Conflicts, Humanitarian Intervention And Reconstruction A Report On The Outcome Of The Gulf War (Research Paper Sample)

CONFLICTS, HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION AND RECONSTRUCTION
A REPORT ON THE OUTCOME OF THE GULF WAR
By
Institution
A Report on the Outcome of the Gulf War
1 The Gulf War
1 Causes of the War
The Gulf War began in the 1991 when the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, a small country in the Middle East. Kuwait was initially a district under the Ottoman Empire, ruled by Islamic sheiks. The British were eager to separate Kuwait from the mainland Iraq controlled by the Ottoman Empire for economic and military reasons (Bailey, 2001). The British though faced an uphill task since the Kuwait Sheikhs were adamant to the change as they laid allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. The breakdown of the Ottoman Empire though allowed the British to exercise this intention, but the Iraqi administrators too were unwilling to let the territory slip from their jurisdiction (Bailey, 2001).
Additionally, Saddam Hussein claimed that the Kuwaiti administration stole their oil during the long war with Iran by side drilling into their border potion of the Rumailah oil field (Wojtysiak, 2001). The Iraqi administration requested the oil producing nations to reduce oil production in order to raise oil prices so it could pay its debt and aid economic growth (Bailey, 2001). Kuwait refused to adhere to orders from Iraq and instead increased production by 50%. This angered the Iraqi administration. Furthermore, the Kuwaitis refusal to forego the $14 billion debt owed to them by Iraq irked Hussein (Bailey, 2001). Saddam Hussein also had a desire to control the gulf in order to gain economic advantage and unite his people by having their loyalty and trust (Bailey, 2001). He eventually invaded Kuwait in 1990, forcing the United Nations to allow the United States and 34 other nations in removing Iraqi troops from Kuwait; a move dubbed the ‘Operation Desert Storm’ (Wojtysiak, 2001).
2 Mission Objective
The war the poor state of the economies of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan who were unable to rebuff Saddam Hussein’s activities in Kuwait contributed to the war (Bailey, 2001). The low regional resistance and concern allowed him to undertake his activities fearlessly. The invasion of the Kurds in northern Iraq prompted reaction from the international community due to use of chemical warfare on civilians (Bailey, 2001). The United Nations determined to use military force to remove Iraqi troops from Kuwait after several failed diplomatic attempts by Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and U.N. diplomats (Bailey, 2001). Additionally, this war enabled the U.S. to stop Iraq from raising oil prices and controlling the Middle East: something that would work against her advantage (Bailey, 2001). The war was mainly fought in Kuwait, where more than 750, 000 U.S. and other allied forces participated.
2 The achievement and impacts of the Gulf War
3 The achievements realized in the war.
The ‘Operation Desert Storm’ ended on 27 March 1991 due to overwhelming retaliation attacks from allied forces against the Iraqi forces (Dunn, 1997). The Iraqi troops suffered massive losses in troops, military equipment, and resources and retreated immediately after just a month at war (Lambeth, 1998). The allied forces led by the United States managed to regain the capital city of Kuwait from the Iraqi forces and restored the borders. As stated by Ender (2010), there were many casualties from the civilian and military sides, especially from the Iraqi side. The operation ended with over 85,000 Iraqi soldiers captured, leaving 1,000,000 of them dead (Ender, 2010). The Iraqi air force also suffered major losses from their planes shot down from the sky (Lambeth, 1998). In retrospect to the American tanks, destruction on Iraqi tanks was severe. They were Russian imports; exhibited a weapon storage system where the bombing compartment was located at the front. This was defenseless against the fiery enemy shells, which made light work of the conquest.
Politically, the then U.S. president George Bush was able to contain Iraqi president Saddam Hussein from undermining his foreign policy in the Middle East (Bailey, 2001). The Bush administration benefited massively from the arm trade with the Arabic nations in favorable oil deals outcomes. The control Saddam Hussein was to have in the region was detrimental to the success of the policy. Additionally, the move was important in stopping Saddam Hussein from acquiring nuclear weapons, which would endanger the lives of many and the peace of the region (Ender, 2010). Finally, the mission was important in freeing up Kuwait and forcing Saddam Hussein to acknowledge the sovereignty of the state of Kuwait.
4 The impacts of the achievements
The mission succeeded in freeing up the ravaged Kuwait and stopping the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds. The mission achieved in shifting the attention of the Iraqis towards self-defense rather than retaliation, which was almost impossible with the overwhelming impulse of the allied forces (Lambeth, 1998). Saddam Hussein faced massive economic and military lose that rescinded his efforts in acquiring nuclear weapons. The destruction of oil fields was also detrimental to the Iraqi economy chiefly relying on the oil business (Nina, 1997). Additionally, the destruction of the economy of Iraq slowed down Saddam Hussein growing resurgence in having a stake control in the politics of the Middle East (Bailey, 2001).
The war achieved in opening the perceived tensions between the U.S. and Soviet ties. The Iraqi government got most of its military supplies from the Soviet Union, and was a loyalty to the Soviet Union since the beginning of the cold war (Bailey, 2010). Contrary to the anticipated a souring of the US-Soviet ties, the Soviets condemned Saddam Hussein for invading Kuwait, a move aimed at rather softening its U.S. ties (Gumbel & Mossberg, 1991). The United States involvement in the Iraqi-Kuwait conflict was also a move to stop the animosity brewing between Iraq and Israel due to 39 missile attacks on Israel by Iraq (Bailey, 2001). The U.S. government was adamant in allowing instability to grow in the region especially after years of trying to bring peace. The U.S. government also received support from its population during the war, aiding in faster victory due to low internal pressure.
3 Challenges and failures of the ‘Operation Desert Storm’
5 Challenges of the operation
The key challenges faced by the allied forces in the Operation Desert Storm were the navigation of the desert. The seemingly plain nature of the desert geography made it difficult in the maneuverability of the missiles targeted at enemy forces, since most missiles use geographical features for navigation (Lambeth, 1998). The poor visibility due to sand storms was eminent from the onset. However, the use of Global Positioning Systems by the allied forces made it easier to manipulate their massive airpower and ground forces in making light work of Iraqi annihilation. The allied forces suffered many medical conditions generally referred as ‘Gulf Syndrome’. The exposure to oil fires, chemicals, and vaccination caused several body reactions such as nausea, muscle spasms, skin rashes, sleeping disorders, and memory loss among other conditions (Nina, 1997). Most of the war veterans exhibited these conditions, which the medical practitioners deemed as emotional withdrawal caused by the war, something that was then common to Gulf War participants.
6 Impact of challenges on the operation
The challenge experienced in the navigation altered the effect for the better. According to Lambeth (1998), the United States used their space capability to get real time information concerning weather, attacks, and enemy location. The use of the GPS assisted the airspace in bringing massive destruction on the enemy forces as it eased maneuverability. The soldiers did not immediately feel the health risk due to the exposure to pesticides, chemicals, oil fumes, and high temperatures (Nina, 1997). These challenges had little effects in changing the trend of the war as it ended in just over a month. The soldiers though felt these suffering several years after the end of the war, many of them feeling terming the conditions ‘unbearable’ (Nina, 1997). Consequently, the weakening of Iraq allowed the growth of Iran towards acquiring nuclear weapons, a move considered a thorn in the flesh to world nations, especially the U.S.
4 Lessons learnt from the Gulf War
7 Lessons from key successes
The Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Saber were effective because of the use of high-tech equipments. The U.S. had cruise missiles, stealth bombers, lasers-guided smart bombs, GPS, and state-of-the-art helicopters (Miller, 1991). The use of infrared bombing equipments with night vision capability made the operation highly successful. Therefore, the use of technology in warfare brought massive result even in very harsh conditions, and helped improve the nature and operations of the U.S. airspace. As posited by Lambeth (1998), new technologies found opportunities to undergo testing and use in the war, causing massive positive outcomes. Most of the military personnel got exposure in the war, putting a stance on the U.S. as a military powerhouse.
The Iraqi forces incurred a loss of up to a million soldiers and many others either injured or captured during the war. The diplomatic means were possible way of abating the loss instead of warfare. Saddam Hussein endangered the lives of many civilians and troops in exchange of political gain, leading to regional instability and warfare. Bailey (2001) stated how the quick reaction by the Arab nations in calling for international assistance shows the importance of having regional and international unity. The defeat of Saddam Hussein after his inversion of Kuwait calls for po...