Transcript Gulf War 1990-1991 - History of American Journalism

Gulf War 1990-1991
by
Jack Hope
The Players
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Kuwait (invaded and occupied August 2, 1990 - February 27, 1991)
Iraq
– Saddam Hussein (Iraqi President)
• Palestine Liberation Organization (passive support of Iraq)
• Jordan (remains neutral, but ignores blockade of Iraq)
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United States (lead nation in UN coalition)
– George H. W. Bush (U.S. President)
– Colin Powell (U.S. Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff)
– Norman Schwarzkopf (Commander and Chief of the U.S. Central
Command)
• 25 other nations contribute troops to UN coalition
• Israel - persuaded by U.S. to stay out, despite missile attacks
Reasons for Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
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Slant drilling into Iraq by Kuwait
Debts owed to Kuwait by Iraq
Artificial borders established by British
Vague U.S. stance on Iraq-Kuwait disagreement
“-- we have no opinion on
the Arab-Arab conflicts --”
-- attributed to April Glaspie, U.S.
ambassador to Iraq before the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
Iraq invasion of Kuwait
• August 2, 1990, Iraq
invades Kuwait despite
on-going negotiations
with Arab states to
prevent war
• Kuwait, a small country
with no sizeable
military, fell quickly
Desert Shield
• UN resolution 660
condemns Iraqi invasion
• UN resolution 661
economic sanctions
against Iraq
• UN resolution 678
withdraw deadline:
January 15, 1991
• Meanwhile, coalition forces
move into position, including
over 500,000 U.S. troops,
mostly in Saudi Arabia
“This will not stand”
Desert Storm (the air war)
• Air war begins
January 17, 1991
• Bombs begin falling in
Baghdad during U.S.
national news broadcasts
• U.S. uses “stealth”
airplanes for the first time
• Cruise missiles, “smart”
bombs used, but majority
of ordinance “dumb”
• Iraqi pilots escape to Iran
Anti-aircraft fire over
Baghdad
Desert Storm (the ground war)
• Coalition forces enter Iraq and
Kuwait on February 22, 1991
• Thousands of demoralized Iraqi
troops surrender rather than
fight
• American armor decimates
elite, Iraqi Republican guard
troops
QuickTime™ and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
End of hostilities
• Saddam Hussein orders
Iraqi troops to set Kuwaiti
oil fields alight
• Retreating Iraqi forces
destroyed along the
“Highway of Death”
• Cease fire accepted on
February 27, 1991
• Ground war ended within
100 hours
An uneasy peace
• Saddam Hussein puts down rebellions in the Shia
south and Kurdish north
• U.S. sets up “no-fly zones” to prevent further Iraq
aggression against Shia and Kurds, though the
rebellions have already been effectively squashed
• UN sends weapons inspectors to Iraq numerous
times to locate Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass
destruction
• “Gulf War syndrome” afflicts veterans, causes birth
defects. Still under investigation.
Hindsight
"I would guess if we had gone in there, I would still have forces in Baghdad today.
We'd be running the country. We would not have been able to get everybody out
and bring everybody home.
And the final point that I think needs to be made is this question of casualties. I don't
think you could have done all of that without significant additional U.S.
casualties, and while everybody was tremendously impressed with the low cost
of the (1991) conflict, for the 146 Americans who were killed in action and for
their families, it wasn't a cheap war.
And the question in my mind is, how many additional American casualties is
Saddam (Hussein) worth? And the answer is, not that damned many. So, I think
we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when
the President made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and we were
not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and
govern Iraq.”
-- Dick Cheney
U.S. Secretary of Defense
1992
Bibliography
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_war
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Schwarzkopf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directional_drilling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Glaspie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOPvdIQwfUU
http://www.menzelphoto.com/gallery/big/kuwait8.htm
http://www.afa.org/magazine/jan2006/0106d_storm.asp
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Rusting_tank_at_the_Highway_of_De
ath_in_Iraq.jpg
http://www.kuwait-info.com
http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/printer_213.shtml