Desert Storm

The 2nd Persian Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield, was a war that separated good vs. evil and what's right from wrong. It was the war that put the ravenous and dictatorial Iraqi president Saddam Hussein vs. the 41st American President, George H.W. Bush. It was the 1st major international clash since the end of the 1st Persian Gulf War a few years earlier (1980-1988). What many people don't actually know is: What events actually led up to and caused the 2nd Persian Gulf War?

There were three vital causes to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. First, Iraq had long considered Kuwait to be an element of Iraq and this claim led to several confrontations and continued hostility over time. For instance, in 1961, Iraq (Qasim was their president at this time) threatened Kuwait invoking old Ottoman claims. Kuwait was geographically located right on the border of the Ottoman Empire as either being under direct rule or secondary rule by the empire. The result of Iraq's Ottoman claim was that Britain supported Kuwait and Iraq backed down. In March of 1973, Iraq occupied as a border post on the Kuwait-Iraq border (Samitah). The dispute then began when Iraq demanded the right to occupy the Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan and Warbah. The result was that Saudi Arabia and the Arab league convinced Iraq to withdraw. Finally, in 1980-1988, Kuwait supported Iraq in the First Persian Gulf War with Iran, as did the United States. In addition, it can also be argued that because Saddam Hussein's attempted invasion of Iran was defeated, he sought easier conquests against his feeble southern neighbors.

Second, rich deposits of oil straddled the imprecise defined border and Iraq continuously claimed that Kuwaiti oil rigs were illegally tapping into Iraqi oil fields. Middle Eastern deserts make border delineation difficult and this has caused many conflicts in the region. Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein also resurrected old Iraqi claims to Kuwaiti territory. He declared that Iraq had annexed Kuwait, and that Kuwait would be known as Iraq's 19th province. He also claimed a historical justification for this attempt by saying that Kuwait was once part of Iraq. That claim was false, but unfortunately, the allegation was repeated so frequently that some observers began to wonder whether it had any basis in truth. At various times throughout its brief modern existence, Iraq had made two claims concerning Kuwait. It had stated that Kuwait was previously under Ottoman ruling and that Iraq inherited the right to rule Kuwait from the Ottomans. The second claim held that no border between Iraq and Kuwait was ever agreed upon.

The third major cause of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was the strained relations between Iraq and Kuwait that resulted from the fallout of the 1st Persian Gulf War. This battle began with an Iraqi invasion of Iran and degenerated into a gruesome form of trench warfare as the Iranians slowly drove Saddam's armies back into Iraq. Kuwait and many other Arab nations supported Iraq against the Islamic Revolutionary government of Iran, fearful that Saddam's defeat could herald a wave of Iranian inspired revolution throughout the Arab world. Following the end of the war, relations between Iraq and Kuwait declined; with a lack of gratitude from the Baghdad government for help in the war and the reawakening of old issues regarding the border and Kuwaiti sovereignty.

The events leading to one of history's shortest wars started on August 2nd, 1990 when the first Iraqi tanks crossed into Kuwait, as part of an invasion that claimed Kuwait in less than 24 hours. These tanks were ordered to invade Kuwait by Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi troops took money from Kuwaiti businesses and brutalized Kuwaiti civilians. Saudi Arabia began to fear that they may be invaded too, and on August 6th, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia formally asked President George Bush for U.S. military assistance. The U.S. promised to defend the Saudis, and President Bush declared that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait "will not stand". Great masses of troops from many different nations were ordered by the United Nations, to protect and serve in the Persian Gulf area. On January 16, 1991, the first aircraft with orders to attack Iraqi targets was launched from Saudi Arabia, marking the beginning of Operation Desert Storm. It was always international law that dictators like Saddam Hussein cannot be allowed to take advantage of smaller countries like bullies after lunch money. There has to be someone to stop them, or they will gain more and more power and land, just like the lessons that the world learned when Adolph Hitler did the same in World War II. That someone who was called on to stop Hussein was the United States, with help, eventually, from a multinational coalition.

The U.S. had just cause in entering a war against Iraq because of Iraq's invasion of the small and defenseless nation of Kuwait. Iraq had no just cause in invading Kuwait; the reasons were for their own benefit. Hussein wanted to control Kuwait because of the wealth it had in oil and also he wanted better access to the Persian Gulf. Another reason why the United States entered the war was because of the threat that Iraq might declare war on Israel. Israel is one of the United States' closest allies. Days after the invasion of Kuwait, the United Nations put an embargo on Iraq that prohibited all trade with Iraq except for medical reasons. At this point, all of Iraq's foreign relations were pretty much gone. Iraq had no allies. Following the announcement Iraq declared that they officially annexed Kuwait. At the same time, the U.S. were sending over the first batch of American troops who would be based in Saudi Arabia. Weeks later Iraq began to take any innocent foreigners who were based in either Kuwait or Iraq as hostages. They were all moved to Iraqi military bases and served as "human shields" to discourage any countries from attacking.

On August 25th, the same month in which all of this started, the United Nation Security Council authorized any military force needed in enforcing the embargo against Iraq. This eventually escalated to the decision by the Security Council to grant permission to the coalition of countries against Iraq, "to use all means necessary" to kick Iraq out of Kuwait unless the Iraqi forces did not pull out all their military forces by January 15, 1991. United States congress later voted on whether they would support the permission granted to them. They unanimously agreed. The vote was as good as a declaration of war, as far as legitimate authority is concerned. The January 15th deadline for Iraq was basically set so that the countries could rack up enough troops and develop a battle plan. The battle plan was not to destroy