Activity 12, The Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield
On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. While Iraq may have had some legitimate differences with Kuwait, its invasion was clearly a violation of international law. Perhaps more significant than international law, was Kuwait's vast oil wealth. Kuwait possessed about 10% of the world's known oil reserve. With this reserve, Iraq would control 20% of the world's known oil. While this amounted to only about 15% of the entire production of oil, it was enough to manipulate the world oil price. Higher oil prices would have fueled inflation and deepened the world recession. In addition, Iraq would be in a position to threaten Saudi Arabia which controlled another 20% of the world's oil and over 21% of the world's total oil production.
Iraq's invading army quickly overwhelmed the small Kuwaiti military who had not been mobilized for fear of inciting Iraq to invade. Within hours of their invasion, Iraq military forces occupied Kuwait City. Kuwait's leader, the Emir, escaped to Saudi Arabia as did some of Kuwaiti's air force and other military forces. Undisciplined Iraqi soldiers systematically looted Kuwait City. Kuwaitis who were believed to support the Emir's government in exile were rounded up and imprisoned. Some Kuwaitis fought against the Iraqi occupation. Those captured by Iraqi were tortured and executed. The Iraqis committed numerous other atrocities against Kuwaiti civilians.
Iraq's 100,000 man military force in Kuwait was much greater than necessary to hold the country. These forces, along with 800 tanks, established positions close to the Saudi border, and new elements of Iraq's one million man army moved toward Kuwait. The total Saudi army was about 70,000 men of which only one thousand were deployed along its northern border with Kuwait and Iraq. If Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia, intelligence sources estimated that Iraqi military forces could occupy the Saudi oil fields and its capitol, Riyadh, within three days.
Four hours after Iraq invaded Kuwait, President George Bush froze Kuwaiti assets in the United States to prevent their control by Iraq, and ordered economic sanctions against Iraq. These sanctions banned all trade or other financial contact between the United States and Iraq. Four days after the invasion, the President declared: "This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait."
To gain the support of the American people, a concerted effort was made by the Bush administration to compare Saddam Hussein to Adolph Hitler. Although President Bush did not originate this analogy, he used it frequently during Operation Desert Shield. Building upon the Hitler analogy, President Bush made it clear that the United States could not engage in a policy of appeasement with Saddam.
The United States military had developed a strategic Operations Plan 90-1002 drafted in the early 1980's, which anticipated a conflict with the Soviet Union or Iran. It called for a build up of 100,000 ground troops in the Middle East to counter these possible threats, but this plan could not be put into effect without the support of Saudi Arabia. Bush believed that Iraq's forces were preparing to invade also Saudi Arabia. King Fahd and his advisors needed proof that the perceived Iraqi threat was not just a pretext to insert American military forces into Saudi Arabia. The Saudis also needed to know that if they challenged Iraq, America would be ready to back them with force and commitment. Bush dispatched a high-level team to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Fahd. After examination of the Iraqi troop deployments, King Fahd agreed to accept American troops in Saudi Arabia. President Mubarak of Egypt promptly promised to send troops as did King Hassan of Morocco.
Bush also launched a massive international diplomatic effort to gain support. He promptly presented Iraq's invasion to the U.N. Security Council, which promptly condemned the invasion and demanded that Saddam Hussein withdraw his forces unconditionally from Kuwait. When Iraq failed to comply, the Security Council imposed economic sanctions, requiring all U.N. members to cut off trade. Three weeks later, the Security Council permitted the use of naval force to ensure compliance with sanctions. It subsequently permitted the shipments of food and medical supplies to Iraq if distributed by international organizations.
On August 8, Saddam Hussein annexed Kuwait calling it the 19th province of Iraq. Iraq demanded that all foreign embassies be closed. The Security Council declared Iraq's annexation of Kuwait null and void, and subsequently demanded that Iraq withdraw its order to close all diplomatic missions in Kuwait. Many diplomatic missions refused to close. Iraq began using force to evict them, an action which again brought the condemnation of the Security Council. A few days later, Security Council demanded that Iraq permit all foreign nationals to leave Iraq and Kuwait. When Iraq failed to comply, President Bush declared that the Americans held in Iraq were hostages.
Bush contacted America's traditional allies in Europe and in the Middle East. The allies in the Middle East were particularly important. Support from Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia meant that the war was not another Western "colonial" war against an Arab country. Inducements were offered to gain support of some of the Coalition allies. At Washington's encouragement friendly sheiks gave the Russians $4 billion in aid to ensure their backing of the Security Council resolutions. The U.S. wrote off $13 billion in loans to Egypt. Turkey was promised $10 billion for arms procurement in exchange for the American use of Turkish airfields.
After agreement with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Bush ordered American military forces to the Middle East. This was called operation "Desert Shield." American forces were sent 7,000 miles by air from the United States, and began arriving in Saudi Arabia on August 7. Bush called up the U.S. military reserves. American forces reached more than 200,000 within three months. Other nations sent troops and equipment and the Bush administration formed a Coalition of other nations. Simultaneously, Iraq sent more than 400,000 troops to Kuwait and southern Iraq. These troops dug in and developed strong defensive positions.
On September 11, Bush addressed American people, announcing that the American goals in the Persian Gulf crisis were: an unconditional Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait; the return of the Kuwaiti Emir to power; assurances of stability in the Gulf; and the protection of U.S. citizens in the area.
In all the U.N.'s Security Council passed twelve resolutions against Iraq. These resolutions required unanimous consent of the five permanent members (China, France, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States). This unusual unanimous consensus in the Security Council was due in large part to major strategic changes that had occurred in the world, particularly the new spirit of cooperation between the Western powers and the Soviet Union. The relaxation of tension in Europe also meant that American, French and British forces in Europe could be deployed in massive numbers elsewhere if needed.
Western nations, including Britain, France and Italy, promptly joined the American-led military Coalition. Germany and Japan agreed to make hefty financial contributions to help pay Coalition expenses. After some behind-the-scenes maneuvering, Egypt and Syria joined the anti-Iraq Coalition and sent military forces to Saudi Arabia. The total Coalition forces were enough to defend Saudi Arabia against possible attack, but not enough to dislodge the Iraqis from Kuwait.
Saddam responded on August 14, by offering a peace settlement with Iran. He proposed that the 1975 Algiers Agreement be the basis to settle the boundary between the two countries. He also proposed that all prisoners held by Iran and Iraq be exchanged and that each country withdraw from their occupied territories. Iran agreed, but continued to oppose Iraq's occupation of Kuwait and to support the international sanctions against Iraq. However, this agreement allowed Iraq to send additional troops into southern Iraq.
When Iraq invaded, almost one million foreigners worked in Kuwaiti. The number of foreigners living in Iraq equaled those in Kuwait. Saddam permitted Third World foreigners who lived in Kuwait and Iraq to return home. He retained those foreigners from Western nations and Japan, referring to them as "guests." Western political leaders and journalists immediately referred to them as "hostages." As private citizens and private organizations from Western nations visited Iraq, Saddam released some hostages. By September Saddam still held about 10,000 hostages from Western countries and Japan. Iraq offered to release hostages from countries which lifted their sanctions against Iraq. The Western nations and Japan refused.
There were several possible options that might have resolved the conflict short of war. These options were : diplomatic resolutions; economic sanctions; and military pressure. Saddam urged his Arab neighbors not to internationalize the conflict. Obviously, without the support of Arab nations it would have been unlikely that military force could have been effectively used against Iraq. However, the only solution that would have been satisfactory to the U.S. would have required Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. The U.S. could not be seen to sanction aggression, hence the only things that could be offered to Saddam as inducements were trivial. Saddam treated them as meaningless and it is not likely that diplomacy would have worked.
Diplomacy was used as propaganda techniques to gain backing from other nations. Saddam linked Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait to Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza strip. Through this linkage, Saddam hoped to gain the support of Arabs and Arab nations. This linkage did win the support of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, led by Yasser Arafat. On August 10, the Arab League held a meeting in Cairo. The PLO refused to support the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resolution to condemn the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and to support the build up of American-led military force in Saudi Arabia. This meeting effectively ended the possibility of an Arab solution to the crisis although Saddam continued to raise it right to the end.
The U.N. imposed economic sanctions immediately after Saddam invaded Kuwait. Many observers believed that, given enough time, economic sanctions would bring Saddam to the bargaining table. Economic sanctions hurt Iraq, but not enough to be sufficient to force Saddam out of Kuwait. This analysis has proven correct. As economic sanctions have continued in force since 1990, and Saddam has not yet complied with the U.N. Security Council's resolutions, it is not likely that Saddam would have left Kuwait solely due to the economic sanctions.
One advocate for continued military pressure short of armed conflict was Colin Powell, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, who advanced military containment with increased pressure on Iraq, but could not find any allies in the Bush administration. A major reason was that Powell admitted that it would take a longer time to force Iraq from Kuwait. Bush and others believed that their Coalition was fragile and could not be held together for prolonged period of time. Bush believed that it was important to move quickly to insure the success of the military option.
Bush concluded that it was unlikely that Iraq would voluntarily withdraw from Kuwait. On October 8, General Schwartzkopf was asked for an offensive plan. A few days after the U.S. congressional elections in early November, President Bush ordered a major build-up of 200,000 additional troops and armor in Saudi Arabia. A few days later 72,500 reservists were called up. By the end of December the United States had 440,000 military forces in the Gulf area along with 1,500 air planes, and six air craft carrier groups. Military personnel were still pouring in. Other nations were also asked to contribute armed forces. Eventually, twenty-eight nations contributed more than 600,000 forces to the Coalition.
As Iraq had not complied with any of its resolutions, Security Council authorized the use of "all necessary means" against Iraq if it did not withdraw from Kuwait. On the initiative of the United States a deadline for Iraqi withdrawal was set for January 15, 1991.
On December 6, Saddam released the remaining hostages, including more than 1,000 Americans, as a "goodwill gesture." He also announced his readiness to withdraw from Kuwait, if an international conference were held to discuss not only Kuwait, but also Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. He continued to hope that this linkage would defuse the growing support for the allied Coalition, particularly from Arab governments who were strongly opposed to Israel. Bush refused to permit the coupling of the two issues. Iraq did gain the support of Palestinians, Jordan, Sudan and Yemen.
Saddam misjudged American commitment and military capabilities. He believed that the U.S. was too weak to lead an anti-Iraq alliance. He did not believe that military force would be assembled, but if it did, he believed that war could be avoided by threats of the kinds of losses incurred in the Vietnam War. If it came to war in the Persian Gulf, Saddam believed that Iraq had the ability to fight a defensive war, as had been proven in the Iraq-Iran war. His soldiers built three heavily armed lines of defense. Saddam believed that Americans lacked Iraq's willingness to lose 10,000 men in a day's combat. Iraq threatened to draw Israel into the conflict. Saddam proclaimed that the coming war would be "the mother of all battles," and he threatened the use of chemical weapons if the Coalition attacked.
In a final attempt to negotiate an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, Secretary of State James Baker met with Iraqi foreign minister in Switzerland on January 9, 1991. At this meeting Baker warned Iraq against using chemical weapons, pledging that the U.S. would retaliate massively against Iraq. These negotiations proved futile to resolving the conflict.
Bush wanted to get Congress to authorize the use of force if possible, but there was a clear possibility that the Democratically-controlled Congress would not support his efforts. Bush believed that he had the Constitutional power to deploy U.S. troops regardless of how Congress voted. On January 10, U.S. Congress opened debate to give authority for Bush to use military force against Iraq. Two days later, Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the use of all necessary steps to remove Iraq from Kuwait. Neither sanctions nor diplomacy dislodged Iraq from Kuwait by January 15. On January 17, the Coalition launched the attack against Iraq and Kuwait.
Student Questions
Why did President Bush compare Saddam Hussein to Adolf Hitler?
What were the alternatives to going to war?
What would have been the likely consequence of these alternatives, had they been selected?
Why was President Bush opposed to the other alternatives?
What decisions involved the United States in the Gulf War?
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