+ 1-888-787-5890  
   + 1-302-351-4405  
 
 
 
 

Essay/Term paper: Persian gulf crisis

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Society

Free essays available online are good but they will not follow the guidelines of your particular writing assignment. If you need a custom term paper on Society: Persian Gulf Crisis, you can hire a professional writer here to write you a high quality authentic essay. While free essays can be traced by Turnitin (plagiarism detection program), our custom written essays will pass any plagiarism test. Our writing service will save you time and grade.



Persian Gulf Crisis

Persian Gulf Crisis, 1990-1991: How Saddam Hussein's Greed and Totalitarian
Quest for Power Led to the Invasion of Kuwait, World Conflicts and the
Degredation of Iraq

Joseph Stalin. Fidel Castro. Adolf Hitler. Saddam Hussein. These names
are all those of leaders who have used a totalitarian approach to leading a
nation. Stalin and Hitler ruled in the early to mid-nineteen hundreds. Like
Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein is now. Saddam Hussein belongs to the Baath Party
of Iraq. This party adopts many techniques similar to those used by Stalin and
Hitler. Saddam Hussein conceived a plan to invade Kuwait. It was, perhaps, one
of the worst mistakes he could have made for his own reputation and for his
country. The invasion of Kuwait as well as the world's response to it, the
environmental disaster it caused, and the degradation of Iraq were completely
the fault one man and his government: Saddam Hussein and his Baath Government.

One of Hussein's weaknesses is negotiating. Negotiating in his terms is
to fight it out with as much carnage as possible until his side comes out
"victoriously". Repeatedly, Saddam and his government break international
convention laws. During his war fought with Iran, the Iraqi army used chemical
weapons on the Iranian troops and even on their own Iraqi population. This was
seemingly overlooked by the rest of the world because most nations didn't want
to see the Ayatollah's Islamic revolution rise. Iraq often obtained foreign arms
support from other nations because of this. It wasn't until the invasion of
Kuwait that the rest of the world seemed to realize the danger that Iraq posed
to its own people and to the Arab states surrounding it. Through poor planning,
Saddam Hussein made three major mistakes that enabled an easy defeat of the
Iraqis.

The first mistake was that he captured all of Kuwait at the same time,
instead of leaving it as a border dispute. This might have kept it from becoming
an international affair. The second error was that Hussein positioned his
troops too close to the Saudi Arabian border. Because of this, other nations
feared that Saddam's aggression was endless. The third mistake was that Hussein
miscalculated the world's response. He overestimated the Arab "brotherhood" and
by doing so, didn't realize that the rest of the world would try to stop him. He
also overestimated his own country's military power, and believed that he could
annihilate military superpowers like the United States, Britain and France.

Saddam Hussein's ultimate dream was to possess a nuclear bomb. Most of
the world believed that Iraq didn't have the resources and materials to
manufacture one. Despite a failed attempt at building two reactors in the late
seventies, Saddam was determined to hold nuclear capability. He tried again in
1989 to purchase three high-temperature furnaces from a New Jersey company,
claiming that they were to be used for prosthetic limbs for Iran-Iraq war vets.
The deal was called off after the company, Consarc, was warned by the Pentagon.

Despite this, Iraq was still rich with weapons. Between 1975 and 1990,
this Arab nation had spent $65 billion in arms [Macleans, June 3, 1991]. In the
five years before the Kuwait invasion, Iraq was one of the world's largest
purchaser of arms. In those five years, Saddam had bought ten percent of all
weapons sold around the world. By 1990, Hussein's Iraqi army had 5,500 tanks
(mainly Russian), 8000 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), thousands of various
missiles (ground-to-air), 70 MiG 23s, 25 MiG 29s and 15 Su 24s [Outlaw State,
page 89].

Saddam's quest for power by now was almost complete, except for nuclear
capabilities and a naval power. Most of this support of foreign arms came during
the Iran-Iraq war, against the Ayatollah's Islamic revolution. $500 million of
the $65 billion was spent on high-tech equipment purchased from the United
States. It is ironic that some of the missile sites that were set up by the
United States would later become bombing targets during the Gulf War, in 1991.

There were two primary reasons that Saddam Hussein wanted to invade
Kuwait. The first reason was so that Iraq would have a navy and eventually be
classified as a naval superpower because Kuwait situated on the Persian Gulf.
His quest for power would nearly be fulfilled by doing this. Hussein thought
that Iraq would be unstoppable with a navy. The other reason was that the oil
fields could greatly improve the Iraqi economy that had suffered during the
Iraq-Iran war.

It is at this point that his greed comes into picture. Since most
industry had to be stopped during this war, Saddam had a reason to develop a new
military industry. The citizens were glad to support this because of a strong
sense of nationalism that had developed after an Iranian "defeat." New missiles
were developed including the Scud.

Despite the weapon industry flourishing, the economy became increasingly
worse. Many Iraqis had travelled to Kuwait, which was a country left virtually
unscathed after the Iran-Iraq war. They realized what the Kuwaiti "oil-money"
could buy, for Kuwait had one of the best incomes per capita in the world. Its
major cities were similar to those in North America (such as New York, Los
Angeles and Toronto). A feeling of jealousy arose from this. Kuwaitis were
buying Iraqi land very cheaply because of the crumbling economy. All foreign
purchases of land would soon end.

By the end of 1988 Iraq had defaulted on loan payments to the United
States, Canada, Australia and Britain. They were being rejected time after time
for credit. Saddam required a large and quick influx of money. There was only
one way that Hussein thought that this could be accomplished - to invade Kuwait.

2:03 a.m. August 2, 1990 ... Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. A massive
force of 120,000 troops, 1000 tanks, 900 Armoured Personnel Carriers and Mi-24
Hind attack helicopters were used [Beyond the Storm, page 100]. It was all-out
use of military power that showed little mercy. There were many more forces than
were needed to take this small country. The reason for this, (besides Saddam's
power-hungry characteristics), was that the Iraqis were disillusioned after it
took longer than expected to defeat the Iranians. Hussein was basically doing
this to ensure that the Kuwaitis could not resist. Five days before the
invasion, satellite pictures picked up the formations of Iraqi troops.

Foreign officials had been phoning Baghdad asking for an explanation to
this massive deployment of troops. Hussein insisted that it was merely routine
seasonal exercises and he had no intention of invading Kuwait.

Global conflicts had already begun because of this. The United States
Treasury Department ordered a freeze of all Iraqi and Kuwaiti assets in the
United States (which totalled over $30 billion [Times Magazine, Aug. 29, 1990].
Russia not only did the same but cancelled all future arms sales to Iraq. This
greatly put a hole in their income but the decision gained respect from other
leaders world wide. The United States fell under pressure trying to reach other
foreign leaders before Saddam did. Fortunately, President Bush won this race and
received nearly unanimous support from foreign leaders. Soon after, in the early
months of 1991, the new league of nations formed by the United States gave
Saddam Hussein an ultimatum: either get out and have a chance to survive or stay
in and suffer the consequences of war. He chose to stay, thinking that his
country would come out victoriously against the rest of the world. Little did
Saddam know that choosing to stay would cause Iraq to crumble even more and lead
to disastrous effects on the environment.

Then came the hundred hour ground war. This completely annihilated the
Iraqi strategic capabilities, it's missile sites, arms factories and advancing
forces. The allied forces flew approximately 100,000 sorties, that averages out
to one bombing run a minute throughout the whole campaign [Beyond the Storm,
page 91]. This month long air campaign broke up the fighting capability of the
Iraqi forces and their morale. When the air attacks did not cause a Kuwaiti
withdrawal, the ground attack began. By surrounding the Iraqis in the desert,
many surrendered. The ones occupying Kuwait City tried to flee but were gunned
down by allies as they tried to leave the city. It was defeat for the Iraqis.

As some of the Iraqi troops left Kuwait, they torched 600 of Kuwait's
950 oil wells [Outlaw State, page 139]. Black smoke dimmed the sun all the way
to Saudi Arabia and Iran. Black rain fell in the Middle East for months, even
after all the well fires had been put out. Millions of gallons of oil had been
spilled into the Persian Gulf. Wildlife was killed off. Fish died, birds died,
plants died. The oil present in the Gulf was over 250% more than that in Alaska,
years ago [Outlaw State, page 72]. The coastlines were destroyed, covered in
thick black oil. The oil was so concentrated that in some areas of the gulf the
oil was over a meter thick. The coastlines were littered with mines intended to
defend against an attack by the United States Marines that never came. Bodies
littered the streets of Iraq and Kuwait. There was a great rebuilding process
ahead for the Kuwaiti and Iraqi economies.

By invading Kuwait, Saddam had broke promises to three distinct peoples.
To his own people, to his Arab "brothers" and to the rest of the world . He had
promised his citizens of Iraq a better life after the long war with Iran. He had
also promised economic stability. Instead Saddam gave his people unemployment, a
war that destroyed their country, crushed nationalism, and a broken economy. To
his Arab brothers he promised that Iraq would lead them to greatness and develop
a military power that would equal Israel. His military visions led to Arab
attacking Arab on the battlefield. To the world he broke international law after
international law. He repeated himself that he would not invade Kuwait. Many
world leaders believed him and thought of him as a reliable trading partner
until this war.

This proves to many that the Hitlers and Stalins of the world are not
gone from the global scene. Saddam Hussein is a modern day figure modeling these
two. All the negative outcomes of the Persian Gulf crisis were either directly
or indirectly his fault. Unfortunately, Saddam Hussein is still the leader of
the now-crumbled country of Iraq. No doubt he will be looking for another quick-
fix to the economic problems Iraq must currently possess. Hopefully, it is not
the same method he used in the invasion of Kuwait.



 

Other sample model essays:

Humans Soon to be Extinct... Say it ain't so!! by Ryan Shoquist English 121 Dr. Gilliard November 23, 1996 Table of Contents Abstract.....................................page Bo...
Society / Hurricanes
Hurricanes Hurricanes get their start over the warm tropical waters of the North Atlantic Ocean near the equator. Most hurricanes appear in late summer or early fall, when sea temperat...
Hydrogen: The Fuel of The Future By: Json Why are we as Americans so afraid to change? even if it is a change for the better? the world has been using oil coal and other petroleum pro...
Society / Hydroponics
Hydroponics Introduction NAME HERE and I became fascinated by hydroponics and the idea that one doesn't have to get their hands dirty to be a great gardener, and if your like us that's a ...
Individual Organization Behavior US. Army company A 204th Engineer Combat Battalion Heavy Chapter 3: Foundations of Individual Behavior Table of contents: ΠIntroduction. a. Descrip...
Integrated Pest Management Integrated pest management (IPM) is a recently developed technology for pest control that is aimed at achieving the desired control while reducing the use of pestic...
Endangered Species Study: Jaguars I. The jaguars of Central and South America have been being killed for game and protection. This cat used to have homes around the United States to Uruguay...
John Muir's Trail in History John Muir was a man of great importance in the history of the United States and in the preservation of it's beauty. His tireless efforts to protect natural wo...
Landfills: A Growing Menace When asked to think of the largest man made structure, people will invariably come up with an answer like The Great Wall of China, the Great Pyramids, or the Ta...
Society / Malibu Fires
Malibu Fires Human beings are able to adapt to almost any environment, unfortunately sometimes we take advantage of our natural surroundings. We find ourselves amidst a struggle between o...
Experience with Dream Essay - Reliable and great customer service. Quality of work - High quality of work.
, ,
Dream Essay - Very reliable and great customer service. Encourage other to try their service. Writer 91463 - Provided a well written Annotated Bibliography with great deal of detail per th
, ,
it is always perfect
, ,
The experience with Dream Essay is stress free. Service is excellent and forms various forms of communication all help with customer service. Dream Essay is customer oriented. Writer 17663
, ,
Only competent & proven writers
Original writing — no plagiarism
Our papers are never resold or reused, period
Satisfaction guarantee — free unlimited revisions
Client-friendly money back guarantee
Total confidentiality & privacy
Guaranteed deadlines
Live Chat & 24/7 customer support
All academic and professional subjects
All difficulty levels
12pt Times New Roman font, double spaced, 1 inch margins
The fastest turnaround in the industry
Fully documented research — free bibliography guaranteed
Fax (additional info): 866-332-0244
Fax (additional info): 866-308-7123
Live Chat Support
Need order related assistance?—Click here to submit a inquiry
© Dreamessays.com. All Rights Reserved.
Dreamessays.com is the property of MEDIATECH LTD