Global Politics of the Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003 - Term Paper Example

Global Politics of the Gulf Wars of 1991 &2003 Rachna Jalan Global Politics of the Gulf Wars of 1991 & 2003 Introduction Both the Gulf Wars of 1991and 2003 took place mainly between Iraq and the United States (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). The first Gulf war between the two countries was the outcome of Saddam Hussein’s acquisition of Kuwait while the rationale for the second war was the response to the 9/11 attacks. Accordingly, the 1991 war and the 2003 war have been named as the Invasion of Afghanistan and the War against Terrorism respectively (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). Exploration of the records of both the wars put forward some of the interesting facts comprising of both similarities and differences between them. The 1991 Gulf War In 1990 the capture of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein not only strengthened his power to challenge Saudi Arab, a long-time ally of United States, but also enabled him to dominate in the Middle East oil (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Following this, till November the United Nations (UN) Security Council persistently insisted Iraq to withdraw its authority from Kuwait unconditionally by 15 January 1991 (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). In the meantime around 500,000 men of ground, air and naval forces were collectively prepared primarily from US, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, Egypt, Syria and France to combat an Iraqi army of around 540,000 fighters (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). On the expiry of the deadline, the world witnessed an instant action, the Operation Desert Storm, of the multinational coalition under the supervision of US General H. Norman Schwarzkopf (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Within the next 24 hours the military target of Iraq and Kuwait were attacked by conventional weapons as well as modern weaponry like laser-guided bombs and cruise missiles (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Iraq’s command and control centers were rendered inoperative, communication links between Baghdad and army in field was broken besides seizing Iraq’s infantry (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Among the Iraqi aircrafts, some were blasted, some met bombings in shelters while the rest fled away to Iran (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Iraq used “Scud Missiles’’ on Saudi Arabia and Israel. U.S promptly countered the attack with “Patriot” antimissile Missiles and caused a lot of damage to Iraq’s warheads (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). This time Iraq had no alternative but retreat, as its military and civilian casualties were mounting (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). In the process, it put forward a series of conditional offers mediated by the Soviet Union which were outright rejected by the U.S lead coalition forces (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Instead, they came back strongly with air-land attack that breached Iraq’s main line of defense at the Saudi-Kuwait border and simultaneously cut-off the retreat point for Iraq i.e. they attacked the Southern part of Iraq and disposed-off Iraq’s main backup force (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Within 100 hours, Iraqi soldiers flee out of Kuwait and tens of thousands of them were killed, captured or surrendered in the hands of the mighty allied forces (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Later, Iraq had no option but to accept the terms set by the U.S lead allied forces and do a permanent cease fire on April 6 (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). They had to agree to pay the compensation for damages they had caused to the city of Kuwait (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Also, reveal the locations of its inventory of chemical and biological weapons and eliminate its weapon of mass destruction (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Problems continued for Iraq and this time the problem was at home. Kurds and Shiites community in North and South Iraq staged an uprising against the Husain’s regime and its anti-human policies (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). This time U.S decided to adopt the policy of “Isolation and Containment”, but to keep a close watch. British and U.S aircrafts patrolled over the “no-fly” zones in North and South Iraq to prevent Saddam’s government from taking any aggressive steps against the rebellions (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). As the time passed, Iraq neither saw economic growth nor any major developments in their line of defense equipments due to international sanctions imposed upon them and close vigilance by the U.N weapon inspectors (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). When Iraqi intransigence made effective inspections impossible, the British and U.S warplanes came back in December 1998 and devastated the suspected nuclear, chemical and biological weapon facilities and other targets (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). These attacks parallely brought in change in U.S policy on Iraq i.e. from “containment of Hussein” to “regime change” in Baghdad (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). The 2003 Gulf War Inauguration of George W Bush in January 2001 brought further change in the American policy towards Iraq (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Some high ranked officials of the new administration influenced this policy change who were directly involved in the 1991 conflict, for example Vice President Dick Cheney has been secretary of defense during the first Gulf conflict. Terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda on the World Trade Center in September 2001 confirmed the preemptive stand in dealing with perceived threats to the National Security (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Hussein attacks exposed the use of chemical, biological weapons which was a clear indication of him having nuclear warheads (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). It was also suspected that he was constantly promoting terrorism and had high level tie-ups with terrorist groups that were on U.S hit-list. Iraq by virtue of its geographical location and huge oil resource has become a high-priority target for U.S (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). This time the 2003 war was different from the 1991 war that was a multinational response to the conquest of a sovereign state (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Therefore, this time the international support towards U.S was highly debated and thus limited (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). As before, U.K and Australia committed their full support to U.S to which many countries like France, Germany and Russia strongly opposed (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). There was no turning back and by the end of February 2003, 150,000 U.S. troops and 35,000 British soldiers formed the part of the allied forces and moved into the Persian Gulf Region (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). This time the soldiers were much less in numbers but more mobile, sophisticated and technologically advanced that made them powerful against the Iraqi force that was weaker than the Gulf War (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). They had very limited technological know-how in comparison to the allied forces due to the international sanctions that were imposed on them (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). On March 17, tens of thousands of U.S. troops were moving into position when the American President George Bush demanded that Hussein and his sons leave Iraq within 48 hrs of the deadline (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). To this Iraq was unmoved and Hussein decided to stand strong on his conviction (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). When Iraq disobeyed the command, two days later the U.S. and the Allied Forces launched Operation Iraqi Freedom under the command of General Tommy Franks (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Now it was just matter of time and the Allied Forces raced into the Iraqi territory securing the Oil fields and other key objectives (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Meanwhile, the allied air attacks ensured seamless attack on the anti-aircraft defenses with the use of precision weaponry v They attacked the concentration camps of defense vehicles, artillery and personnel and striked important buildings that were reported to be the strategic hideouts of the top Iraqi leaders(“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Iraq fought bravely and harassed the supply lines of the U.S and the Allied forces with series of suicide bomb attacks (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). By April 9th the Hussein government has vanished and looked pervasive (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Subsequently, the American Forces with Kurdish fighters entered the strategic location to the North of Iraq i.e. cities of Kirkuk and Mosul (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Gradually, the Allied forces moved closer to their objectives and captured the city of Tikrit that is said to be Hussein’s stronghold and main action area (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). By April 15th Bush Government declared that the Hussein leadership had been uprooted from Iraq and later proclaimed that “major combat operations” has come to an end (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). 1991 War vs. 2003 War The principle opponents of both the Gulf Wars have been Iraq and the United States (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). The 1991 Gulf War also known as the Invasion of Afghanistan was the outcome of Saddam Hussein’s capture of Kuwait and dominance in the Middle East oil (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). On the other hand, the 2003 Gulf War also known as the Second Gulf War was primarily the result of the 9/11 terrorists’ attacks (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). “The perception of those aims, of course, is the biggest difference.” (Parrish 2003). It was believed, “The 1991 effort to liberate Kuwait was presented as a reactive police measure;” (Parrish 2003). Rationale for invading Iraq was a response to Osama bin Laden’s attacks along with providing independence to the Iraqis (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). The US government strongly believed Iraq to have intimate collaborations with Al-Qaeda (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). The war was considered indispensible by the US government on the grounds of Iraq’s active involvement in encouraging weapons especially nuclear bombs for massive destruction of mankind and peace (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). Many 2003 war’s patriots named it as a war against terrorism (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). A fundamental difference has been observed around the two war periods. The post-1991 war period witnessed a Containment Policy with Bill Clinton as the president of the United States (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). However, with the advent of George Bush before the 2003 war, a considerable shift towards “regime change” was noticed (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). Another, crucial factor which differentiates between the two Gulf Wars has been the support of the United Nations. In the 1991 war, an active participation of UN was witnessed providing strong base to the United States (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). However, US had no backing of the UN during the 2003 war (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). Further, it has also been said that the 1991 Gulf War received a lot of support while the 2003 War faced a lot of criticisms on the belief that George Bush and Tone Blair have intentionally composed evidence pertaining to Iraq’s weapons, programmes and links to terrorists (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). “Unlike the first Gulf War, America’s military strike was and has remained unpopular in almost every other country in the world. In Europe, in East Asia, in Latin America—not to mention the entire Muslim world—anti-American and anti-war sentiment actually increased during the war,” (Parrish 2003). In the 1991 Gulf War Iraq’s opponents were US, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria and France while the 2003 war witnessed the battle between Iraq and US, UK, Australia, Poland and Denmark (“2003 invasion of Iraq” 2008). Moreover, the earlier war was responsible for 100,000 Iraqi military dead and among the Americans, 148 were killed in action, 458 wounded besides 121 dead through non-combat incidents (“The Persian Gulf War” n.d.). The last Gulf War accounted for above 20,000 Iraqis deaths and 138 American deaths and 542 injuries (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). In both the wars Iraq faced defeat. The outcome of the 1991 Gulf War has been expressed as, “Despite the crushing defeat and subsequent Shiite and Kurdish rebellions, Saddams government retained a strong grip on power in Iraq.” (“The Persian Gulf War” n.d.). On the other hand, the 200 Gulf War ended with Saddam Hussein’s loss of power (“The Third Persian Gulf War” n.d.). The consequences of the 1991 Gulf War was the eradication of Iraqi troops from Kuwait while the second Gulf War of 2003 ended with the extinction of the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein followed by the acquisition of Iraq by the United States along with its allies (“Persian Gulf Wars” n.d.). Conclusion “Comparisons between 1991 and 2003 suggest that despite the emotional burden of having watched a war unfold over their objections, and as polls register solid and increasing pro-war sentiment, more among this generation of peace activists will be in it for the long haul. Activism itself has changed; with the Internet, activists are much more aware of and connected to each other and to the rest of the world.” (Parrish 2003). From the above discussion one can very well acquire an idea of the both the Gulf Wars between Iraq and US and can conveniently draw a line between them. Bibliography Parrish, Geov. (2003). “What’s Next: Across the country, legions of newly motivated anti-war activists now turn … to what?”. In These Times, http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/584/whats_next/, accessed 5th Apr 2008. “Persian Gulf Wars”. (n.d.). Encyclopedia. History.Com, http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=219006, accessed 5th Apr 2008. “The Persian Gulf War: 1990-1991”. (n.d.). The History Guy, http://www.historyguy.com/GulfWar.html, accessed 5th Apr 2008. “The Third Persian Gulf War (2003-Present)”. (n.d.). The History Guy, http://www.historyguy.com/GulfWar2.html, accessed 5th Apr 2008. “2003 invasion of Iraq”. (2008). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq, accessed 5th Apr 2008. Read More