selling more oil than its quota at Iraq’s expense. Secondly, the destruction of the oil wells was meant to ensure that Kuwait did not have the oil resources which would bring the West’s attention to it, therefore ensuring that Iraq had a free hand in the country. Finally, the destruction was meant to slow down the Allied response to Iraq’s invasion, helping its forces to regroup properly in preparation for the inevitable confrontation with the United States. The smoke from the burning wells would have prevented the Allied warplanes from being able to effectively attack Iraqi forces, and this would have provided the Iraqis with an upper hand in the conflict. Al-Damkhi states that the planning of the scorched earth policy was done months prior to the invasion and because of this planning; it came to have a disastrous effect on Kuwait’s environment, which can be felt to this day. Pierre Salinger6, in his article states that the United States, as the world leader, was indirectly responsible for the invasion of Kuwait. This is due to the fact that despite having all the information from its intelligence services of the impending invasion, the Bush administration did nothing to stop it. It did not alert the United Nations nor did it warn Saddam Hussein not to go ahead with the invasion, instead adopting a wait and see policy on the issue. This gave the Iraqi government the confidence to attack the tiny Gulf state, with the belief that the United States and its allies would not react to it. Salinger describes the various events which took place in the Middle East and Iraq in particular which provided a hint of the impending invasion. Among these were the public uttering of the Iraqi president concerning both the West and Kuwait, both of which he declared to be against the interests of Iraq and the Arab people as a whole. Salinger declares that it is the silence of the American government as well as its failure to take steps to stop the invasion, that eventually led to the event taking place. If the American government had acted promptly, then the intended invasion by Iraq would have been stopped in its tracks. Works Cited Al – Damkhi, Ali Mohamed. "Planning to Rescue Kuwait's Oil Wells: An Environmental Issue." Disaster Prevention and Management 16.4 (2007): 513-. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. Hassan, Hamdi A. The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait: Religion, Identity and Otherness in the Analysis of War and Conflict. London: Pluto Press, 1999. Hayes, Thomas C. "Confrontation in the Gulf; the Oilfield Lying Below the Iraq-Kuwait Dispute." New York Times: 1.7. Sep 03 1990. Long, Jerry M. Saddam's War of Words: Politics, Religion, and the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait. Houston: University of Texas Press, 2004. Rahman, H. The Making of the Gulf War: Origins of Kuwait's Long-Standing Territorial Dispute with Iraq. Ithaca, 1997. Salinger, Pierre. "The United States, the United Nations and the Gulf War." The Middle East Journal 49.4 (1995): 595-. ProQuest Research Library. 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