A Brief Look at the Persian Gulf War

Introduction

Soldiers falling, bullets flying, tensions rising, the Persian Gulf War was a significant war in terms of modern American history. The Cold War was a time of unease throughout the nation, from the end of World War Two in 1945 to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. After the Vietnam War ended poorly in the early 1970s, the United States remained out of war for another 20 years. When Iraq was threatening to invade Saudi Arabia in late 1990, the United States knew it had to intervene. After roughly two decades without war, America did not know how it’s military ranked up on an international level, especially against an Iraqi military that was the second largest in the world (Smith 2013). Soon after the stockpiling of coalition forces in the Middle East, the invasion of Iraq began. Weakening targets first with naval strikes, the ground forces invaded the Iraqi forces and liberated Kuwait. As soon as it started, the war ended in favor of the coalition forces. Due to the excellent preparations prior to the war, the United States led a swift battle against Iraq, which led to a successful outcome and restored faith in American citizens.

Causes of the War

During the 1970s and 1980s the United States and their allies supplied Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship of Iraq with a massive arsenal of weapons such as missiles and tanks, and the supplies needed to create chemical and nuclear weapons. The entire goal of stocking the Iraqi military was to end Muslim extremism in Iran, which controlled the country at the time. The Iraqi military was brutal in its attacks against Iran using highly inhumane chemical weapons, and the war with Iran ended after 8 long years. Hussein was also known to attack the Kurdish people of Turkey with che...

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...onclusion

The Persian Gulf War was a success for the United States and reinstated the nation as the predominate world superpower. As stated by our veterans, the United States soldiers had to work together as a unit in order to defeat the Iraqi military. Even though the actual war itself was short, the preparations the United States exercised is what helped guide them to victory. The victory helped install once again that the United States is a world power when it comes to military forces. Due to the rough causes of the war, the duration of the battle was quick and led to a successful aftermath for United States soldiers. Through blood, sweat, and tears, the soldiers clawed their way through the severe conditions of the Persian Gulf War. The United States proved once again that freedom does not come free and the soldiers will do anything to protect their freedom.