Intro Iraq & the Persian Gulf War

Victory Parade for Operation Desert StormMilitary personnel carry a huge American flag through New York City during a ticker tape victory parade for Operation Desert Storm. Image: © Joseph Sohm; ChromoSohm Inc./CORBIS June 1991

Middle East Quick Quiz

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How much do you know about the middle east? 5 quiz questions1) Who created most of the

borders and countries of the Middle East?a. France and Englandb. Jordan and Syriac. Saudi Arabiad. The United Nationse. The United States

Middle East Quick Quiz

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How much do you know about the middle east? 5 quiz questions2) Which of following is Iraq?

A B

C D

Middle East Quick Quiz

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How much do you know about the middle east? 5 quiz questionsAnswers!!

1. A2. C

Iraq Basics Where?

Iraq BasicsWho? Ethnic Groups

A. Arab

B. Kurd

•2/3 of Iraq

•1/4 of Iraq•Own language & customs

Kurds

•Brutally suppressed in Iraq

Iraqi History

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A. British Mandate

B. British Backed Monarchy

•Post WWII British colony

•King chosen by England

C. DictatorshipsKing Faisal I of IraqOriginal caption: Death of King Faisal. Faisal, King of Iraq, whose sudden death is just announced.Image: © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBISDate Photographed: ca. 1930

•1958 Baath Revolution

Baath Party

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B. What does it do?•Secular (non-religious) government•Uses oil $ for government projects•Hussein begins to eliminate opponents

HUSSEIN CARD AS PART OF DECK OF 55 CARDS OF US CHARACTERS WANTED Reuters/CORBIS

That all changes with the Iran-Iraq WarIranian Revolution

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A. Why?•Pro-western Shah unpopular because of his alliance w/US & secret police

B. How?•Religious (Shiite) revolution

C. Results•Fear in most neighboring Middle Eastern countries, especially majority Shiite Iraq

Iran-Iraq War

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A. Iraq’s Goals:•Remove Iran’s leaders, gain oil-land, & make Hussein a hero to neighbors

B. How?•Long brutal war, including use of chemical weapons on both sides•UN creates a peace deal

C. Results•Iraq left with big war debt

IRAQ – KUWAIT CONFLICT

• Richard B. Cheney: Secretary of Defense, 1989-93

• George H. W. Bush: President, 1989-1993

• Colin L. Powell: Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1989-93

The end of Soviet Communism• 1989: Communist regimes fall in Eastern European states.• Berlin Wall opened in 1989, removed by 1990.

• 1990: Communist Party dissolved in Soviet Union.• 1991: Soviet Union dissolves, replaced by Commonwealth of

Independent States

• Fall of the Wall

• Boris Yeltsin, Russian President, 1991-1999

Change facilitates (& complicates) arms control• Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty),

signed 1990.• Limited offensive conventional arms held by Eastern and Western

states in Europe.• START Treaty, signed 1991.• Reduced total numbers of delivery vehicles and warheads in U.S.

and Soviet arsenals.

Fall of U.S.S.R. undercuts Communist efforts elsewhere• Nicaragua: peace negotiated between Sandinistas and contras

in 1987.• Sandinistas voted out of power in 1990.

• El Salvador: Peace negotiated between government and Marxist groups in 1990.

• Cuba: pulls troops out of interventions in Africa (Angola, Ethiopia, Namibia)

More trouble in the Persian Gulf

• August 2, 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait.• Kuwait “annexed”

Saddam Hussein, Aug. 8.• Aug. 5: Bush declares

will wage war to restore Kuwaiti independence if necessary.

Larger dangers• Unchallenged Iraqi occupation of Kuwait threatened:• Saudi Arabia• other regional Arab regimes• Israel

• Iraq also possessed chemical and biological weapons.

Operation DESERT SHIELD• Goal: Protect Saudi Arabia• Begins August 7, 1990.• Thousands of troops transported by air• Millions of tons of equipment and fuel transported by sea.

Diplomacy

• Bush Administration builds a coalition of 24 nations to confront Iraq:• 23 countries provide naval forces; 22 ground troops; 12 provide air

units• Other counties also help pay the bills:• U.S. costs about $60-70 billion – foreign contributions covered $50

billion (not counting services in kind).

The problem of Israel• The coalition included many Arab states.• Israeli participation would have complicated the position of

allied Arab governments, leading to their withdrawal from the war.

• Bush Administration successfully keeps Israel out of the conflict.

The Role of the United Nations• Bush Administration uses the UN as a forum to build and

maintain the coalition against Iraq.• Gets UN to impose various sanctions upon Iraq between

August and November 1990.• UN Security Council authorized use of force against Iraq if it did

not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991.

Increasing the commitment• October 1990: Bush wanted a plan to kick Iraq out of Kuwait.• Military planners fail to come up with convincing plans given

projected force levels.• November 1990: Bush increases number of U.S. troops to

facilitate offensive operations.

The Powell Doctrine• U.S. military action: • should be used only as a last resort.• only for a clear national security risk.• force, when used, should be overwhelming and disproportionate

to the force used by the enemy. • there must be strong support for the campaign by the general

public.• there must be a clear exit strategy.

U.S. manpower• 237,800 Reservists & National Guardsmen (& women) were

called to active duty during the Gulf War.• 40,000 in August• 187,000 between November 1990 and January 1991• 10,000 volunteered for active duty

H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.

• Commander, U.S. Central Command and of coalition forces in the Gulf.

The plan to attack Iraq• Month-long air campaign• Preliminary goal of destroying Iraqi air defenses.• Other targets included military and industrial facilities, first in

Iraq, then Kuwait• If needed, ground offensive would follow air operations.

The ground plan

Operation DESERT STORM• January 15, 1991: Ordered by President George H. W. Bush• January 17: air operations began• February 24: ground campaign launched• February 28: ceasefire and coalition victory.

High-tech air war

• Smart bombs, precision-guided munitions.• Advanced air control &

target acquisition systems.• New planes

Scud Attacks

• Iraq launches missiles at Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.• Coalition responds with “Great Scud Hunt,” sending planes and special operations units to locate and destroy these weapons.

“The 100-hour War”• Coalition ground forces blast through Iraqi defenses.• Highly effective artillery and air support.• Iraqi forces not as numerous or tough as anticipated.

• Failure: Republican Guard divisions escape.

“The Highway of Death”• Fears of public reaction to large numbers of Iraqi

casualties helps push for quick conclusion to hostilities.

Assessment

• Casualties:• US – 613: 146 killed, 467 wounded.• Coalition – 410: 92 killed, 318 wounded.• Iraqi – 12,000 killed, about 86,000 surrendered.

• Kuwaiti independence restored.• Iraqi strategic military capability devastated.

Problems for the future

• Saddam Hussein remains in power in Iraq.

Persian Gulf War (the 1st one!)Why?

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1.Iraq’s claimed to the land2. Claimed Kuwait was stealing oil (“slant drilling”)3. $ owed to countries Kuwait

4.Hussein thought no one would stop him

Persian Gulf War (the 1st one!)What happened??

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US invades w/full UN backing

•US bombs Iraqi military & civilian infrastructure•We make no attempt to hold Iraqi towns or capture Saddam HusseinDestroyed Vehicles Along Kuwaiti

HighwayDestroyed cars and trucks line Kuwait's "Highway of Death" during the Persian Gulf War. The name was given to the stretch of road leading north out of Kuwait City which, while clogged with retreating Iraqi forces, was furiously bombed by coalition forces, killing most on it.Image: © Peter Turnley/CORBIS

Persian Gulf War Pictures

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Kuwait Oil Well Fires from SpaceView from the space shuttle Atlantis of black smoke billowing from burning oil wells in Kuwait, which were set ablaze by retreating Iraqi troops at the end of the

Persian Gulf War.Image: Digital image © 1996 CORBIS; Original image courtesy of NASA/CORBIS

Persian Gulf War Pictures

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George Bush and Saddam Hussein on CNN Television BroadcastThe faces of the US President George Bush and the leader of Iraq Saddam Hussein on a CNN television broadcast during the Gulf War, 1990.

Image: © Zen Icknow/CORBISPhotographer: Zen IcknowDate Photographed:

January 1990

Persian Gulf War (the 1st one!)Results?

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UN Embargo & Oil for Food Program

Peace Terms:

•Iraq accepts border with Kuwait, surrenders all WMDs, destroys all WMD production capability•Iraq can sell oil in exchange for food & medicine

The Three Gulf Wars

The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988The Expulsion of Iraq from KuwaitThe Regime Change

Before the Iran-Iraq War• In the years after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War Iran, under the

Shah, was a US ally while Iraq was in the Soviet camp• Iran kept an eye on the USSR & OPEC• Iraq bought arms from the USSR

• Major changes in 1979• Saddam Hussein & the Ayatollah Khomeini gained power in Iraq

& Iran, respectively• The Soviet army rolled into Afghanistan

The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988• In 1980, Iraq broke the Baghdad Pact, invading Iran, expecting

an easy victory, finding more resistance than expected• In 1981, Israel bombed an Iraqi nuclear plant• In 1984, the USA, fearing victory by Iran, renewed diplomatic

relations with Iraq• The USA armed & trained the Iraqi army• Finally, stalemate in 1988

Impact on Saddam of US Aid• Transformed Saddam into a much stronger, even more

ruthless leader• Baathist power solidified, cult of the personality strengthened• The US had a hard time convincing Saddam to engage Iran in

the final battles that secured a draw—and a ceasefire• In short, we contributed enormously to the creation of a

nightmare

US Focus Remained on Iran• After the Iran-Iraq War, the US continued to focus on Iran

rather than Iraq• Despite Saddam’s massacre of 5000 in Halabja 3/17/88• Despite growing power of moderates in Iran• Operation Stanch: stop the flow of Iran• Around the Gulf to the other oil countries• Toward Israel

Status of Kuwait

• 1899 agreement with Britain• 1913 boundary with Iraq defined by Anglo-

Turkish Convention• 1938 oil discovered• 1976 government assumes control over oil• Monarchy with several levels of “citizenship” • Tight economic controls• 1990 April Glaspie: The US has no interest in Ira

q’s claim that Kuwait is part of Iraq

Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait

• Great celebrations among some Arabs, but not the other oil-producing countries

• Fear over the safety of Israel• Fear over the global supply of petroleum• Commitment to reverse a clear violation of international law• Unanimous Security Council support for forcing Iraq out of

Kuwait

Desert Shield to Desert Storm• In the fall of 1990 a global force gathered to

quarantine Iraq and if necessary evict Iraq from Kuwait• Iraq essentially capitulated but with considerable

casualties, retreating• Allied forces stopped short of Baghdad, having

achieved their official objectives• Security Council extracts acquiescence from Iraq,

imposing sanctions until conditions met

Iraqi Uprisings• Global forces encouraged Iraqi uprisings• Kurds rose up in the north, Shia Arabs in the south but not

supported externally• No fly zones established• Sanctions imposed• Food for oil program initiated• Saddam remained deeply entrenched• Civilians suffered miserably

Meanwhile in Afghanistan . . .

• Tradition of fiercely guarded independence• A pro-Soviet government, facing serious

resistance, “invited” the USSR to provide military assistance• The USSR rolled into Afghanistan late in

December of 1979• Resistance was serious• Resistance was aided by the US• Pakistan cooperated

Emergence of the Taliban

• 2 million Afghan refugees, mainly in Pakistan• Madrassas (Islamic schools) funded by the Saudis

in refugee camps• The Taliban (students) became a major military

force, eventually controlling most of the country• Al Qaeda emerged as a military force against the

USSR, worked with the Taliban• Repressive regime with a puritanical

interpretation of Islam, oppression of women

Emergence of Al Qaeda• Well funded, well armed, led by a charismatic leader, Al Qaeda

became a major force for change for disaffected Muslims, particularly Saudis

• Goals• End to sanctions against Iraq• USA out of Saudi Arabia• End of US support for the Saudi royal family

Al Qaeda Operations• Willing to use violent means to punish the US and other

enemies• 1993 truck explosion in the basement of the World Trade Center• 1998 attacks on US embassies in East Africa• Many attacks against India• The 9/11 attack

Requirements for a Just War• Just cause• Right intention• Proper authority & public declaration• Last resort• Probability of success• Proportionality• Just peace

War against the Taliban• Given support of Al Qaeda, a just cause• If the intention was to remove Al Qaeda &

establish just rule, the intention was just• Unprovoked attack provided the moral

authority• Last resort?• Virtually certain success at removing the

Taliban• Proportional to the attack on the US• Follow through with a just peace? Not yet

The Third Gulf War• New principle in International Law• Pre-emptive War: The Bush Doctrine

• Bush, Blair justification for attacking Iraq• Implicated in The Attack on America• Imminent threat to the region & world• Need to free the people of Iraq

• Opposition to the rush to war• Unwillingness to wait to gain UN support• Opening Pandora’s Box

Is the 3rd Gulf War Just?• Just Cause• Not part of the attack on America, not an imminent threat,

certainly a vile regime• Right Intention• Why concentrate on Saddam when bin Laden is still loose? What

if any part does oil play?• Proper Authority• Undercut international law by impatience with UN

Justice of the 3rd Gulf War (cont)• Last Resort• What was the big hurry?

• Probability of Success• Removing Saddam was the easy part• Establishing rule of law is more difficult

• Proportionality• Compared to other tyrants?

• Just Peace

Just Peace for the Middle East

• Given our willingness to go to war to change the Iraqi regime, we have an opportunity to change the facts on the ground• If we could establish a genuinely democratic

government we could change the region• How many countries should there be in Iraq?• How can security & justice be provided?• Are we in more or less jeopardy?• How will our actions now affect our jeopardy?