Why the Persian Gulf War Was Not Iraqs Fault
By: Stenly • Essay • 2,025 Words • February 16, 2009 • 1,965 Views
Essay title: Why the Persian Gulf War Was Not Iraqs Fault
At 2:00 A.M. (local time) on August second 1990, Saddam
Hussein sent the Iraqi military across the border into Kuwait,
and sparked a war whose repercussions are still being felt.
Today what eventually became known as the Persian Gulf
War, featured the largest air operation in history; and a
senseless destruction paralleled only to Danzig or Hiroshima.
Even though Saddam was the one who physically invaded
Kuwait, is balking at United Nations resolutions, and is
generally known as a tyrant. He should not be destroyed .
The Gulf War was nothing more than the United States
attempting to establish, as former President Bush so aptly
termed, the "New Order". The United States supported
Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath regime prior to the Kuwaiti
invasion. They even gave Saddam a "Green Light" to go ahead
and invade. If Saddam were to leave power Iraq would either
be plunged into a Lebanon style civil war or face another ruler
no better than Saddam himself. The United States is
contemplating another invasion of Iraq, however it is having a
difficult time of gaining support of the Arab countries. While
many people in this country believe Saddam Hussein should
be destroyed, that he is a totalitarian dictator and gross
human rights violator. He is, in fact, a stabilizing force in his
country and the Middle-East, standing up to the only
remaining superpower.
The consensus currently prevalent in this country is that
Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq, is a totalitarian dictator,
thirsty for blood and prestige, who seems dedicated to
disobeying the United States. It would seem Iraq is intent on
keeping United Nation inspectors out of its own country,
although technically "Iraq barred only American members of
the inspection teams from carrying on their work"(Nelan 54).
The Iraqi "Dictator" seems to have decided he would rather be
bombed than inspected. He apparently has no regard for the
international community, and yet still wants them to lift
sanctions. Also the Iraqi:
"government stopped Ritter from investigating sensitive sites,
calling him a spy and complaining that his team was too
‘Anglo-American'... the Iraqis also revealed Ritter was looking
for evidence Iraq tested chemical and biological weapons on
humans - charge Baghdad called ‘a shear lie'" (Watson 34).
Those reports of human testing are obviously false. "[E]ven
Saddams strongest foes, including the C.I.A. seems to doubt
them(Watson 34)". In fact, the only testing done by Iraq was
on dogs. There were no inspectors around when the U.S.
committed the crimes at Tuskegee, or when hundreds of
servicemen were exposed to radiation during the atomic tests
in the sixties. The Iraqi "dictator" has stayed in power for
some 6 years since sanctions were imposed. The sanctions
were imposed supposedly to punish and weaken Saddams
power, freeing the people to take up arms and oust him.
However, the sanctions have hurt only the people of Iraq, and
if anything have strengthened Saddams position. If Saddam