Course, Practices and (some) Effects of the Gulf War

Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm- Timeline 1990/1991 2nd August- Iraqi invasion of Kuwait

8th August- US begins troop build-up in Saudi Arabia

10 August- Arab League condemns the invasion of one Arab country by another. Kuwaiti liberation coalition begins to form.

12th August- Saddam proposes conditions for withdrawal (Israeli to withdraw from Palestinian occupied territories, Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and the US to withdraw from Saudi Arabia)

28th August- Kuwait officially declared 19th province of Iraq

29th November- UN Security Council resolution passed (opposed only by Cuba and Yemen) that authorized military action if Iraq did not withdraw from Kuwait by the 15th of January

15th January- Iraq failed to meet UN deadline

16th January- Operation Desert Storm commenced (first part was an air campaign)

24th February- Land operation began

27th February- Kuwait liberation, Gulf War finished

Why did the UN win?

Timing- Because the Cold War was coming to an end, the US still had a full-strength military that had yet to be downsized. Equally, the global mood in 1990 supported a united response.

US technological superiority

Saddam’s mistakes

UN coalition technological superiority

Stealth fighters - F-117A Nighthawk

Space Systems- GPS, Satellite imagery

Tanks- US M1A1 and UK Challenger Tanks

PGM (Precision-Guided Munitions)- Tomahawk Missiles and ‘Smart’ Bombs

Nightvision devices

These new technologies allowed around-the-clock bombing campaigns of Iraqi military and communications infrastructure that were far more efficient that during the war in Vietnam because of PGM and space systems. There was also a significant decrease in collateral damage.

Saddam’s mistakes Underestimated US/UN commitment to liberate Kuwait

Failed to seriously negotiate a diplomatic solution when given the opportunity

Failed to seize offensive initiative by not attack Saudi Arabia in the early stages of Operation Desert Shield

Committed Iraqi troops to defensive entrenchment in Kuwait, promising the ‘mother of all battles’

Similar to above, underestimated impact of US technology (a product of the 1980’s Cold War era) and believed he could force a war of attrition

Left some elite troops in Iraq to defend the regime

Only clear strategy were SCUD missile attacks on Israel which were designed to provoke Israeli retaliation and break up the Arab coalition

Effects

More UN coalition troops died from illness or accidents than at the hands of the Iraqi military

During their retreat from Kuwait, the Iraqi military set alight 600 oil wells and dumped 400 million gallons of crude oil into the Arabian Gulf to prevent an amphibious invasion of Iraq

Damage to Kuwait estimated at $30 billion Kuwaiti society became more conservative, despite the restoration of the Kuwaiti parliament

Impact on Islamism

Presence of US and Western troops fueled Islamic radical resentment

Al Qaeda founded in 1991

Car Bombing of World Trade Center in New York in 1993

Attack on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998

Attack on the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen in 2000

9/11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001

Effects on the Middle East The Middle East remained extremely divided and there was not a move to

democracy as hoped

Palestinians, Yemenis and Sudanese evicted from Kuwait because of their governments’ support for Iraq

Yasser Arafat politically weakened and, together with the leading role the US was now playing in the region, the Palestinian peace process was given a significant boost, leading to the Oslo Peace Accords of 1993

Impact on Iraq

Iraqi infrastructure ‘relegated to a pre-industrial age’

Saddam survived Shi’a and Kurdish rebellions

US did not invade Iraq, partly because UN resolution did not give authorization, but also because they wanted Iraq to remain a counter-weight to Iran in the region

UN sanctions, including on Iraqi oil exports, were passed until he was completely transparent on his WMD programs

Iraqi people suffered the most as infant mortality trebled and life expectancy fell by 15-20 years

US and UK suspicions of Iraqi WMD programs led to 2003 invasion