The Persian Gulf War

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By Christine Vincent, Addy Bailey, Alaina Wallace, and Tyler Bonis

U.S. Involvement

The Aftermath

The United States Involvement

Throughout the Persian Gulf War, the United States engaged a total of 2,183,000 troops. The Persian Gulf War began with Iraq invading Kuwait. Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi petroleum, however Saddam Hussein’s decision to attack Kuwait was made months before the invasion was actually launched. So, why did the United States get involved? The United States got involved in the Persian Gulf War because they were named the “protector of the free world” after World War II. Because the government viewed it as an aggressive action, they felt that Saddam Hussein needed to be removed from power.

First, the United States got involved in the war because they had been named the “protector of the free world” after World War II. They were named this because in 1947 the U.S. aided to Greece in stopping communism expansion. They were also named this because the U.S. helped both Vietnam and Korea to prevent the expansion of communism. Therefore, this made the U.S. primarily responsible for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open in order to protect the rest of the world. The Strait is seen as an important element in the defense of the Western worlds. If the strait were to be closed down, twenty percent of worldwide oil trade would be impacted, resulting in a huge increase in global energy costs. Second, the United States got involved in the war because they needed to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq at the time. He consistently threatened to strike Israel with a chemical weapon if Iraq were to be attacked at all. The United States is obligated to help defend Israel because of Israel’s major non-NATO allied relations. Hussein also added that Iraq could launch chemical weapons at Israel from several different sites. Britain and the United States could not take these threats lightly because after they tried to smuggle some of their own nuclear triggers into Iraq, they discovered Hussein had ordered an all-out effort to develop nuclear weapons.

By Addy Bailey

Finally, the United States got involved in the Persian Gulf War

because they viewed the invasion as an aggressive action. Because of this, the United Nations, trying to restore order, approved war. The invasion was threatening because if Iraq and Kuwait becomes all one country, then they will be one of the top countries in earning money from oil. This could be dangerous for the U.S. because they would have a lot of power and would be able to control the price of oil. Since they would be a single country exporting that much oil, they could rack up the oil prices to anything, because other countries would continue to buy it. In conclusion, the United States got involved in the war because they viewed the invasion as an aggressive action since they could become a major super power of the world. All in all, the United States got involved in the Persian Gulf War because of their title as “protector of the world”. They had a goal removing Saddam Hussein from power, and the United Nations felt threatened by the aggressive invasion of Kuwait. Therefore, the 2,183,000 American troops who were engaged in the Persian Gulf War were all engaged with good intentions in mind.

Saddam Hussein United Nations Logo

The Aftermath

The Persian Gulf War had huge repercussions for the United States of America in many ways. The war not only had political repercussions, but economical and environmental consequences as well. These two years in United States history have left our nation with several issues to be dealt with. America and the world’s economy suffered greatly in the time following the Persian Gulf War. Kuwait and all of the Middle East has a large amount of oil reserves in its possession. After Iraq invaded Kuwait to get that oil, the worldwide demand shot up. This huge increase in the price of oil was definitely felt in America. A barrel of oil went from 18 dollars to 40 dollars in hardly anytime at all, and finally settled around 21 dollars. Jet fuel around the world also became very expensive, and this lead to Trans-Atlantic travel decreasing 50%. The United States was more prepared than most for a rise in oil prices, because in our country we have the Strategic Petroleum Reserve which holds 580 million barrels of oil. The United States and the world was in great danger of economic disaster, and some believe that the high gasoline prices triggered the recession today. The world’s economy was not the only thing affected by this war, the environment felt the effects as well. In the years following the Persian Gulf War, the environment in Kuwait and the entire world suffered greatly. Saddam Hussein once said, “If I have to be evicted from Kuwait by force, then Kuwait would be burned.”# Not long after he said this, his forces set fire to over 600 oil wells in Kuwait, proving his threat was certainly true. Researchers had different opinions on the burning oil’s effect on the world’s weather. One reporter on CNN said, “The net effects would be similar to the explosion of the Indonesian volcano, Tambora, in 1815, which resulted in the year 1816 being known as the year without a summer.”# But other reporters did not believe it would be that bad, and would not affect the weather at all. It turns out that those comparing it to a possible nuclear winter were wrong, and the effects were not nearly as dramatic. Another environmental side effect of the war was acid rain from the burning oil. This caused breathing issues for citizens, and it was estimated that the rain killed 1,000 Kuwait citizens in the year following the war. Overall, this war had caused huge issues in the world’s environment.

By Alaina Wallace

In addition to economical and environmental consequences of the war, there were also political issues created. To the United States, Saddam Hussein was a larger threat than ever before. This put us on edge, because after we helped to liberate Kuwait, Hussein was still around and could have attempted to invade another country. The UN then established a no-fly zone in the Iraqi skies, and it was patrolled by both US and British planes. The UN pilots and Iraqi soldiers exchanged fire on more than one occasion. This complicated the balance of power in the Middle East. Since so much oil is in this area of the world it was crucial to keep the cost of oil at a reasonable level. After Kuwait was invaded we had to send soldiers to protect Saudi Arabia and all of their oil supply. If Iraq was able to get their hands on more oil than they already had the oil market could have been in jeopardy. The aftermath of the Persian Gulf War left many issues the world and America needed to solve. The economy, environment, and political affairs of the entire world were affected greatly by this conflict in the 1990s. This is how war and its aftermath has contributed to the way our country is today.

Burning Oil Fields

Oil Tanker in Gulf under attack

Bibliography

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