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The U.S. led wars on Iraq 

UC‐Irvine, Political Science 159 Lecture E Fall 2009 Prof. Lina Kreidie  

Pierre N. Demian (2nd Gulf War)David Pellecchia (3rd Gulf War) 

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Contents  

Introduction: .................................................................................................................................................. 3 

The Second Gulf War: .................................................................................................................................. 4 

Leading to the conflict: ............................................................................................................................. 4 

Operation Desert Shield: ........................................................................................................................... 5 

Desert Storm: ............................................................................................................................................ 6 

The End of the Second Gulf War: ............................................................................................................. 8 

The After Math: ........................................................................................................................................ 9 

The Clinton years: ....................................................................................................................................... 10 

September 11 and change in policy: ........................................................................................................... 10 

Operation Iraqi Freedom: ............................................................................................................................ 12 

The outcome of the Third Gulf War: ...................................................................................................... 13 

Conclusion and summary: ........................................................................................................................... 15 

Works Citied: .............................................................................................................................................. 17 

Books: ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 

Articles: ................................................................................................................................................... 18 

Images: .................................................................................................................................................... 18 

Cartoons: ............................................................................................................................................. 18 

Desert Storm: ...................................................................................................................................... 18 

Operation Iraq Freedom: ..................................................................................................................... 19 

 

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Introduction: Long and earnestly, former American presidents avoided involvement in foreign conflicts.

After two World Wars, the United States had to alter its foreign policy. At the time, the United

States resources exceeded those of any other nation. Following World War II, Americans began

to realize how vulnerable they were to events beyond their borders (Gitelson, page 453, 2008).

In addition, old powers handed over their problems to the United States. Former French

and British colonies had to be managed by the only pro – western ideology power capable of

such a role. Thus, the United States inherited the Middle East and most of the problems

associated with it, mainly because the Soviet Union was making gains around former British

colonies (Gitelson, page 453, 2008).

In order for the United States to assume control, the U.S followed a number of methods.

First, the U.S. supported the creation of the State of Israel. Second, the U.S. maintained both

influence and prestige in face of the Iron Curtain through the Baghdad Pact. Third, direct

support for Iran’s Shah and his regime. Forth, the U.S. controlled the petroleum industry in

Saudi Arabia in exchange for support and development. And fifth, the U.S. reinvented United

Arab Emirate as an international partner in global trade. (Andersen, page 250, 2007)

After Egypt and Israel signed the peace treaty, the U.S. focus shifted more towards the

Gulf region. The Iraq – Iran war presented a good opportunity for the United States to increase

its influence. At the beginning of the conflict, Iraq was an agent of the U.S.S.R.; but by 1984,

the U.S. foreign policy greatly shifted in favor of Iraq as both the Secretary of Defense and the

Secretary of the State became alarmed from a possible military operation by Iran against Saudi

Arabia (Bill & Springboard, page 294, 2000).

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Following the First Gulf War, the U.S. began to make a client state out of Iraq in hopes of

bringing an end to all Soviet influence in the Gulf region. In exchange, Bush senior created a

document titled “Guidelines for U.S. – Iraq Policy” giving more aid and technological support

for Iraq, while giving a blind eye to human rights violations committed by Saddam and his

regime (Bill & Springboard, page 295, 2000).

The Second Gulf War:

Leading to the conflict: In 1988, the Iron Curtin began to fall making the United States the only world

superpower (Gitelson, page 461, 2008). At the same time, Iraq had always maintained that

Kuwait was part of its original territory. Before committing any military action against his

neighboring country, Saddam asked the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, April Glaspie. According

to Andersen: “(Glaspie) observed to the Iraq leader that the United States had no mutual defense

treaty with Kuwait…Inadvertent or not, a green light of sorts was presented to Iraq in the

prosecution of its dispute with Kuwait” (page 295, 2007).

In August of 1990, Saddam ordered his forces to seize Kuwait which they did with

relative ease. In less than 48 hours, all of Kuwait’s defenders were circled and cut off from

support while Saddam poured troops along the Kuwait – Saudi border (Andersen, page 295,

2007). The international community condemned Saddam’s actions and the U.N. demanded

immediate retreat. Saddam ignored the world’s opinion and his troops began looting everything

Kuwait had. Frustrated by such actions, the U.S. applied pressure on its allies on the Security

Council with promises of aid leading to the passage of SC678 which gave Iraq until January of

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1991 to withdraw all its troops from Kuwait or face “all necessary means” (Roskin & Coyle,

page 262, 2008).

After the first month from the invasion, the U.S. began assembling a true global coalition.

A number of Arabic countries answered the call. This list included Egypt, Syria, UAE, and

Qatar (later to become a major U.S. naval base). This coalition broke new grounds as it brought

the different Middle Eastern regimes on the same table with Israel’s biggest ally.

Operation Desert Shield: By the end of September, operation Desert Shield was well on its way. The primary goal

of the operation was to establish security in the Gulf region. Saddam’s troops were massed at the

Saudi border threatening the oil kingdom and the whole oil shipping in the region. At the same

time, European Union and Japan tried to use economic measures. Japan offered Saddam

economic incentives and E.U. applied pressure through economic sanctions. On the U.S. side,

Bush’s government used international debts to widen the collation forces. By the middle of

December, under the command of the U.S., an army of over 700,000 stood by ready for action

against Saddam and his forces.

Still, the U.S. didn’t give up on diplomacy. Using its allies among the Arab states, the

U.S. indirectly applied pressure against Saddam. The Arabic League met a number of times. All,

except for Jordon -- due to highly concentration of Palestinians (Roskin & Coyle, page 245, 2008)

– condemned Saddam’s actions. After the long negotiation sessions, the Egyptian President

came out saying: “Good bye to the dream of unified Arabic land”, signaling an end to the road of

diplomacy.

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During all these events, a battle of leadership and authority was brewing in the United

States. The Congress, controlled by the Democratic Party, was not willing to send in troops and

commit resources in internal matters of Arab nations. President Bush senior, a republican, saw

the opportunity as a way to gain political capital and establishing hegemony over the world’s

new emerging market through a physical demonstration of U.S. military might. Utilizing the

“War Powers Act” of 1973, Bush told the Congress that he will order American troop

deployment in battle with or without congressional approval.

Public opinion greatly mattered. Coming in aid of the U.S. president was the Kuwait

Royal family. Using billions of funds deposited in offshore accounts, the Kuwait Royal family

launched an intensive media campaign in most countries taking part of Desert Shield (Roskin &

Coyle, page 247, 2008). As a result, public opinion towards the Iraqi invasion was further

polarized enabling leaders to push their own agendas beyond constitutional constrains. In the

United States, as a measure of last resort, the U.S. Congress went into a prolonged session and

finally gave Bush approval (Bill & Springboard, page 297, 2000).

Desert Storm: On the night of January 17th of 1991, Desert Shield was converted into Desert Storm

(Roskin & Coyle, page 247, 2008). Using technology developed to counter those of U.S.S.R.,

U.S. fighter jets and bombers started a bombing and strategic targeting campaign. U.S. and E.U.

naval vessels and submarines launched satellite guide missiles at Baath party headquarters

through out Iraq. In matter of days, air superiority was established. Saddam began using long

range missiles targeting Israel in hopes of provoking the Jewish state in a retaliation mode; and

thus, most of the Arab states will refuse to join the much anticipated ground offensive. In order

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for the U.S. to avoid such a scenario, the U.S. supplied Israel with Patriot missiles and renewed

both its economic and political support for Israel.

After the aerial campaign didn’t force Saddam to withdraw, the ground offensive started

with collation troops divide into four strategic armies. Saddam forces found collation forces

coming at them from the North, South and Middle of the border. At the same time, a force was

left to guard any unexpected retreat.

Quickly, collation armor destroyed much of Iraq’s regular army armor. Abraham tanks

outmaneuvered and over powered the feudal T-tanks used by Iraq at the time. Saddam forces

were pushed back very rapidly. Saddam ordered the retreat of his national guard and their

redeployment along the Iraq – Kuwait border. In addition, Iraqi soldiers lit Kuwait’s oil fields

resulting in an environmental disaster (increased sulfur in breathing air and acid rain, in addition

to very harsh breathing conditions).

(a)

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The End of the Second Gulf War: The collation came to stop at the gates of Iraq. Saddam knew how to utilize media for his

own interests. Using media, Iraq broadcasted images of dead Iraqi civilians who were hiding in

an underground shelter which was struck by a collation missile. In addition, world media carried

pictures from the “High Way of Death”, where U.S. apache helicopters fired on the Iraq army as

it was retreating (Roskin & Coyle, page 250, 2008). Seeing that Kuwait liberation – the main

directive behind the whole operation – was achieved, most of the collation nations ordered their

troops to cease firing and hold position until U.N. troops take over.

(b)

Back in the United States, the American economy began showing signs of weakness.

The cost of the Second Gulf War started catching up with America’s economy. The U.S.

forgave a good portion of foreign debt in exchange of support. The U.S.S.R. began a transition

stage from Communism to Democracy and needed U.S. financial help. Moreover, presidential

elections were knocking on the doors. This recession became Global affecting a number of U.S.

allies, including Japan and the United Kingdom.

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As a result, Bush ordered his generals to offer a cease fire agreement to their Iraqi

counterparts. Once the agreement was signed, American lead collation troops stayed at the

border and Saddam was free again to presume his plans. In fear of a repeat, U.S. encouraged

uprising by both the Kurds in northern Iraq and Shi’a in south Iraq. Saddam quickly put down

the uprising violently; after all, most of the Iraq armor remained intact.

The After Math: In reaction, the U.S. implemented no-fly zones, under U.N. supervision, to protect the

Kurds in the north and the Shi’a in the south. In addition, the U.S. used direct bombing and

missile attacks to force Saddam in allowing U.N. monitoring of Iraq. Saddam, also, learned how

to use the U.N. monitoring system to make political gains. Iraq forces masses a number of times

across the border with Kuwait, only to be pulled back right before the U.S. resumes full combat

operations (Roskin & Coyle, page 254, 2008).

On the economic level, the U.N. designed a special program to help Iraq rebuild and pay

debts assumed as a result of its hostile action against Kuwait. The “Food for Oil” program

removed international embargo against Iraqi products. Still, sanctions, in terms of technological

and certain products, remained to ensure the weakening of Saddam’s regime. Iraq exported its

oil through sea ports located at Iraq’s most southern tip on the Persian Gulf, and through the use

of intercontinental pipeline running from northern Iraq to Turkey.

Although he gathered huge political capital, Bush senior lost the re-election bid for the

American presidency. His party, the GOP, became the minority in both houses of the Congress.

This change in political leadership was the result of economy more than any other factor (Wayne,

page 227, 2008).

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The Clinton years: Clinton’s administration continued to keep an eye on Saddam. Throughout his two term

presidency, Clinton – with the assistance of the British – waged a low scale bombing campaign

using regular air strikes and missile attacks (Roskin & Coyle, page 255, 2008). At the same time,

Clinton started playing the Palestine card by bringing in both the Palestine Authority and the

Israeli prime minister to direct talks. This worked against Saddam’s wishes who was using the

Palestine card to try to gain support from other Arabic nations.

In the 1994 congressional elections, Americans changed their leadership by electing a

republican congress. A new political ideology was born as a result of an increased terrorist

threat both domestically and abroad (mainly Bin Laden and his group). Neo – conservatives,

defined as conservatives without experience, took key posts in a number of important

committees. Furthermore, neo – conservatives had a vision of global peace policed by a stick

instead of talks.

Due to Clinton’s personal actions, the Democratic Party gained bad views from the

American public. In the 2000 presidential elections, Bush junior won after a much contested and

debated vote (Wayne, page, 20, 2008).

September 11 and change in policy: On September 11 of 2001, the United States was attacked domestically on a mass scale

resulting in over 2500 dead. President Bush promised the same day to “hunt down and punish

those responsible” (Pauly, page 91, 2005). In response, the U.S. changed its foreign policy,

starting with military operations against Taliban in Afghanistan.

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Expanding the U.S. new foreign policy, President Bush outlined U.S. enemies in what

became known as the “Axis of Evil”, mainly Iraq, Iran and North Korea. President Bush feared

that the United States became vulnerable and believed Iraq may not only be possessing weapons

of mass destruction (WMDs), but may also be harboring Al Qaeda and other known terrorist

organizations (King & Wells, page 41, 2009).

Due to these accusations the United Nations then passed resolution 1441 reaffirming

resolution 1368 and demanding Iraq to submit to WMD inspections by United Nations

representatives (Andersen, page 327, 2007). Inspections started in November of 2002 and lasted

until March 2003. In February of 2003, United States representative – Colin Powell – goes

before the United Nations asking for their support of an invasion of Iraq by the United States.

The United Nations responded to this by denying there support and continuing their search for

WMDs. On March 1, 2003 President Bush and English Prime Minister Tony Blair declared that

diplomacy had failed in Iraq and that the United Nations process of inspection will end in the

following days. The governments of Germany and France are outraged by the unilateral actions

of the United States and want to give Iraq more time to complete the inspections.

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Domestically, President Bush sent his top aids to rally American support. In his 2002

speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vice President, Dick Cheney, proclaimed no doubt

regarding Iraq possession of WMD. Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor, provided

attractive commentary, sound bites, in a published article in the New York Time. (King & Wells,

page 43, 2009)

On the International scene, this unilateral action deeply damaged the United States social

and political image and split the citizens of many United States allies into two camps: those for

and those against the war in Iraq. Nevertheless, the fighting officially began 48 hours after the

ultimatum Bush gave to Saddam Hussein on the morning of Mach 1st of 2003 (Andersen, page

331, 2007).

Operation Iraqi Freedom: Prior to the ultimatum, the United States and coalition forces were building up, along

Kuwait’s border with Iraq, in order to be sent to Baghdad and Basra (Iraq’s second largest city).

Operation Iraqi freedom began on the morning of March 19th at 5:30am according to Baghdad’s

time. On March 20th of 2003, the city of Baghdad was besieged beginning with a volley of

cruise missiles being fired at the city from U.S. naval vessels and submarines along the

Mediterranean and the Red Sea. In addition, cruise missiles were reportedly fired at possible

locations of Saddam Hussein. Following the siege, collation troops entered the city trying to

capture Saddam.

The length of the official conflict was very short and similar to the Second Gulf War,

except for a longer ground campaign. Baghdad was captured on April 9th of 2003 and concluded

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with the toppling of a statue of Saddam Hussein. The United States and coalition forces

announced the end of the official conflict on May 1st of 2003 (Fawn, page 8, 2006).

(i)

The outcome of the Third Gulf War: Unfortunately, the fighting just began. Due to the removal of Saddam Hussein and the

Baath regime from power, a power gap was created leading to chaos and anarchy. Iraq began to

destabilize and descend into chaos and political unrest. Due to the influx of chaos within Iraq,

militias formed to provide protection as violence escalated between the different ethnic groups

(Dodge, page 219, 2006). Many of these militias formed based on religious affiliation. Sunni

and Shiite militias clashed in the region and insurgents began to undermine any attempt to

establish an official governing entity. In addition, some of these militias were created due to the

return of religious leaders that had been exiled by Saddam Hussein during his reign.

In April of 2004, stories surfaced accusing U.S. troops of abusing prisoners in Iraq (King

& Wells, page 64, 2009). Later on, pictures of abused Iraqis in the Abu Ghraib prison outside of

Baghdad were released to the media. Many pictures portrayed nude Iraqi prisoners undergoing

both physical and mental abuse by smiling American soldiers. This incident was a huge blow to

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the already damaged image of the United States. By this time, there was huge opposition, not

only the war in Iraq, but also to the Bush administration itself. Moreover, President Bush’s

popularity had descended from around 90% (just after the September 11 attacks) to just below

50%.

(ii)

Later in the same year, collation forces and inspectors failed to pint the “smoking gun”.

In fact, it is reported that Saddam’s nuclear and WMD projects ended in 1991 with the Second

Gulf War. Furthermore, the September 11 Congressional Commission couldn’t link Saddam

Hussein to Al Qaeda or the September 11th attacks; rather, new evidence indicated that Al Qaeda

began to gain foothold in Iraq using pro – Saddam militias in Iraq (Stansfield, page 151, 2005).

This contradicted many different statements made by President Bush junior and a number of high

figures within his administration (Dumbrell, page 36, 2005).

As a result, the United States image was further elevated towards the negative spectrum.

The failure to find WMDs and prove a connection to Al Qaeda called the motivation and

legitimacy of the Iraq war into question (Pauly, page 106, 2005). For many Americans who

were now tracking the troop death toll of Iraq were angry to find out that it’s possible these

American lives were lost in vain. The current death toll since the end of the actual conflict is

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estimated to be around 4200 with 31000 injured. United States’ troop’s casualties are estimated

to be around 4600 and rising.

Conclusion and summary: In conclusion, the United States role was different in both wars. In the Second Gulf War,

the world viewed the United States as a savior of the small state. This view was shared even

among the Arab countries. In addition, the United States made both political and status gains. In

the Third Gulf War, the United States lost allies, international prestige, status, and safety. The

following table provides a summary of differences and similarities:

Criteria The Second Gulf War The Third Gulf War United Nations Wide support for U.S. plans except

from U.S.S.R. Very limited support, only Britain voiced support among the five nations with veto rights

Economic U.S. undergoes recession due to debt forgiveness. Oil prices spike for almost six month

The biggest recession since the great depression. U.S. is more indebted to other international players, such as China

Domestic The GOP loses the White House, but President Bush leaves office was a decent approval rating

The GOP loses control over the whole government, death of the neo – conservatives, and President Bush junior leaves office with the second worst approval ratings. Furthermore, the country is divided over the Iraq question

Safety Bin Laden cities U.S. troops presence in Saudi Arabia to start Al Qaeda, which starts growing

Al Qaeda expands internationally into different areas within the Globe. The terrorist organizations gain ground in Iraq, assisting in pushing anarchy in preparation of a fundamental state

Ethics U.S. confirms to most international laws and is seen as an enforcer of U.N. resolutions

The U.S. is seen as a self imposing world police which is seeking to secure oil reserves

World Power Structure

U.S. emerges as the world’s only super power

The door is open for the European Union and China to challenge U.S. foreign policy

Democracy U.S. avoids interfering in domestic issues within Arabic countries,

U.S. has to construct a democratic regime in Iraq. In addition,

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allowing the U.S. to continue supporting questionable figures in power

international criticism forces the U.S. to examine its relationship with some of its allies. This was greatly highlighted after the Palestine 2006 elections, where the U.S. refused to support a democratically elected government

Finally, is there a way out? The answer is yes, but the price is extremely high. Learning

from the past, the United States needs to rebuild Iraq taking in consideration the different

heritages and cultures of every ethnic group. On the international level, President Obama is

trying to rebuild the many damaged relationships left by Bush junior. In time, foes become

friends as long as common goals and views can be established. Domestically, more culture

awareness is needed in order to bring on a stable change in the common American view. The

Third Gulf War had proven that democracy can’t be forced; rather, democracy can only be

administrated in relation o each country’s capacity of change (sorry, there is no magical formula

for this one). And lastly, U.S. must seek different energy resources. This will foster both

security and growth leading to a better America.

(3)

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Works Citied:

Books: • Roy Andersen, Robert Seibert, & Jon Wagner. Politics and Change in the Middle East:

Sources of Conflict and Accommodation, 8th edition. New Jersey: Pearson, 2007

• Cleveland, William. A History of the Modern Middle East, 3rd edition. U.S.A.:

Westview, 2004

• Bill, James and Springborg, Robert. Politics in the Middle East, 5th edition. U.S.A.:

Addison-Wesley, 2000

• Roskin, Michael and Coyle, James. Politics of the Middle East, 2nd edition. U.S.A.:

Pearson, 2008

• King, Erika and Wells, Robert. FRAMING THE IRAQ WAR ENDGAME: War’s

Denouement in an Age of Terror. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2009

• Pauly, Robert Junior. US FORGEIN POLICY AND THE PERSIAN GULF:

Safeguarding American Interests through Selective Multilateralism. Vermont: Ashgate

Publishing Company, 2005

• Wayne, Stephen. The Road to the White House 2008, 8th edition. Boston: Thomson

Wadsworth, 2008

• Alan R. Gitelson, Robert L. Dudley, and Melvin J. Dubnick. American Government, 8th

edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008

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Articles: • Dumbrell, John. “Bush’s war: the Iraq conflict and American democracy” – edited by

Alex Danchev and John MacMillan “The Iraq War and Democratic Politics”. New York:

Routledge, 2005

• Stansfield, Gareth. “The transition to democracy in Iraq: historical legacies, resurgent

identities and reactionary tendencies” – edited by Alex Danchev and John MacMillan

“The Iraq War and Democratic Politics”. New York: Routledge, 2005

• Dodge, Toby. “War and Resistance in Iraq: From Regime Change to Collapsed State” –

edited by Fawn, Rick and Hinnebusch, Raymond “THE IRAQ WAR: Causes and

Consequences”. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006

• Fawn, Rick. “The Iraq War: Unfolding and Unfinished” – edited by Fawn, Rick and

Hinnebusch, Raymond “THE IRAQ WAR: Causes and Consequences”. Colorado:

Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006

Images:

Cartoons: (1) http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/ang0354l.jpg

(2) http://www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au/cartoons/new/2002-12-

09%20Iraq%20war%20cant%20start%20till%20grace%201.JPG

(3) http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/efi/lowres/efin451l.jpg

Desert Storm: (a) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Operation_Desert_Storm.jpg 

(b) http://www.outfromthewoods.com/desertstorm.jpg 

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Operation Iraq Freedom: (i) http://www.army.mil/features/RotatingIraqiForces/slides/Slide3IraqiFreedom.jpg

(ii) http://liberalbaptistrev.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/abu-ghraib_01.jpg