The Persian Gulf War: Its Origin and How It Progressed

The Persian Gulf War

The problems in Iraq began in 1979 when Saddam Hussein took control of Iraq. In 1991, Saddam Hussein started the Persian Gulf War by invading Kuwait. He accused Kuwait of stealing oil from the Rumain oil field. The crisis continued in August when Iraq, led by Hussein invaded Kuwait. A deadline was set for January 15, 1991 by the United Nations for all Iraqi forces to be out of Kuwait, but Saddam ignored the deadline. By January 1991, about 500,000 allied ground, air and naval forces form the United States, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, Egypt, Syria and France were faced against 540,00 Iraqi army. Allied forces continued their air and land attack until Iraq started to retreat. On March 3, 1991, Iraqi representatives accepted Allied terms of a provisional truce and signed a permanent cease-fire on April 6, 1991 and agreed to pay for the damage to Kuwait. By agreeing to the cease-fire, they also agreed to destroy their weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles with a range of greater than 150 kilometers and to destroy the facilities that produced them. It also calls for a UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) to ensure that Iraq was complying with the UN resolutions. This would by done by UNSCOM investigating and inspecting the weapons facilities. Also a UN peacekeeping team known as UNIKOM moved in to police the Iraq-Kuwait border. In addition, International forces set up a no-fly zone in northern and southern Iraq. The UN trade embargo remained in place after the war.

On June 1993, the United States launched a missile attack against Iraq in retaliation for a reported plot against former President George Bush. In October 1994, the United States, with the help of Britain and France, sent about 40,000 troops and more than 600 aircraft's in response to a buildup of Iraqi troops along the Kuwaiti border. A short while later, Iraqi soldiers were withdrawn from the borders. In November 1994, Saddam Hussein signed a decree formally accepting Kuwait's sovereignty. In 1995 and 1996 Iraq's economic crisis (resulting from the trade sanctions) continued to worsen. The UN voted unanimously for limited amounts of oil to be sold to meet its urgent humanitarian need. Hussein's interference with the UN weapon's inspectors nearly brought Iraq into another military crisis in early 1998. However UN Secretary General Kofi Annan negotiated an agreement that averted a military strike by the United States and its allies. Iraq continues to interfere with the UN weapons inspectors and on December 16, 1998, the United States and British forces launched a four-day series of air strikes on Iraq to punish them for not cooperating with the UN weapons inspectors.

On August 2, 1990, Iraq occupied Kuwait. A few days later, the UN Security Council instituted economic sanctions against Iraq. On November 22, 1990, the Security Council passed Resolution 678, which gave Iraq until the fifteenth of January 1991 to withdraw from Kuwait. If Iraq did not comply, the government of Kuwait were authorized to use "all necessary means" to uphold the council's resolutions. This led to the Persian Gulf War in which Iraqi troops were defeated. On April 3, 1991, the Security Council adopted Resolution 687, which established an immediate cease-fire. Resolution 687 also required that Iraq destroy all of its weapons of mass destruction including chemical and biological weapon, cessation of nuclear weapons and the acceptance of international inspectors to ensure these conditions are met. The United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was created to make sure that Iraq was complying with the conditions stated in Resolution 687.

On April 9, 1991, the Security Council adopted Resolution 689 which approved the plan for the establishment of the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM). UNIKOM was established to monitor the demilitarized zone along the Iraq-Kuwait border. The Security Council passed Resolution, 699 on June 17, 1991 that confirms UNSCOM and the IAEA have the authority to destroy, remove or render harmless weapons stated in Resolution 687. On August 15, 1991, Resolution 706 states that all oil products purchased from Iraq need approval from the Security Council. Resolution 707 passed on August 15, 1991 condemns Iraq's breach of agreement with the IAEA and demands that Iraq cooperate fully with IAEA's investigations. Resolution 712 passed on September 19,1991 requests that the first one-third of the account set up to provide humanitarian resources to the Iraqi people are released. On February 5, 1993, Resolution 806 affirms the necessity of the UN Iraq Kuwait Observation Mission shall be reviewed every 6 months. Resolution 949 on October 15, 1994 condemns Iraq's military deployments near the Iraq/Kuwait border and demand that Iraq returns military units to their original positions. In order to destroy Iraq's ability to wage war, the United Nations has implemented the hardest and longest sanctions in its history. Iraq has endured those sanctions for over seven years now. Along with the sanctions, the UN demand that Iraq allows inspection of its weapons facilities and to open it's secret research facilities. Iraq continued refusal to cooperate has stagnated into and endless circle now being played out.

In order to destroy Iraq's ability to wage war, the United Nations has implemented the hardest and longest sanctions in its history. Iraq has endured those sanctions for over seven years now. Along with the sanctions, the UN demand that Iraq allows inspection of its weapons facilities and to open it's secret research facilities. Iraq continued refusal to cooperate has stagnated into and endless circle now being played out.