It is hard to pin-point a specific reason for the invasion of Kuwait by the Iraqis. Some charge the British of being unconcerned with middle east traditions when they carved up the present day Arab world ().
Others suggest the Kuwaitis flaunted their wealth in the face of many poorer neighbors ().
However, others think it was a natural result of Saddam Hussein’s “bully-like” nature ().
Regardless, there are several mishaps that took place between these two nations years prior to the invasion. These happenings are important to understanding Operation Desert Shield, the events leading up to the war and Operation Desert Storm, the war itself. To start, relations between Iraq and Kuwait have generally been tense in the past. This is due to the fact that Iraq has long considered Kuwait a part of Iraq since the 18th century (Lee 3).
Lee also informs that, this assertion was the cause of several confrontations and continual hostility prior to the gulf war. These encounters include when in 1961 Iraq threatened Kuwait and made claims of old Ottoman territory, which held Kuwait as part of Iraq. Great Britain, however, sided with Kuwait and Iraq backed down. In addition, in 1973 Iraq occupied Samitah, a border post on the Kuwait-Iraq border. Strife broke out when Iraq insisted upon occupying the Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan and Warbah. Despite disputes, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League were capable of convincing Iraq to withdraw. Lastly, in the first Persian Gulf War from 1980-1988, Kuwait supported Iraq in their fight against Iran. Nonetheless, despite support, relations between the two regressed as the war came to an end. It is argued that because of his defeat against Iran Saddam Hussein “sought easier conquests” of his weaker neighbor, Kuwait (3).
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... to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait, but was expelled by US-led, UN ... coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February ... capital is Baghdad. Climate: Iraq is located in the Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf between Iran and Kuwait, it is mostly ...
Another reason for the invasion falls upon the heavily debated oilrigs in these two Middle Eastern countries. Because of the ill-defined border, Iraq constantly accused Kuwait of “illegally tapping into Iraqi oil fields.” (Lee 3).
All things considered, conflict between these two countries appeared to be unavoidable. Controversy had been present for many years, the only thing they needed was a spark to light the fire and soon they would receive that spark. Saddam Hussein was the man who provided that spark and did so late in the summer of 1990. Iraqi tanks rolled across the Kuwait border on August 2, 1990 and quickly seized control of the tiny nation (Lee 3).
Saddam Hussein assumed that the United States and other nations would not interfere (Lee 3).
Saddam was wrong. Lee tells us that just days later the United Nations including the United States, ordered an immediate removal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. In addition, the UN members, began sending troops into Saudi Arabia within the week, creating a “world-wide coalition under UN authority” (3).
On October 31 Bush and his administration kept secret their decision to double U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia (O?Hara).
Then, on November 29 the UN Security Council decided that Iraq would have until twelve midnight on January 15, 1991 to pull out of Kuwait, and would permit use of “all means necessary” if Iraq did not remove themselves by this deadline (O?Hara).
This deadline was the day that inevitably determined if military action would begin. With just two weeks before the deadline, President George Bush continued to put pressure on Saddam by announcing: ” ‘There is not going to be a compromise with [Saddam Hussein]. That would be the worst signal to send around the world.’ ” (Lacayo 54).
As the deadline drew near it became clear that war was going to be unavoidable. Signs of Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait were unapparent. As a result, on January 12 the U.S. Congress authorized the use of force in Iraq (O?Hara).
On January 16, 1991 Iraqi forces still occupied Kuwait, despite the United Nations order (Discovery Channel).
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This meant war was just hours away. Accordingly, the United Nations and the United States stood firm on their decision to take aggressive action against Iraq. On January 16 coalition pilots in the desert were preparing for a massive air strike on military targets inside Iraq (Discovery Channel).
It?s purpose was to ?methodically take apart Iraqi?s military infrastructure? and begin Phase I of the war, code name Operation Desert Storm (Budiansky, 30).
The objective of Phase I was to take out the “head,” by destroying power plants, command buildings and communication networks inside Iraq (Discovery Channel).
At midnight on January 16, 1991, ten F-117 Stealth fighters left their secret base in Saudi Arabia and headed toward Iraq (Discovery Channel).
The critical mission of bombing the capitol city of Baghdad fell upon the Stealth Fighters (Discovery Channel).
However, before the F-117’s could begin bombing Hipatchi attack helicopters needed to knock out two radar stations on the Iraqi border, in order to create a blind spot (Discovery Channel).
Creating this blind spot would make it difficult for the Iraqi’s to detect the Stealth’s and easier for the Stealth’s to effectively hit their targets. At 2:38 a.m. the Hipatchi helicopters fired off a round of “hell-fire missiles,” beginning Operation Desert Storm (Discovery Channel).
As the Hipatchis struck their posts the first wave of Stealth fighters headed toward Baghdad (Discovery Channel).
Meanwhile, as the Stealths took position, the sky was filled with 700 planes from the United States, Great Britain, France and Saudi Arabia (Discovery Channel).
If the Stealth’s were capable of hitting their targets on schedule the Iraqi’s defense system would be extremely damaged and the risk for coalition casualties would be drastically reduced. At approximately 3:00 a.m. these planes attacked targets across Iraq, becoming the largest air strike in history and begginning the first night of fighting in the Gulf (Discovery Channel).
The Stealth’s very first mission lasted just three minutes, but proved to be indispensible. They it wiped out telephone exchange, communications centers, and many of Iraq’s military command headquarters in this first wave, throwing them into complete chaos (Discovery Channel).
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These attacks and attacks elsewhere, were joined by Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from ships in the Gulf (Discovery Channel).
However, Allied air forces had it somewhat easy. Surpisingly, Iraq’s highly-regarded Air Force was nowhere to be seen (Discovery Channel).
Except for some minor artillery shelling Iraqi’s offered litterally no defense or retaliation (Discovery Channel).
Their Air Force remained on the ground and anti-aircraft weapons were fired without guidance, just hoping to hit an attacking aircraft (Discovery Channel).
On this first night of fighting just one U.S. aircraft was shot down, and the pilot was listed as missing (Discovery Channel).
This was really quite astonishing considering that there were about 483 U.S. airplanes in the sky that night (Discovery Channel).
In conclusion, this first night of fighting was basically the breaking ground for the war. All in all, things went well for the coalition. For one thing, they showed Saddam that the world was not going to sit back and watch as he took over a vulnerable country. Furthermore, they diplayed the power and technology they possessed, making evident Mr. Hussein’s military did not stand a chance. Hence, this great technology was a primary reason for the ease in which the coalition took control of the air. By the start of the war, the Navy had six carriers in the Gulf, in addition to their bases within Saudi Arabia (Discovery Channel).
These bases and carriers were fully loaded with an extreme abundance of planes ranging from the older, yet capable A-6 bomber to the F-A 18 Hornet (Discovery Channel).
However, the most prestigous of these planes and the backbone to success in the war was F-117 Stealth Fighter. It was the most sophisticated and expensive plane the U.S. had at the time. Only 59 were ever produced, yet the total cost of building these great machines exceeded six billion dollars (Air Craft of the World).
Its expenses were partly due to its unique shape, which made it pratically invisible. It has a radar cross section of just one one-hundreth of a square yard, approximately the same size as a seagull (Air Craft of the World).
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The F-117’s were also loaded with “smart bombs,” which followed lazar beams to their targets and were capable of “hitting a target one yard square.” (Discovery Channel).
These bombs were the only bombs the Allies dared to use in heavily populated areas because they wanted to keep civilian casualities to a bare minimum (Discovery Channel).
However,General Chuck Horner, commander of the coalition Air Force, was worried about the Stealth’s Fighters performance (Discovery Channel).
The Stealth was making its debut in this war. Even though experiments and measurements had worked, the fact that the Stealth had never been tested in a major battle made its missions a dangerous risk (Discovery Channel).
The Stealth, nonetheless, soon proved it capabilities and became the most successful plane the coalition had to offer. Similarly, other high-tech air planes proved to be essential in the fighting. For example, the F-A 18 Hornet was a fast enumalutor plane that can not only “dog fight and drop bombs at supersonic speed,” but also hold up to 8000 pounds of bombs for a single mission (Discovery Channel).
The Hornet was very effective at quickly hitting its targets and escaping before defense attacks could begin. Another airplane, the “AWACS” (airborne warning and control system) was extremely important to the success of the bombers (Discovery Channel).
Pilots were capable litterally seeing everything in the sky. Thanks to the AWACS’ unique sensing system the coalition Air Force could spot oncoming threats from 200 miles away (Discovery Channel).
This is just brief listing of the advanced machinery the coalition possessed. Without this high-tech equipment victory for the coalition might not have been so clean and easy. In addition to this high-tech equipment, the coalition had a definite and stragetical plan for their attack on Iraq. Both Iraq and Kuwait were “divided into zones of attack, called killboxes.” (Discovery Channel).
Each “killbox” measured thirty by thirty miles in length. Then each of these squares were “subdivided into four fifteen by fifteen mile strike zones.” (Discovery Channel).
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Day after day aircraft from bases on land and at sea soared into these killboxes, hitting their specified targets (Discovery Channel).
Bibliography:
Works Cited Lee, R. “The History Guy: The Persian Gulf War (1990-1991).” 1999. http://www.history guy.com/GulfWar.html (22 Oct. 2000) O’hara, Scott. “Operation Desert Storm Chronology.” 1997. http://www.desert- storm.com/ (Jan. 2001) “Inside the Killbox: Fighting the Gulf War.” The Discovery Channel. 16 Jan. 2001
