The Effect and Aspects of the Gulf War on the Middle East

It’s the heat of the Gulf War: January 17, 1991, Congress has just given permission to the president, George Bush Senior, to wage war on Iraq. They want to put an end to the invasion of Kuwait for good, and to prevent Saddam Hussein from seizing the oil fields of Kuwait. Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president called the upcoming war “the great duel, the mother of all battles.” Bush said that “This will not stand this aggression against Kuwait.” But what was the Gulf War about anyway?

To learn more about the Gulf War Oil Spill, it is vital to know the context and background of this event. The Gulf War happened in a relatively short time period after the Iraq-Iran War, and was partially caused by it. Iraq had to make their oil expensive to pay off their debts from the war quickly, but also needed to keep up with the market, so they asked the surrounding countries, including Kuwait, to up prices by lowering production. During the war, Iraq amassed 30 billion dollars in debt to Kuwait, and proceeded to appeal to be freed of the arrears. Kuwait refused on both accounts, and it was clear they would be doing no favors toward their neighbor. Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait intentionally crippling Iraq’s economy and deliberately drilling oil in Iraqi territory. In response to this he sent soldiers to the border to guard it. Hussein criticized American foreign policy toward other Middle Eastern countries and several failed negotiations took place. The United States and Iraq were allies no longer.

Iraq deployed one-hundred men to fight and claim victory over Kuwait on the 2nd August 1990, a decision that had been in the making by Hussain for a few months. The battle included bombing Kuwait City by plane, sending in ground troops and flying comm...

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...ucceeded in this, although they lost many men in the course of the battle. Many countries and people who we would never expect to help us in the Coalition did, Egypt’s Bashar al-Assad being an example. The Gulf War strengthened relations between Kuwait, the United States and Saudi Arabia as the U.S. stopped or prevented war from occurring in both countries. The environment was also effected as the Iraqis created the Gulf War oil spill to prevent Coalition troops from arriving and the Kuwait Oil fires as punishment to Kuwait for overproduction and the war itself. The Gulf War is an event that has affected diplomatic relations heavily and will be remembered as one of the worst and most interesting wars in history.

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwaiti_oil_fires http://www.history.com/topics/persian-gulf-war