Golf War Essay, Research Paper

The Persian Gulf War

The war in the Persian Gulf was a war of religious favor, cruel leadership, and greed. Desert Storm or more commonly known ass The Golf War was the same type of war that had accrued in this area for many years except for one fact. In Operation Desert Storm, it was a mix of sophisticated technology and the combined leadership and cooperation from the coalition that was used to end the war in a quick and timely manner. Which in the end probably saved thousands of lives.

In 1979 Saddam Hussien took control of Iraq, and immediately made his presence

known when he killed 21 of his cabinet members. He wanted to make his country whole once again. So in 1990 he invaded Kuwait and in less than four hours he had taken Kuwait and controlled 24% of the worlds oils supplies. Al Of Saddam’s actions foreshadowed that he would attempt an assault on Saudi Arabia. This was where the United States entered after a call for protection by Saudi Arabia. The United States set a deadline of January 5th, 1991 for all Iraq forces to be out of Kuwait, but Saddam ignored the deadline. That triggered Dessert Shield, and the build up of troops in the region and eventually lead to Desert Storm, a all out attack to free Kuwait.

The entire Gulf war was concentrated basically around two countries and their leaders. These are Iraq with Saddam Hussien as a leader, and The United States Of America with George Bush who was President of The United States at the time. Even though it seamed that it was mainly just the American’s that were basically fighting the war, there was actually a coalition that consisted of thirty eight countries. The names of a few of the major countries were Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, and Italy. The war was financed by countries that were unable to send in troops. More than 53 billion was pledged. Saudi Arabia and southern Kuwait were the largest donors. Switzerland also contributed to the allies, after being neutral during both World War I and World War II.

The largest tank battle in the war conclusively showed the superiority of the coalition’s tanks new technology that allowed them to attach at an impossible distance where they were basically immune from Iraq fire. Another benefit to the new technology was the new types of metal they were making the tanks out of. It was strong and most importantly light which was necessary for maneuverability reasons. As a whole, the battles showed that the coalition clearly out classed the tactics of the Iraq’s emphasized pitched engagements and linear movements as they had been taught by there soviet leaders. In the entire Gulf War Iraq lost around 4,000 tanks and the coalition lost only 4. This quote states the truth about the situation in Desert Storm. “Iraq went from the fourth largest army in the world to the second biggest army in Iraq in 100 hours.” Said Lieutenant General Tom Kelly. On the final night of the war, within hours of the cease fire, two United States Air Force bombers dropped specially designed 5,000 pound bombs on a command bunker fifteen kilometers North West of Baghdad in a deliberate attempt to kill Saddam Hussien.

Since the war was more United States orientated it is hard to tell what the exact casualty rate was for the coalition, but The United States suffered 148 killed in action, 458 wounded, 121 killed in non hostile actions, and 11 female combat deaths. In official reports the pentagon has admitted that of the 148 American service men and women who perished on the battle field 24 percent of the total killed in action were victims of friendly fire. Eleven more Americans were killed when an allied munitions blew up, raising the friendly fire percent to 31 percent. Most soldiers said that the thousands of unexploded mines and bomblets, they encountered, were more dangerous than enemy fire. This is a very excellent death rate when you compare it to Iraq’s. It was estimated that more than 100,000 Iraqi soldiers died, 300,00 were wounded, 150,000 just deserted the war altogether, and 60,000 were taken prisoner. Many humans rights groups claimed a much higher casualty rate for the Iraqi soldiers.

In The conclusion the leaders of the coalition decided to let Saddam Hussien remain in power in Iraq. The war also created a new opportunity for peace making in the middle east. President Bush stated when Iraq was defeated he would concentrate in the Middle East peace process. Bush ended up increasing Arab readiness to participate in such peace talks. Representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi, Arabia, and Syris as well as a Palestinian delegation participated brought together by the war.

In the end, this was a popular war due to the fact that the media had a full 24 hours a day 7 days a week coverage on the war. The good outcome of the war secured economic advantages for the Western World, ensuring our way of life was not threatened by a shortage of the free flow of natural resources. It confirmed the values of new technology mixed with ground and air ensured Superiority on the battle field. Finally, it proved that armed aggression never prevails in the face of a free alliance of nations determined to see justice done.