Becker 1 Farel Becker

Beth Caruso

English 1102 23 February 2012 The Persian Gulf War The early 1990s were a time of political, social and economic flux. George H.W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot all competed for the1992 presidential election. Each campaigned on such noble ideals as promise of peace, economic stability, and a return to traditional values. (Brown, 10) President H. W Bush was expected to win because of the United States exemplar performance during the Persian Gulf War. During this time period many third-world countries saw a shift in their living standards and an increase in individuals' quality of life. New exciting technologies also began to emerge. For the first time personal computers started to become a reality and the Internet became a coined term. The early 1990s were not without their conflicts. The Persian Gulf War brought about many conflicting ideologies: war and peace, change and stagnation, new technologies and old values. (Ashbee, 4-5) The Gulf War was one of the most highly debated points during the 1992 Presidential election. Support for the war had been extremely high.1 President George H. W. Bush is quoted saying right before the 1992 Presidential election that: achieving our goals will require sacrifice and time, but we will prevail. Make no mistake of that. (George Bush: "Remarks to Community Members at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina, 1) This attitude was felt very strongly by the majority of United States citizens during this time. "A line has been drawn in the sand. Bush goes on to say. Withdraw from Kuwait unconditionally and immediately, or face the terrible consequences." The conflict itself resulted from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on

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August 2, 1990. This event was met with immediate international disapproval, and the United Nations voted unanimously to enforce economic sanctions on the invading country. The United States felt that economic sanctions were not punishment enough to prevent Iraq's illegal annexation of Kuwait. On August 8,1990 the United States arrived in Saudi Arabia, a bordering country of Kuwait, at the request of the leader of King Fahd. (Atkison, 509) America's involvement in the war was far from selfless altruism. During the 1992 Presidential campaign, candidates often praised the war as proof that the United States would not tolerate tyranny. However, Iraq's war-crimes were only a small part of the United States motivation for committing troops into the region. Kuwait was a border country to the oil-rich Saudi Arabia. The annexation of Kuwait was seen by the United States as a threat to their multibillion dollar oil investment, and they were not the only country who believed this. (Rottman, 4) On September 14,1990 France and Great Britain sent ten-thousand troops to the Saudi Arabian border. Five months later congress granted President Bush authority to declare war on Iraq. The Persian Gulf War began with an aerial bombardment of specific enemy targets on January 17th 1991. This bombardment, codenamed Operation Desert Storm consisted of three primary objectives. (Atkison, 509) The first was the destruction of Iraqi anti-aircraft and airforce facilities. The next objective targeted communication facilities. The United States' intelligence believed that the destruction of these facilities would collapse the Iraqi resistance, and bring quick resolution to the war. The final and largest objective was to seek and destroy military targets and to search for Scud missiles. (Atkison, 41) This objective was two fold. Almost one-third of the American-British2 forces took part in an aerial assault mission, while several infantry devisions assisted on the ground. (Rottman, 13) Both British and American special forces had been covertly inserted behind enemy lines to aid in the search and destroy mission.3 (Atkison, 369) In a press interview with Foreign Minister of Iraq, Tarq Aziz, Aziz was asked the

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question If war starts, will you attack Israel? The Foreign Minister's response was prompt and confident: Yes, absolutely, yes. Five hours after the first attack Saddam Hussein's voice was heard via Iraqi State Radio, announcing his intentions to attack Israel. The next day Iraq launched eight Al Hussein Scud missiles against the country, an act Hussein referred to as The Great Duel. Iraq's hope in doing this was to force Israel to retaliate. If Israel joined the united coalition against Iraq, many Arab nations would drop out of the war, some even joining the Iraqi side. To prevent this President Bush promised Israel protection if they did not attack Iraq. (Atkinson, 24) On January 29, 1991 Iraq turned its attention away from Israeli front and once again began their advancement toward Kuwait. Before they could continue this advancement Iraqi ground troops had to pass through the Saudi Arabian city of Khafji. The occupation of Khafji was met with heavy resistance from both the Saudi Arabian National Guard and the United States Marine Corps. The battle of Khafji resulted in some of the highest casualties of the war.4 After two days Iraq forces were driven out of Saudi Arabian with three-hundred dead and fourhundred captured. The loss of this pivotal city almost put a complete halt to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, quickening the end of the war. Less then a month later the coalition of American, British, and several Arab forces began the final maneuver of the war, the liberation of Kuwait. (Rottman, 61) The second Marine Devision and first light armored artillery crossed the countries border and headed directly for Kuwait city. The coalition troops met very little resistance along the way. Some positions were lightly defended, but these were easily over-run. On February 27, 1991 Iraqi troops began their retreat out of the country burning oil wells as they went. The same day President Bush declared the country liberated.5 At the same time United States General, Norman Schwarzkopf launched a sweeping left-hook maneuver across the southern desert of Iraq.6 This maneuver was used to navigate

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around the Iraqi flank; its primary weapon was deception. (Atkinson, 113) For the maneuver to be successful it relied on three things. First Coalition forces could not be discovered by BedouinIraqi spies. Second the Iraqis could not suspect that the Coalition planned on flanking them. Finally Iraqi troops must be fully engaged with the decoys that were set up by American forces when the attack began. (Atkinson, 332) The left-hook was successful for several reasons. The main one being Hussein's military intelligence had been destroyed by air-raids early in the war, making it very difficult to know the exact location of Coalition forces. Iraqis also never expected a flanking maneuver to work because they believed traversing the desert would be impossible. Once Kuwait was free life in the country finally began to get back to normal. During the war over half the population had fled the country, now many were returning. In 1992 the United Nations drew up a commission that officially delimited the border between Iraq and Kuwait, and reinforced the border's inviolability. Because Saddam Hussein remained in power both Great Britain and the United States maintained a large military force in the area. During this time tensions between Kuwait and Iraq were very high. A compromise on trade relations between the two countries was never reached and the war had only created feelings of deep animosity. Meanwhile in the United States Presidential candidates competed for the 1992 election. Each promising that his policies would change the nation for the better, closing the door on war and steering America to a brighter future.

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Works Cited

Ashbee, Edward. Remoralization: American Society and Politics in the 1990s." The Political Quarterly 71.2 (2000): 192-201. Print Atkison, Rick. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print Brown, Gene. The 1992 Election. Brookfield: Millbrook: 1992. Print Rottman, Gordon L., and Ron Volstad. Armies of the Gulf War. London: Osprey, 1993. Print George Bush:"Remarks to Community Members at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina," 1 Feb. 1991. The American Presidency Project. Web.

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Not all politicians believed this, some actually opposed the war at every turn. I will use this to develop one of the personality traits of a fictitious politician that I plan on creating in my story.

One of the characters in my story is a veteran who assisted in these air-raids. His plane was shot down and he disappears.

One of my characters is a veteran who assisted in the search for Scud missiles. On one of his missions he uncovers information that could land a future Presidential candidate in prison for high treason.

This same character became diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome after being exposed to pyridostigmine, a toxic chemical agent.

The liberation date may need to be modified in my paper to make the story more coherent.

Stormin Norman is mentioned in my story and actually part of the conspiracy.