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Contemporary Historical Roots of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

THE FIRST PERSIAN GULF WAR (1990–1991)

The bloody 8-year Iran–Iraq war ended in a stalemate in 1988. After the end of the war, Iraq was in considerable debt to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Iraq also accused Kuwait of exceeding its Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quotas for oil production and for driving oil prices down. The resulting lower Iraqi oil revenues could barely support the government’s basic costs, let alone repair Iraq’s damaged infrastructure from the Iran–Iraq war (Finlan, 1994).

In early July 1990, Iraq complained about Kuwait’s behavior, such as not respecting their oil-production quota, and openly threatened to take military action. Various meetings among Iraq, Kuwait, and other interested nations failed to remedy the situation or to reduce tensions (Cordesman & Wagner, 1996). Saddam Hussein, the fifth president of Iraq, ordered the Iraqi Army’s occupation of Kuwait. On August 2, 1990, Iraq launched a surprise invasion with about 100,000 Iraqi ground troops against Kuwait and quickly overran the country, initiating the Gulf War. This action was met with international condemnation. The United Nations (UN) Security Council passed Resolution 661, imposing a trade embargo on Iraq (Blair, 1992).

The president of the United States, George H. W. Bush, deployed U.S. military forces to Saudi Arabia and urged other countries to send their own forces to the region. The first U.S. ground troops arrived in Saudi Arabia on August 7, 1990. An array of nations joined the coalition, the largest military alliance to configure since World War II. The greater bulk of coalition forces came from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Egypt (Hutchison, 1995).

On August 8, 1990, Saddam Hussein proclaimed the annexation of Kuwait, designating Kuwait as Iraqi territory. Coalition forces initiated a naval blockade of Iraq that same day (Brune, 1993). Iraq declared Kuwait as its 19th province and renamed Kuwait City as al-Kadhima (Head & Tilford, 1996). As the fall of 1990 passed, the multinational forces continued to assemble in Saudi Arabia to defend Saudi Arabia and to prepare for the liberation of Kuwait. This gathering of troops was labeled “Operation Desert Shield” by U.S. coalition forces. Iraq was sanctioned by the UN when the UN Security Council passed Resolution 678, setting a deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait before January 15, 1991, or face military action (Engel, 2013). On January 12, 1991, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. The votes were 52–47 in the U.S. Senate and 250–183 in the U.S. House of Representatives. These were the closest margins in authorizing force by Congress since the War of 1812 (Hutchison, 1995).

Iraqi-occupying forces failed to withdraw from Kuwait by the deadline (Long, 2004). The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began in the middle of the night with an intense aerial and naval bombardment on January 17, 1991. Apache attack helicopters firing Hellfire missiles led the way to neutralize radar sites, weapons batteries, command and control infrastructure, and troop concentrations. U.S.-led air force and navy warplanes attacked sites in Baghdad, Kuwait, and other military targets in Iraq (Cipkowski, 1992). A few days into the air war, Iraq began to launch Scud missiles into Israel, whereas the United States quickly deployed Patriot missile batteries to Israel and Saudi Arabia. In addition, Iraqi forces began to blow up and set fire to Kuwaiti oil wells and refineries, and dumped millions of gallons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf waters (Hutchison, 1995).

The coalition forces’ aerial campaign continued for 5 weeks, considerably damaging Iraqi ground fortifications and killing many Iraqi troops. The first Gulf War was the formal combat debut of the U.S. Air Force’s F-117 Nighthawk aircraft. This was the first operational aircraft to be designed around stealth technology. It was commonly referred to as the “stealth-fighter,” but was a truly ground-attack aircraft, used in the war to attack ground-based radar sites, missile batteries, and troop concentrations (Dunnigan & Bay, 1992).

The Boeing AH-64 Apache is an attack helicopter used by the U.S. Army. It is armed with a 30-mm gun and has four firing pylons, which usually carry a mixed configuration of Hellfire air-to-ground missiles and Hydra rocket pods. The Apache was designed to perform in frontline combat environments, including operating at night and during adverse weather situations. The redundant electronic sensors and avionics configurations allow this helicopter to perform safely and accurately in much less than optimal weather. On January 17, 1991, eight Apaches destroyed part of Iraq’s radar network in the operation’s first attack (Dunnigan & Bay, 1992).

On February 22, 1991, U.S. President George H. W. Bush issued a 24-hour ultimatum that either Iraqi forces withdraw from Kuwait or the coalition would commence the ground war. Iraq did not withdraw its forces, and the U.S.-led coalition forces invaded Iraq under the cover of night on February 24, 1991. British forces were the first to enter Iraqi territory (Bin, Hill, & Jones, 1998).

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