Desert Storm

Below is one of our free research papers on Desert Storm. If the term paper below is not exactly what you're looking for, you can search our essay database for other topics or order a custom essay.

Desert Storm

The 2nd Persian Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield, was a war that separated good vs. evil and what's right from wrong. It was the war that put the ravenous and dictatorial Iraqi president Saddam Hussein vs. the 41st American President, George H.W. Bush. It was the 1st major international clash since the end of the 1st Persian Gulf War a few years earlier (1980-1988). What many people don't actually know is: What events actually led up to and caused the 2nd Persian Gulf War?
There were three vital causes to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. First, Iraq had long considered Kuwait to be an element of Iraq and this claim led to several confrontations and continued hostility over time. For instance, in 1961, Iraq (Qasim was their president at this time) threatened Kuwait invoking old Ottoman claims. Kuwait was geographically located right on the border of the Ottoman Empire as either being under direct rule or secondary rule by the empire. The result of Iraq's Ottoman claim was that Britain supported Kuwait and Iraq backed down. In March of 1973, Iraq occupied as a border post on the Kuwait-Iraq border (Samitah). The dispute then began when Iraq demanded the right to occupy the Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan and Warbah. The result was that Saudi Arabia and the Arab league convinced Iraq to withdraw. Finally, in 1980-1988, Kuwait supported Iraq in the First Persian Gulf War with Iran, as did the United States. In addition, it can also be argued that because Saddam Hussein's attempted invasion of Iran was defeated, he sought easier conquests against his feeble southern neighbors.
Second, rich deposits of oil straddled the imprecise defined border and Iraq continuously claimed that Kuwaiti oil rigs were illegally tapping into Iraqi oil fields. Middle Eastern deserts make border delineation difficult and this has caused many conflicts in the region. Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein also resurrected old Iraqi claims to Kuwaiti...

Saved Papers

Save papers so you can find them more easily!

Join Now

Get instant access to over 180,000 papers.

Join Now