First+Gulf+War

Persian Gulf War __ Iraqi invasion of Kuwait __ Tensions between Kuwait and Iraq had been building several years before the actual invasion of Kuwait. There were two main reasons for the feud. Kuwait lent Iraqi approximately 15 billion dollars to fund their war campaign against Iran. Following the end of the war in August of 1988, Iraq was not in a position to repay Kuwaiti dept. This led to a lack of trust between the two countries. The second dispute arose between the two countries is when Saddam Hussein accused the Kuwaitis of slant drilling. Hussein believed the Kuwaitis were extracting oil from Iraqi wells through underground piping. These differences proved irreconcilable by the summer of 1990. On August second 1990 Iraqi troops invaded the country of Kuwait. Iraqi troops had over run Kuwaiti forces within two days of the invasion. Saddam Hussein declared Kuwait the 19h province of Iraq, and put his cousin in charge of the province. The international community as a whole was angered by the unprovoked invasion. Within two hours of the invasion Iraq had sanctions put on it by the UN and other countries. In the months after the invasion more than half the Kuwaiti population left the country.

__ Operation Desert Shield __ Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait the safety of Saudi Arabia was brought into question. American forces were deployed along the Iraqi and Kuwaiti border as a defense shield for a possible Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was one of the United States only allies in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is also home to the biggest natural oil reserves in the world and protecting them was a US priority. US and Saudi forces would make up the bulk of coalition forces involved in the event. __ The United Nations Resolutions __ Following the invasion the UN quickly denounced the act. They imposed a series of resolutions targeted towards Iraq. These included economic sanctions and other sanctions that would cripple the Iraqi trade economy. The most important resolution passed was resolution 678. This resolution served as an ultimatum for the Iraqi with drawl of troops from Kuwait. It stated that all Iraqi troops needed to vacate Kuwait by January 15th 1991. It authorized the use of military force if the Iraqis failed to cooperate. __ Coalition __ For diplomatic reasons it was important for the US to create a large coalition for the inevitable military action against Iraq. A large international coalition was important because the US didn’t want to be held solely accountable for any wrong doing. With this in mind they created a coalition consisting of 34 countries. The overwhelming amount of coalition forces came from the US, Saudi Arabia, England and Egypt.

__ Important Leader __ Important leaders during the Gulf War would begin with the leader of the Iraqi invasion, Saddam Hussein. He was the president of Iraq at the time of the invasion. He led all Iraqi military forces into Kuwait. The responses and resolutions from the UN were with the guidance of the Security Counsel and the General Assembly as a whole, which would have had to pass any resolution made for the war. Regarding the response of the United States, which was the _________ of George H. W. Bush, was based on not only the security of other countries but also for the reputation of the united states. General Norman Swarfkopf also made decisions, during the Gulf War the general for the United States army.


 * [|United State] || 697,000 ||  ||
 * [|Saudi Arabia] || 100,000 ||  ||
 * [|United Kingdom] || 45,400 ||  ||
 * [|Egypt] || 35,000 ||  ||
 * [|France] || 18,000 ||  ||
 * [|Syria] || 14,500 ||  ||
 * [|Morocco] || 13,000 ||  ||
 * [|Kuwait] || 9,900 ||  ||
 * [|Oman] || 6,300 ||  ||
 * [|Pakistan] || 5,500 ||  ||
 * [|Canada] || 4,500 ||  ||
 * [|United Arab Emirates] || 4,300 ||  ||
 * [|Qatar] || 2,600 ||  ||
 * [|Bangladesh] || 2,200 ||  ||
 * [|Italy] || 1,200 ||  ||
 * [|Australia] || 700 ||  ||
 * [|Netherlands] || 700 ||  ||
 * [|Niger] || 600 ||  ||
 * [|Sweden] || 525 [|[1]] ||  ||
 * [|Argentina] || 500 ||  ||
 * [|Senegal] || 500 ||  ||
 * [|Spain] || 500 on the field / 3,000 off the coast ||  ||
 * [|Bahrain] || 400 ||  ||
 * [|Belgium] || 400 ||  ||
 * [|Poland] || 319 ||  ||
 * [|South Korea] || 314 ||  ||
 * [|Czechoslovakia] || 200 ||  ||
 * [|Greece] || 200 ||  ||
 * [|Denmark] || 100 ||  ||
 * [|New Zealand] || 100 ||  ||
 * [|Hungary] || 50 ||  ||
 * [|Norway] || 50 ||  ||