Kuwait and the Gulf War
- Aug. 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait
- Kuwait and the Gulf War,
- “No more Munichs” proclaimed by George Bush Sr. and place sanctions on Iraq to pull out 1991
- 30 countries join in a coalition against Iraq (including some Arab countries)
- USA made sure Israel wouldn’t join for fear of losing the Arab support
- Kuwait liberated after 4 days (90,000 Iraqi casualties)
- Bush did not invade Iraq or remove Saddam in fear of losing the Arab support
- Threat of poison and gas high
- Saddam tried to get Israelis involved by firing SCUD missiles at them
- less than 100 American casualties
- very good job of creating a coalition made sure Arab nations were apart so it's not looking like west vs Arabs
- Americans had to get the Israelis to not retaliate to keep the war going, brought in anti-missile weapons into Israel
- people knew that Saddam was using poison gas,
Summary
The Americans started a war against Iraq because of Saddam Hussain's invasion of Kuwait. 30 countries banded together to stop Iraq. They were sure to include Arab countries so it did not look like it was an America vs. Arab conflict. They urged Israel to endure the attacks and not fight back to compromise the offensive.
It has been, after all, 11 years, more than a decade now, of defiance of U.N. resolutions by Saddam Hussein. Every obligation that he signed onto after the Gulf War, so that he would not be a threat to peace and security, he has ignored and flaunted.
-Condoleezza Rice
What would have happened if Israel retaliated to the attacks from Iraq?