systematically from when we started in 1991 up until this very date in
August of 1995.
5.2.1 Iraq/Kuwait conflict
To understand the essence of the conflict it is necessary to descry
the reasons of the conflict. Shortly after the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq’s
military dictator, Saddam Hussein, accused Kuwait of taking an unfair share
of oil revenues. In August 1990 he made the claim that Kuwait was a part of
Iraq and ordered his armies to invade and occupy Kuwait.
The Iraqi invasion alarmed President Bush and other world leaders for
three reasons. First, it was an act of aggression by a strong nation
against a weaker nation. (Iraq in 1990 had the fourth largest military
force in the world.) Second, the taking of Kuwait opened the way to an
Iraqi conquest of the world’s largest oil-producing nation, Saudi Arabia.
Third, the combination of Iraq’s military power and aggressive actions
would allow it to dominate the other countries of the Middle East.
To prevent further aggression, President Bush ordered 200,000 troops
to Saudi Arabia, followed later by an additional 300,000. “We have drawn a
line in the sand,” said the president, as he announced a defensive effort
called Operation Desert Shield. US troops were joined by other forces from
a UN-supported coalition of 28 nations including Great Britain, France,
Italy, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Egypt.
Members of the UN Security Council, including both the United States
and the Soviet Union, voted for a series of resolution concerning Iraq’s
aggression. One UN resolution demanded Iraq’s unconditional withdrawal from
Kuwait. Other resolutions placed an international embargo on trade with
Iraq and authorized UN members to use force if Iraqi troops did not leave
Kuwait by January 15, 1991. As the January deadline neared, members of
Congress debated whether or not to authorize the president to send US
troops into combat in the Persian Gulf. Both houses voted in favor of the
war resolution. [ ]
The Gulf War had far greater significance to the emerging post-cold
war world than simply reversing Iraqi aggression and restoring Kuwait. In
international terms, we tried to establish a model for the use of force.
First and foremost was the principle that aggression cannot pay. If we
dealt properly with Iraq, that should go a long way toward dissuading
future would-be aggressors. We also believed that the US should not go it
alone, that a multilateral approach was better. [ ]
5.2.2. UNIKOM Establishment
On 3 April 1991, the Security Council adopted resolution 687 (1991),
which set detailed conditions for a cease-fire and established the
machinery for ensuring implementation of those conditions. By resolution
687 (1991) the Council established a demilitarized zone along the border
between Iraq and Kuwait, to be monitored by a UN observer unit.
On 9 April 1991, the Security Council adopted resolution 689 (1991)
which approved the Secretary General's plan for the establishment of the
United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM). The UNIKOM advance
party arrived in the area on April 1991. UNIKOM was established to monitor
the Khawr 'Abd Allah and the DMZ set up along the border between Iraq and
Kuwait, and to observe any hostile or potentially hostile action mounted
from the territory of one State to the other.
The mandate was expanded in February 1993 by Security Council
resolution 806 (1993), with the addition of an infantry battalion, to: take
physical action to prevent, or redress, small scale violations of the DMZ
and of the boundary between Iraq and Kuwait; and problems arising from the
presence of Iraqi installations and citizens and their assets in the DMZ on
the Kuwaiti side of the border. Since the demarcation of the Iraq-Kuwait
boundary in May 1993 by the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation
Commission, and the relocation of Iraqi citizens found to be on the Kuwaiti
side of the border back into Iraq, the situation along the DMZ has been
calm.
From the Security Council on down, nearly every UN diplomat, along
with officials from many other countries, will not stop repeating their
mantra: They want full and unfettered access to all sites in Iraq where the
inspection team suspects weapons of mass destruction are hidden. And that
is precisely what Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has refused to do, for the
seven years that the inspection regime has been in force.
President Clinton has managed to put the United States on both sides
of the diplomatic fence, repeatedly insisting America is making every
effort to avoid violence, but is ready to use U.S. aircraft and cruise
missiles to pound Iraq into submission if necessary.
The United States has assembled an armada in the Persian Gulf
consisting of 30,000 soldiers, sailors, pilots and Marines, 20 warships,
and more than 400 attack and support aircraft. Although it doesn’t compare
to the huge multinational force that went to war with Iraq in 1991, neither
does the coalition.
So far, only Britain and Canada have joined the United States in
sending forces to the area. Most of the nations that supported the attack
in 1991 seem to feel that a military solution is too unsubtle a tool for
such a delicate diplomatic goal, and that the Iraqi people, already
suffering under UN sanctions, do not need to endure another baptism by
fire.
The demonstrations - never spontaneous and always state-organized -
quickly became tedious affairs, with the same posters, the same chants, the
same stunts.
What's more, the UN Security Council more than doubled the amount of
oil Iraq can sell over six months in order to buy food, medicine and other
goods for its people suffering from devastating sanctions imposed when Iraq
invaded Kuwait in 1990. At that time to put pressure on Iraqi forces to
withdraw, the United States and the UN voted to place an embargo on the
purchase of Iraqi oil. The resulting drop in oil supplies quickly led to
higher prices at gas stations all across the country.
The vote was unanimous in the 15-member body. The new program—which
raises the permitted oil revenue from $2 billion to $5.256 billion—does not
go into effect until Annan evaluates and approves an Iraqi plan for how the
goods should be distributed.
Iraq has expressed irritation over the plan and delayed the previous
versions of it, citing what it called infringements on its sovereignty. UN
officials insist on the right to strictly monitor the aid given under the
plan to make sure it reaches those who need it.
U.S. opinion polls show support for attacks on Iraq remains strong,
hovering in the 60 percent range, but a disastrous “town hall” meeting in
Ohio on Wednesday suggested it was equally fragile.
State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said families were not being
ordered to leave Israel and Kuwait, but that they were being allowed to do
so over concerns they may consider it prudent.
Iraqis have in the past threatened to attack both Israel and Kuwait in
the event that Iraq is attacked. The United States this weekend is beefing
up forces in Kuwait, and Israel has been urgently distributing gas masks.
“The probability of Iraq resorting to the use of chemical or
biological weapons is remote, but it cannot be excluded,” Rubin said.
U.S. officials acknowledge that any attack on Iraq could hit hard at
civilians there.
As a result of UNICOM work the following data concerning Iraqi
military arsenal were received.
|Missiles |UN verified as |UN believes may exist. |
| |destroyed | |
|Missiles |817 |2 |
|Warheads |30 |45 |
|Launchers and launch |75 |0 |
|pads | | |
|Chemical Weapons |
|Munitions (filled and |38,537 |31,658 |
|empty) | | |
|Precursor chemicals |3,000 tons |4,000 tons |
|Equipment for |516 |459 |
|production | | |
|Biological Weapons |
|Although the Al Hakam factory, capable of producing anthrax and botulinum|
|toxin, was raised, these and other agents have not been accounted for. |
5.2.3. Blitzkrieg1
The events that took place December 16, 1998 shocked the mankind. US
and British forces launched a “strong, sustained” series of airstrikes
against Iraq early Thursday, targeting military and security installations
throughout the country. Pentagon[1] sources said about 200 cruise missiles
were fired from ships and manned fighter bombers in the first wave of what
will be an “open-ended’ attack, designed to degrade Iraq’s ability to
produce nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Clinton accused Hussein
of failing to live up to his commitment to allow unrestricted access to UN
weapons inspectors. This is how chief CNN International Correspondent
Christiane Amanpour reported from a rooftop in downtown Baghdad: “An orange
plume of smoke wafted over the city after one of the loudest bursts.”
Allied missiles struck more than 50 separate targets” during the first wave
