Persian Gulf War. Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) US “tilted” toward Iraq

Persian Gulf War

Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)

• US “tilted” toward Iraq

How can the US aid a terrorist nation like Iraq?

Removed Iraq from the list of state sponsored

terrorist countries (1983)

US Helped Iraq during Iran-Iraq War

• Gave Iraq $200 million in arms– Set up credit and secret bank loans

• Approved shipments of biological agents for research, including anthrax

Problem: An Iraqi Frankenstein

• Iraq -4th largest army by 1991

Iraq invasion of KuwaitAugust 2,1990

Results of Iraqi Invasion

Oil Reserves

• Iraq = 10%• Kuwait = 10%

• Saudi Arabia = 25%

UN Resolution 660

• Condemned invasion and

said Iraq must withdraw from

Kuwait immediately

• Deadline:

January 15, 1991 War was a last resort option only

Operation Desert Shield

Troops (Persian Gulf War)• United States• Saudi Arabia• Turkey• United Kindgom• Egypt• Syria• France• Kuwait• Pakistan• Canada

• Spain

• Bangladesh

• Morocco

• United Arab Emirates

• Oman

• Niger

• Afghanistan

• Bahrain

• Czechoslovakia

• Netherlands

• Honduras

Ships, Planes, or Medical Units• Afghanistan

• Argentina

• Australia

• Belgium

• Canada

• Czechoslovakia

• Denmark

• Greece

• Hungary

• Italy

• Netherlands

• New Zealand

• Norway

• Poland

• Portugal

• Qatar

• Romania

• Senegal

• South Korea

International Support

Turkey• Access: Military Air Bases

Germany and Japan• Each $8 billion in aid

Congressional Vote

House

250 – 183

Senate

52 - 47

Narrow authorization for use of force against Iraq

General “Stormin’” Norman Schwarzkopf

Operation Instant Thunder January 17, 1991

• 109,876 sorties in 43 days

What Do You Bomb in War?

Bombing Targets

• A-A Facilities• Power Grids

• Communication Systems• Fuel Supplies

• Transportation SystemsColonel

“Mad John”

Warden

“Destroy enemy but not the people”

Live War Reporting

Circle of Error

World War II

Circle of ErrorPersian Gulf

Saddam’s Reaction

1. Lit oil fires in Kuwait.

2. Dumped a million barrels of oil into the Persian Gulf.

3. Launched SCUD missiles into Israel.• 39 fired, 74 killed

Ground War (February 23 – 27)

690,000 Troops (540,000 American)

Persian Gulf War Battles

• Battle of Khafi

• Battle of 73 Easting

• Battle of Norfolk

Battle of Medina RidgeFebruary 27, 1991

• US lost 1 killed and 4 Abrams hit• Iraq lost 186 tanks and 127 APCs

Dhahran Scud AttackFebruary 25

28 killed and 99 wounded

Iraqi Withdrawal

February 26

Kuwaiti Oil Fires

Iraqi Quitting or Regrouping?

B-52

StratofortressA-10

Thunderbolt

Easy Target?

“Sheep in a Barrel”

Highway of Death February 26-27, 1991

• Over 10,000 Iraqis killed• Over 2,000 vehicles destroyed• Used napalm, phosphorous, and incendiary bombs

– Outlawed by 1977 Geneva protocols

Highway of Death

Iraqi SoldierNapalm Death

Ground War = 100 Hours

Why the US did not invade Iraq?

“Whose life would be on my hands as the commander-in-chief because I, unilaterally,

went beyond the international law, went beyond the stated mission, and said we're

going to show our macho? We're going into Baghdad. We're going to be an occupying

power — America in an Arab land — with no allies at our side. It would have been

disastrous.“

-President George H. W. Bush (1998)

“And the question in my mind is, how many additional American causalities is Saddam worth? And the answer is, not that damn many. So, I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel

him from Kuwait, but also when the President made the decision that we’d achieved our objectives and were not

going to get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and

govern Iraq.”

Secretary of

Defense

DickCheney

Results of the Persian Gulf War

• Victory – “Kicked the Vietnam Syndrome”• Herby’s popularity -89%• Human Cost -148 killed, 458 wounded• Economic Cost -$7 billion (Total $61 billion)• Oil prices down• Powell Doctrine worked

The Recipe for Success:The Powell Doctrine

• Military action as a last resort

• Overwhelming / Disproportionate

Force

• Exit Strategy

Dan Quayle and “Potatoe”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTwAGmDLW4M

Kuwait

• Sovereignty

• Lit 732 oil fires

United Nations

• An international organization has stopped an aggressor for the second time.

• Korean War

Iraq

• Lost (Withdrew from Kuwait)

Iraqi Military (post war)(or what is left of it)

• Military Personnel– 100,000 killed– 300,000 wounded

• Military destroyed– 4,000 tanks– 2,140 artillery pieces– 1,856 APC– 7 helicopters– 240 planes

Iraq (Civilian Destruction)

• Electrical Capacity– 4%

• Water Capacity– 5-10%

• Harvard Medical Team– Over 170,000 Iraqi

children were killed as a result of the Persian Gulf War

Protected

Kurds (North)

Shiites (South)

No Fly Zones

UN Resolution 687Must fully disclose all chemical, biological, and

nuclear weapons.

• Destroyed over 100 Scuds, 70 tons of nerve gas and 400 tons of mustard gas.

Oil For Food Program

• Iraq can only exchange oil for food.