Causes and Effects of the Persian Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War, often referred to as Operation Desert Storm, was perhaps one of the most successful war campaigns in the history of warfare.   Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq, invaded Kuwait in 1990.   In 1991, after weeks of air strikes, US ground forces entered Iraq and Kuwait and eliminated Iraqi presence in 60 hours.




Why Would Iraq invade Kuwait?


Kuwait supplies much of the world’s oil supplies, and when Hussein invaded Kuwait, he controlled 24% of the world’s oil supplies (O’Hara).   Though this is a good reason, it is not the only one.   Iraq’s real excuse for annexing Kuwait was that he believed that Kuwait was producing more oil than it was supposed to, taking out of Iraq’s profits.   Also, Iraq was $80 billion in debt to Kuwait, and Iraq thought that the debt should be forgiven (Brown). After Iraq attacked Kuwait, the United States and other countries feared that Saudi Arabia would be next and that the world’s oil supply was in jeopardy.   This was the spark that leads to the Persian Gulf War.


There was also controversy with Iraq even before the invasion of Kuwait.   Iraq was suspected of developing chemical weapons.   The United Nations had often asked to check their weapons supplies to prevent Iraq from gaining great military power.   When Iraq refused to let the UN inspectors into the country, suspicion was raised.


One final thing that began the Persian Gulf War was Iraq’s development of the SCUD Missile.   Though not as powerful as any weapon in the United States’ arsenal, the SCUD Missile still had the ability to hit any target within 500 miles, and destroy large buildings.   Just before the United States began air strikes over Iraq, Hussein decided to test his new weapon on the city of Iraq.   Little damage was caused, but it just was another excuse for the United States to attack (NSA).




What happened after the Persian Gulf War?


“Because the world would not look the other way…tonight, Kuwait is...