224 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
224 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÜ ÜÜÜÜ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßÛßßßßßÛÛÜ ÜÜßßßßÜÜÜÜ ÜÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÛßß ßÛÛ
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ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛ ÜÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜ ßÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÜÜÜÛÛÝ Ûß
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ßßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÞÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßßÛÜÞÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÞß
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Mo.iMP ÜÛÛÜ ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ßÛß
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ß ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ÜÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÜÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛ ßÛÛÛÛÛ Ü ÛÝÛÛÛÛÛ Ü
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ÜÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ßÛÜ ßÛÛÛÜÜ ÜÜÛÛÛß ÞÛ ÞÛÛÛÝ ÜÜÛÛ
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ÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßÛÜ ßßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÜÜÜß ÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÛÛÛß
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ßÛÜ ÜÛÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ßßÜÜ ßßÜÛÛßß ßÛÛÜ ßßßÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛßß
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ßßßßß ßßÛÛß ßßßßß ßßßßßßßßßßßßß
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ARRoGANT CoURiERS WiTH ESSaYS
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Grade Level: Type of Work Subject/Topic is on:
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[ ]6-8 [ ]Class Notes [Essay on the Iraqui ]
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[ ]9-10 [ ]Cliff Notes [War with Saddam Hussein ]
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[x]11-12 [x]Essay/Report [ ]
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[ ]College [ ]Misc [ ]
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Dizzed: 10/94 # of Words:2183 School: ? State: ?
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>Chop Here>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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War was inevitable in the Gulf and it was a war in which Iraq was
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inevitability to lose. There were several reasons why this was and became a
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reality. How, when, where did this process of self destruction begin? It
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was quite evident that Saddam Hussein. the president of Iraq, was becoming
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a military giant in the Middle East and therefore a threat to the stability
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of the entire region. His war with Iran was proof of this. The U.S. and
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other industrialized Western nations could not risk the loss of oil from
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the area. Kuwait is the second largest source of petroleum in the Middle
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East and so Iraqi invasion of Kuwait sent the world oil market into a
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frenzy. Iraqi forces then gathered their forces on the border with Saudi
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Arabia, the second largest supplier of oil in the world. This in turn
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brought the military might of the United States into the conflict.
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There are several reasons why Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. "After
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the 8 year war with Iran over territorial disputes and religious rivalries
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between the Iranian Shiites and Iraqi Sunni factions, Iraq had a massive
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debt to many Arab nations including Kuwait."2 The rulers of these nations
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wanted some of their money back but Iraq thought they were ingrates and
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were ungrateful for defending the Arab emirs from the Iranian Islamic
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fundamentalism. The Arab emirs were afraid that the Islamic fundamentalists
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would rise against the government and eventually take over the government
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as they had Iran against the Shah. Kuwait was also afraid of this and so
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they supported the Iraqi Arabs against the Iranian Persians.
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2"Iraq",World Book (New York, World Book, 1990), Vol 10, p. 260
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The funds that Gulf countries lent to Iraq were used to buy high tech
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weapons, high tech weapons that made Iraq one of the largest armies in the
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world and a force to contend with. "Ironically much of the money and
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weapons came from the countries that united to fight against him."1 The
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Gulf countries bankrolled him while the Western nations, who had many
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defense contractors going out of business because of the end of the Cold
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War, supplied him with the weapons to fight Iran and later Kuwait and the
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Coalition. With a large army like his, it would be very easy to defeat the
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far smaller Kuwaiti army compared to his.
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1CNN The Gulf War (Video) (Atlanta, CNN News, 75 min., 1991)
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Oil had made Kuwait one of the richest and most progressive countries
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in the world. This desert land is one of the world's leading producers
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having over one-tenth of the world's known petroleum reserves. "All of this
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in 20150 square kilometres, a little smaller than the state of New
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Jersey."3 Kuwait is one of the world's wealthiest nations in terms of
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national income per person. It has free primary and secondary education,
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free health and social services and no income tax. There was much to
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protect. All of this was attractive and irritating to Saddam who would and
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did use a fraction of his army to attack and invade Kuwait in which it only
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took the Iraqi army 6 hours to reach the capital city. They had after their
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invasion about 19% of the world's known oil reserves.
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3"Kuwait",World Book (New York, World Book, 1990), Vol 11, p.354
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Historically Iraq had claimed that it had a right to Kuwait. "They
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were jealous that Kuwait was in control of the two islands needed for a
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deep water shipping port:the Bubiyan and Warbah islands."4 These islands
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along with some parts of Kuwait were a part of Mesopotamia which the
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Ottoman Turks conquered. "The Ottoman Empire was defeated during World War
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I and the British made their "own lines in the sand", dividing up the land
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according to their own strategic needs and in the process recklessly
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dividing up ancient communities and boundaries that had been recognized for
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decades."1 Most of Mesopotamia became Iraq and some other parts to Kuwait.
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In 1961, Kuwait became independent and the Iraqis threatened to invade
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except that British troops kept the peace. This was to be the first of many
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border skirmishes which include Iraqi missiles fired at Kuwaiti oil
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installations and the reflagging of Kuwaiti oil tankers during the
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Iran-Iraq War in which U.S. ships patrolled the Persian Gulf and Kuwaiti
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tankers were reflagged with U.S. flags.
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1CNN The Gulf War (Video) (Atlanta, CNN News, 75 min., 1991)
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4AP Press Toronto Star (January 20, 1991) A18
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The Iraqi government had also accused the Kuwaitis of stealing 2.5
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billion barrels of oil from its Rumaila oil fields by sliding drills into
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Iraqi oil pipelines. They had also accused Kuwait of exceeding OPEC oil
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production which had dropped the price of oil from $20 a barrel to $13 a
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barrel in the first six months of 1990. This meant 1 billion dollars less
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for Iraq everytime that price of an oil barrel went down by a dollar.
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Saddam said he would stop them from continuing aggressive action:"The oil
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quota violators have stabbed Iraq with poison dagger. Iraqis will not
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forget the saying that cutting necks is better than cutting means of
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living. O'God almighty, be witness that we have warned them".1 His foreign
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minister Tariq Aziz later said in a letter to the Arab league that Kuwait
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is "systematically, deliberately and continuously" harming Iraq by
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encroaching on its territory, stealing oil, and destroying its economy.1
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"Such behaviour amounts to military aggression".1 These were just signs of
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the Desert Storm to come.
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1CNN The Gulf War (Video) (Atlanta, CNN News, 75 min., 1991)
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Personally, Saddam Hussein had reasons to want to go to war against
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the Western nations. He grew up as young boy hating the British for
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imprisoning the uncle that had cared for him. Later, he joined the Baath
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Party which was based on a platform of Arab unity and as a member was sent
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to try to assassinate General Abdul Karim Qasim who they believed to be
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very friendly with the Western nations. By going to war, he hoped to foster
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Arab unity against the Western nations, like an Islamic holy war against
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the "infidels". He also believed that it was his destiny to fulfil the
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prophecy of ruling an Arab nation streching from Euphrates to the Suez.
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The Western and Gulf nations united together to form a coalition to
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fight against Iraq that followed the United Nations resolution that Iraq
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must pull out of Iraq on January 15, 1991. They had several reasons for
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wanting Iraq out of Kuwait. "The 2 main reasons are the vast amounts oil in
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the region which account for 53% of the world's known petroleum reserves
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and the stability of the nations that have the oil."4 The 2 biggest in the
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region are Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Saudis were afraid that Iraq would
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invade Saudi Arabia just like Kuwait.
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4AP Press Toronto Star (February 20, 1991) A16
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"The United States depends on Middle East petroleum for about 25% of
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its energy needs and other Western nations even more on Middle East."4 Many
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of these nations have very few oil resources and if they did it would cost
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too much to develop them like the estimated 300 billion barrels of oil in
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the Alberta and Saskatchewan tar sands. "Other nations like Japan have very
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few alternative sources for petroleum so they depend greatly on the oil
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from the Middle East."1 Other sources of power are generally too expensive
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to be practical or still under development. So any disruption of oil from
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this region would seriously negatively affect the economies of the Western
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nations, just as they were slipping into a recession which would not be
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very good for the leaders of these countries at the ballot box.
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1CNN The Gulf War (Video) (Atlanta, CNN News, 75 min., 1991)
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4AP Press Toronto Star (January 16, 1991) A15
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However going to war or even the real possibility of it would give a
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big short term boost to the economies of these nations by increasing the
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price for a barrel of oil which would allow oil companies to make bigger
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profits and there would be more exploration in North America to discover
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new sources of oil. This would help boost the stock markets by increasing
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positive activity in the trading of shares. Also by going to war, it would
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create jobs in many sectors of the economy from the defense contractors to
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the service industries down the line.
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The main reason that Coalition was formed was to protect the "vital
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interests" in the often unstable Middle East. "The Middle East had been the
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source of many of the world's wars after World War II, sometimes almost to
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point of going nuclear."4 The Arab partners in the Coalition joined the
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union to prevent what had happened to Kuwait to occur to them. The United
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States and the other Western partners wanted to ensure a steady supply of
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cheap oil and the invasion of Kuwait had risen the price of oil along with
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creating instability in the Middle East. The best way to restore order to
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the region and create some stability was to force Iraq out of Kuwait and
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severely weaken his government and military which the Allies were
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successful in doing.
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4AP Press Toronto Star (February 14, 1991) A13
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Another reason that has been suggested is that Iraq was permitted to
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invade Kuwait just to give the U.S. an excuse to attack the Iraqis so that
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they would no longer be a threat to other countries in the region. This
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would also make the Arab nations dependent on the Americans for their
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defense so that they would not try to attempt hostile actions in terms of
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increasing the cost of the oil to them or limiting the production of
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petroleum as had been demonstrated by the OPEC nations in the 1970s.
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George Herbert Walker Bush also had personal reasons as to why he
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wanted Iraq to leave Kuwait. As the youngest fighter pilot in the Navy
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during World War II, he flew in many missions before being shot down.
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"These missions helped to shape his beliefs that the U.S. should be like a
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global policeman and Saddam Hussein must be stopped just as Hitler should
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have been stopped from breaking the conditions of the treaties the Germans
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signed ending World War I."1 Another reason he felt he had to take military
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action was that there were American hostages held by the Iraqis after the
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invasion of Kuwait for a couple of months.
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1CNN The Gulf War (Video) (Atlanta, CNN News, 75 min., 1991)
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Iraq would lose in the war with the Coalition because "their forces
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were not as well trained as the Coalition forces, their weapons were
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technologically inferior, they had no air support and the Coalition forces
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were well-prepared for moves against them."4 The Iraqi army is mainly
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composed of draftees, who are not well- trained or equipped. Only the few
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Republican Guard units that were the elite of the Iraqi army would be any
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match for the Coalition because the Coalition forces were composed of
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mainly professional, well-trained volunteers. Also the Iraqi weapons were
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inferior compared to the Americans. The Iraqis had weapons mainly from the
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late 1970s to the early 1980s while the Allies had the most- advanced
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weaponry available including the AWACS system, the Stealth bomber and the
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Patriot missile. With this, they quickly achieved air and naval superiority
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over Iraq and Kuwait. The Iraqis had few planes that were of any threat to
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the Coalition and most of these never faced combat for unknown reasons.
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This made the Allies job much easier. The Coalition forces were also
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well-prepared as to the enemies battle tactics as they were Soviet ones
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which the Americans had studied for the possibility of an invasion of
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Europe.
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4AP Press Toronto Star (January 18, 1991) A14
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A Gulf War involving Iraq was unavoidable and in this war Iraq was
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defeated. The Iraqis were becoming a major military power in the Middle
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East and therefore a danger to the stability of the whole region. The
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United States and other industrialized Western nations could not afford the
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loss of oil from the region and therefore they were very willing to ensure
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that they continued to receive the oil. The U.N. and U.S. both wanted Iraq
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to leave but realized that Iraq did not wish to leave and had no intention
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of doing so unless they were forced out. Neither side wished to back down
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diplomatically or militarily and with no other useful options available,
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war was the only option left to the U.S. and her allies. In this war, Iraq
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would lose because it has inferior weapons, a poorly trained army and the
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Americans were well prepared for the Iraqi tactics.
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Bibliography
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CNN The Gulf War (Video), Atlanta, CNN News, 75 min., 1991
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"Iraq",World Book New York, World Book, 1990, Vol 10, pp. 260-261
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"Kuwait",World Book New York, World Book, 1990, Vol 11, pp. 354-355
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Toronto Star:All A and special sections from January 14, 1991 to
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March 8, 1991. (Many seection were used)
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