What Caused the 1991 Gulf War - Essay Example

? WHAT CAUSED THE 1991 GULF WAR? Number November 26, Introduction The questions that cross everyone’s mind the moment there is a war are such as, why do wars occur when the decisions that were made were very rational and were also made carefully? There are many answers to such a question and some are such as to gain power and dominate other people’s wealth. For example, during the colonial times, the colonial powers started wars so as to rule over other people and their wealth. The colonies also started to fight back as revenge and this would result to wars. There are other reasons for war such as ethnic and religious killings among others. War has become part of human beings and for a long time, it has really affected them. Generation after generation, nations have sent their youths to the fields to participate in these wars. Some have died in these wars as war does not discriminate. The costs of these escapes are very evident and some have been very severe1. For example, a look back to the damages that the First World War brought to the political structure of Europe makes it possible to understand the effects of war, and fight to stop its causes. 2 It is not a surprise to find that most historians are less concerned on the causes of war and have tended to concentrate on the causes of peace. This is not sufficient because the absence of peace is as a result of the war. Therefore, it is very important to look at the causes of a war rather than look for ways to bring peace after a war has already happened. The aim of this paper is to dig deep to the events that triggered the gulf war of 1991, and briefly shed light on the consequences of that war. What is the Meaning of the Term War? Before embarking on discussing the Gulf war that took place in 1991, there is need to clearly understand the meaning of the term war. There are many definitions of the term war, but only one definition will be used in this paper. The term war refers to the large scale violent conflict that occurs between organized groups that have already established governments or at times, those that seek to one day establish their own.3 Something that should be noted is that not all conflict is war, but only the large scale conflict is referred to as war. Therefore, the Gulf war of 1991 suits the description of war, as it involved large scale conflict. As mentioned earlier, this paper will concentrate on the causes of the Gulf War that took place between the American military and their supporters, and the Iraqi government in the year 1991. First, here is a brief on the general causes of any kind of war and the meaning of the term war. General Causes of War The televisions, radios, and newspapers constantly remind people that the world they live in is not a world that has absolute peace. Day in day out, the reports are showing different nations being affected by conflict. For example, Somalia is country that has suffered warfare for many years. Statistics about wars are always frightening and since the Second World War, most of the social scientists have made great efforts, to attempt to identify the causes of interstate wars. Many researches have shown that there is no single master cause of war, but rather, the causes are different. Most of the wars occur as a result of a number of important causes and due to this, many states have found it difficult to solve their differences to bring about peace.4 Some have tended to argue that banning of nuclear weapons will help in eliminating the causes of war in the world. I tend to argue otherwise because there are other root causes of wars around the world and some may come as a surprise. The following are different classes that can be used to classify the causes of war: Individual level causes: The causes of war in this category are normally short term and immediate. These are causes such as a leader’s personality. A leader’s personality on occasion plays an important role in the way he or she reacts to stressful situations. For example, a leader may not be able to make rational decisions during difficult situations, because it may be led by his or her ego and this can cause war. According to social scientists, individual beliefs can also cause war. Some beliefs might lead a leader to causing damage upon those who do not share in his beliefs.5 For example, in the Arabian countries, reports have been given of warfare being declared against the Christians, who do not share views with their Muslims counterparts. Sub-state level causes: This class comprises of short term and medium class causes of warfare, whose focus is on the making of decisions by small groups of leaders within the government institutions. Unfortunately, some of these leaders may make decisions that produce non-rational decisions. Some of these dysfunctional procedures such as Bureaucratic politics are not sufficient to make policies to run a government or a state, thus some of the leaders will choose war so as to propagate their interests.6 Dyadic level causes: In this level, the relationship between states and their interactions affect the probability of war. States live in peace if power is evenly distributed without counter threats from either state. If this criterion is not followed, war may occur because some states may feel like others are taking advantage of them. In this class, examples of factors that can lead to war are such as enduring rivalry, where different states that might have been complete with each other over a period of time, tend to be involved in a number of crises. Examples are the attacks of violence in Iraq and Kuwait over oil production.7 Also, the build-up of arms at higher quantities than normal may play a key role in causing tensions and threats, and war and conflict may arise. The Gulf War of 1991 The Gulf War of 1991 remains the most remembered war in modern times. It was not the first gulf war in the region, as there was one that happened between 1981 and 1988.8 It was a war between Iraq and a coalition of 34 nations that had been mandated by the United Nations, and the coalition was led by the United States. At first, the other nations had seen no sense involving themselves with the fight of the two countries, but as it continued, they saw that Iraq was taking advantage of Kuwait. It is said that it took the American military seven brief months to build up in the Persian Gulf regions, where they unleashed a campaign that enabled them to destroy the oppositions. This was also made easier because they were also supported by a coalition of the armies from their friends.9 The Gulf War of 1991 introduced the use of more sophisticated power than before, like stealth planes and smart bombs among others, and this led to a new perspective of warfare. The gulf war has been given other names such as the war in the Gulf, the Iraq-Kuwait war among other names. The Iraqis were the ones who triggered this war by invading Kuwait. They wanted to acquire Kuwait’s largest oil reserve being led by their leader, Sadam Hussein. In 1990, Iraq was suffering financial instabilities because the prices of oil were very low, and this was what they relied on as a source of income. Because of this, the Iraq government accused Kuwait of overproducing and also flooding the market with oil, which was cheaper than theirs that it led to them incurring losses. As a result of these accusations, Kuwait agreed to lower production, but this did not seem to satisfy Sadam Hussein. He wanted to posses the rest of the Rumalia oil field, half of which Iraq owned, and thus Kuwait was accused of having stolen the oil field from the Iraqis.10 In the second of August of the same year (1990), Kuwait was invaded by Iraqis troops and they were well organized. At first most of the western powers were focused on the end of Second World War they thought the invasion was only for some limited objectives. The Iraq forces had large stocks of chemical weapons and they had used them in the previous gulf war. This enabled the Iraqis to be more powerful than Kuwait. The UN Security Council called Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait the following day but Iraqis did not seem to comply.11 The council also called for the ban on trade with Iraq. Coalition forces were formed by military troops from all over the world to help the United Sates military and this was important because it assured the world that it was not a war of the US against the an Arab State. The coalition forces numbered over 500,000 with the large numbers coming from Arab allies like Egyptians and Syrians. When the coalition was now set the plans to fight Iraq started. The official date of when the war on the air of the Gulf started was on the 17th January of 1991 after Iraq refused to comply with the ultimatum that they had been given by the United Nations. The attacks of Iraq by coalition of armies occurred in two ways, The air attack The Gulf war of 1991to drive Iraq out of Kuwait began with the attacks from the air immediately when the ultimatum had passed. The air attacks were aimed at carrying strategic bombing, gain the superior power and bomb Iraqis artillery, troops and trenches which was very important as it would make it possible for them to be able to control the ground. By dominating the air the Iraqis aircrafts fled to Iran where they were seized. 12These attacks from the air were very devastating to the Iraqis troops as they ruined their military hideouts and therefore it weakened the Iraqis army. The ground attack After the air attacks, the coalition militaries embarked on the ground assault as they had ensured that they had destroyed the Iraqis hideouts. The ground assault began on the 24th of February of 1991. This assault lasted for around a hundred hours because the operation was very intense. With the help of the GPS, the militaries were able to keep advancing and at times, they were able to take Iraqis units by surprise. However, the weather conditions during that period did not favor them because as it was in a desert, there were sandstorms that hindered their movement at times. Also, it was when heavy rains started falling that the British forces encountered a unit of Iraq, and called for support; eventually they were able to attack and drove the Iraqis off. 13 The result of this attack left so many casualties. The Causes of the Gulf War of 1991 The gulf war of 1991 was an ironical one because just six months before the war began, all the parties that were involved in the conflict had enjoyed a cordial relationship, like in trade among other aspects. The Iraqis leader, Sadam Hussein contributed a lot to this war and therefore he cannot be assumed. The Iraqis relationship with the rest of the world before was very good and this made people wonder where the war was coming from. There have been many reasons that have been attributed to why the Gulf war of 1991 came to be. The following are the reasons why the war started: Economic benefits Most of the time when wars occur, the parties involved tend to portray that they are defending the small nations, so as to ensure that they are never attacked again. The reality is not as simple as they try to portray it, because there is always an economic motive towards the war. 14For example, this was a hidden reason for military forces attacking Iraq. After the world wars, the United States was left in a very bad shape that it had turned from being the world’s capital provider, to becoming a major capital importer. Kuwait was a country that was rich in oil and also they had well-established and highly operational oil infrastructure. This was unlike their counter parts Iraq, whose oil infrastructure was not well built and established. This is what attracted most developed nations like the United States and the United Kingdom, because Kuwait represented opportunities for them unlike Iraq. In other words, the developed nations, as well as other nations saw economic benefit coming from Kuwait rather than Iraq. The Gulf war was now seen to be the savior of the Americans, whose economy was continuing to deteriorate. The whole war had been planned for earlier by the American government and even rehearsed; they were just waiting for Iraq to start the attack. The war would serve two purposes for United States, “first, it was to inflict terror to the third world countries and also to reassert US hegemony over its chief rivals.”15 In his speech to NATO, James Baker said that from 1949, every American president had said that the gulf was very important to the economy of the Americans.16 Therefore, there was no way that the United Sates government would watch another hostile power like Iraq gain the access to Kuwait’s energy resources. This is because they saw Sadam Hussein as a threat, and therefore they needed to stop him because if he was allowed to have the access of the oil fields, he would have taken control over the world oil market, and would have enforced any price he liked, consequently affecting the economy of the whole world.17 Another economic cause that can be argued to have triggered the gulf war was that Iraqis wanted to regain their financial stability, which they had lost after the first gulf war. The prices of oil were very low and therefore their main source of income was very small and they needed to have more income. Iraq was accusing Kuwait of producing oil in large amounts and that it was flooding their market with cheap oil. The motive behind these grievances was that Sadam Hussein wanted to posses the oil fields that belonged to Kuwait, half of which Iraq already owned.18 They wanted it all as the oil would raise the economic stability of Iraq. Controversy over Debt between Iraq and Kuwait During the war between Iraq and Iran which was the first gulf in the eighties, Iraq had borrowed $40 billion from Kuwait. Iraq later started demanding that the debt from Kuwait be forgiven, as Iraq had prevented the Iranian conquest of the Middle East, but Kuwait refused to comply with Iraqis insistence. By the time the war between Iran and Iraq ended, Iraq was already bankrupt and most its debts were from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.19 Iraq pressured the two countries to forgive the debts, but they both refused. So Iraq started airing grievances that Kuwait had exceeded its OPEC quotas, and also that they had made the prices of the oil go down; they argued that this had deepened the instability they already had. This controversy of the debt that Iraq owed Kuwait opened more avenues for attacks, like claiming that Kuwait was rightfully a territory of Iraq. 20 In 1990, around July, Iraq was complaining so much of the behavior of Kuwait and they threatened to take military action. Reports from CIA showed that there were 3000 troops, which had been moved to the border of the two countries via Iraq. So in august, Iraq launched their first attack in Kuwait’s city, which is the capital of Kuwait. 21Thus, the debt that the Iraqi government had from Kuwait contributed a lot to Iraqis launching an invasion. Sovereignty Debate The sovereignty was another factor that really contributed to the gulf war of the 1991. Iraq was of the argument that Kuwait was a natural part of their land. They also argued that the British government was responsible of carving Kuwait, as they had hidden agendas. After Iraq had gained their freedom from the United Kingdom in 1932, they immediately declared that Kuwait was rightfully a territory of Iraq. The argument that the Iraqi government had on this issue was that, Kuwait had been a territory of Iraqi until after World War 1, when Britain carved that part and created Kuwait, and it was a British imperialist invention.22 Kuwait had been part of the Ottoman Empire’s province of Basra during the eighteenth century. This had helped the British government to have control of the Ottoman Empire. This showed and proved that Kuwait was a nation by itself. This had been insisted by the British government but it was not welcomed with open hands by the Iraqi government. Britain had even drawn a boundary to show that the two were different nations, and thus they even restricted the movement of the Iraqis as they saw it as attempts to threaten what they had already acquired. Iraq did not recognize the sovereignty of Kuwait at any point until around 1963. During 1990, Iraq started sensing an opportunity of to finally take back what they had believed to be rightfully theirs, and that is when the arranged to launch an assault. 23 The United Nations Ultimatum had been ignored In 1990 in the month of November, the UN demanded that Iraq was supposed to withdraw from Kuwait by the fifteen of January in the year that followed, and if they did not, it would apply force to drive them out. This ultimatum from the United Nations seemed to have fallen on deaf ears because Iraq did not comply. According to United Nations, Iraq was violating an internationally recognized sovereignty of Kuwait and this was wrong.24 After about two days of attack, the Iraq troops had taken control of the Kuwait city and they started moving down to the south, where they camped along the border of Saudi Arabia. When they had achieved victory over Kuwait, Sadam Hussein even installed a temporary regime which was known as the Provincial Government of Free Kuwait, which he later put his cousin in-charge as a governor. 25This showed that Iraq was not in a hurry to move away from Kuwait, but they were there to stay. As a result, the United Nations saw that the only solution to removing the Iraq government from Kuwait was through force. Additionally, due to the United Nations Ultimatum being ignored by Iraq, a meeting of delegation was requested by the United States and Kuwait, which also involved the United Security Council. This meeting demanded that Iraq was to move away from Kuwait as they had been earlier authorized, but this did not breed to something significant because Iraq was not ready to leave Kuwait. On the 29 of November 1990, the United Nations Passed a Security council resolution number 678, which gave the other states mandate to use all necessary means be it by use of force, to ensure that Iraq was no longer in Kuwait, if the Iraq government had not moved by the set date of fifteenth of January 1991.26 Defense of Kuwait from Iraq Iraq had done enough harm to Kuwait and it was time to put an end to their hideous activities. Iraqi had violated the territorial integrity of Kuwait, which the United Nations considered as a violation. This aim of helping Kuwait defend itself from Iraq saw 34 nations coming together to from a coalition, led by the United States of America. Some nations like Japan and Germany though did not bring their army; they boosted the coalition with financial support, which was also important. 27 The defense of Kuwait from Iraq was important as Iraq had been reported of violating human rights in history, especially during the leadership of Sadam Hussein. For example, during the war with Iran, Iraq had used chemical weapons which caused massive destruction to Iran. Additionally under the leadership of Sadam Hussein, Iraq had used these weapons against his own people of Kurdish population in the Al-Anfal Campaign. So the history was not appealing to other nations; therefore they had to do something to defend Kuwait. Additionally, the other nations had to fight back as defense for Kuwait as Iraq army had committed other crimes. This is because reports show that there is a time they executed three brothers without giving them a trial, after which their bodies were left to decay. They also looted private properties of the Kuwait people and also destroyed them completely. These atrocities also gave other nations the green light to come in and put end to the madness that the Iraqi army.28 Iraqis human violations had gone to another level which was not appealing to any nations and they were being unfair to Kuwait. West- West competition In the world, most of the developed countries have been known to compete, especially those of the west to prove who among them is powerful than the rest. For example, the United Kingdom and United States are known to be competitors. Therefore, during the Gulf war, it was very evident that the powerful countries were trying to take control of the war. During the cold war, Japan and Germany had emerged victorious; therefore the United Sates had to shine to proof that they were also super powers. Conclusion The above causes really brought many effects with them to people, the environment, and even the economies of different countries. For example, the war brought with it both physical and emotional distress to the victims, and even to those who participated in it like the soldiers. Some even went to an extent of having depression that has continued to affect them to this day. Some women were also raped during the war and later killed, and this shows the atrocities that people underwent.29 During any war whether it is within a state or between different states like the gulf war, the environment is usually affected negatively. During the Gulf War of 199, approximately 11 eleven million of barrels of oil were released to the gulf. Also, there were ship there sunk in the gulf and as a result, the ecosystem was destroyed due to the accumulation of wastes and contamination of ground water that had taken pale on a large scale. The air was affected the most, as there were fires and smoke that were produced by the explosives and weapons. These effects to the environment were so bad that they are still affecting the environment in Kuwait to date.30 Additionally, the impact of the gulf war has been felt by the economy especially the Iraq government. Before the Iraq government launched the assault on Kuwait, their economy was doing very badly, but they still went to fight. As a result, their infrastructure was destroyed and even their military equipments. This in reality will take years to build and a lot of money is involved. Iraq was not the only sufferer of the war; Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had their share of losses as some of their infrastructure was destroyed.31 In today’s world, war has become part of the human life and most of the time, soldiers are recruited generation after generation. Many people including the soldiers have died during these wars, but solutions are yet to be found so as to prevent such occurences. Most of the historians or those involved have sort to look for ways to look for peace, rather than embark on finding out the causes of the wars. War causes a lot of damage to the economy and the environment. As said earlier the Gulf war involved America and a coalition of 34 other countries who came to fight against Iraq who had launched an assault to Kuwait. The reasons for the war are of two; first, there were the reasons why Iraq launched the assault and second, there were those reasons that were from the opposition side by the American government and the coalition of armies. Some of the reasons that made Iraq go to war were such as the fact that they had the belief that Kuwait was part of their territory, but they had been denied that right by Britain. They also wanted to posses the oil fields of Kuwait as they had more oil than them, so they needed to get that access. Additionally, they wanted the Kuwait government to give them the oil field as compensation, but Kuwait had refused. The reasons that made America and other nations go to war were mainly to help Kuwait restore the peace of their country, despite the fact that there were other hidden motives, such as economic benefits as Kuwait produced a lot of well. Therefore, human beings should try their best to stop wars, as wars only lead to destruction. Bibliography Cashman, Greg and Robinson, Leonard C. An Introduction to the Causes of War: Patterns of Interstate Conflict from World War 1 to Iraq. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2007. Dogra, Aastha “Effects of the Persian Gulf War”, Buzzle, accessed November 26, 2013, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/effects-of-the-persian-gulf-war.html. Finlan, Alastair. The Gulf War of 1991. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2009. Freeman, Alan. “The Economic Background and Consequences of the Gulf War.” MPRA. Accessed November 26, 2013, http://mpra.ub.unimuenchen.de/9009/1/MPRA_paper_9009.pdf. Glossop, Ronald J. Confronting War: An Examination of Humanity's Most Pressing Problem, 4th ed. Jefferson: McFarland & Company Inc., 2001. Howard, Michael. The Causes of War and Other Essays. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1984. Pointon, Dugdale. “The Gulf War 1990/1991.” historyofwar.org. Accessed November 26, 2013, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_gulf1990.html. Sobek, David. The Causes of War. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013. Saylor.org. “Gulf war.” Saylor.org. Accessed November 26, 2013, http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Gulf-War.pdf. Read More