United Nations Attack On Iraq example essay topic

Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait so as to enhance his power base in the region. Such aggression had to be counted with the full force of the UN led primarily by the USA. The Gulf War was a classic case of good versus evil. Is this an accurate assessment of the Gulf War? The second Gulf War began on August 2, 1990 with an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and ended on March 3, 1991 when Iraq accepted a cease-fire.

It began as a local war and ended as a United Nations attack on Iraq. It resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 civilians and soldiers and the effects of the brutal weapons used are continuing today. Before the Gulf War, Iraq was a rich and prosperous nation that had all its basic needs such as sewage, clean water, electricity, etc and more. Its 'downfall's tarted in 1980 with a war against Iran.

The local war officially began on September 22nd with an Iraqi land and air invasion of western Iran. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein claimed that the reason for the attack was because of a territorial dispute over the Shatt al Arab, a waterway that empties into the Persian Gulf and forms the boundary between Iran and Iraq. There is a possibility that this is true since the two states had issues about it back in 1975. The United States and many other Western European nations became involved in the war in 1987, in response to Iranian attacks on Kuwaiti oil tankers traveling in the Persian Gulf.

In 1990 Iraq agreed to the terms of the 1975 treaty with Iran and withdraw ed its troops from Iranian territory. Back in 1975 this treaty, named Algiers, was signed to state that the Shatt-El-Arab waterway, was to be the border. Unfortunately it didn't last long. August 2nd 1990 was the beginning of the Gulf War. There are three basic causes of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait: .

First, Iraq had long considered Kuwait to be a part of Iraq. This claim led to several fights and arguments over the years. After Saddam Hussein's failure in the attempt to invade Iran, he sought easier conquests against his weak southern neighbors... Second, rich deposits of oil is found on the border between the two countries and Iraq constantly claimed to the UN that Kuwaiti oil rigs were illegally pumping oil out of Iraqi oil fields. Middle Eastern deserts make borders hard to recognize and this has caused many conflicts in the region... Third, during the Iraq-Iran war, many Arab nations extended loans to Iraq, one of them being Kuwait.

When the war was over all the countries gave Iraq time to pay off the loans so it could recover except for Kuwait, which demanded the repayment. We shouldn't blame Iraq to fight for its oil or ask for a loan extension but declaring war on a nation weaker then itself it sought of unfair. Since Kuwait was breaking an OPEC agreement and pumping out extra oil, oil prices slumped and to make maters more complicated the US increased import of oil from Kuwait. Many believe that the US wanted the war to take place because of the April Glaspie incident.

Glaspie was the American ambassador at the time and when Saddam asked America's opinion on him attacking Kuwait, she said "we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts". When interviewed after the war, Glaspie told the media that they didn't know Iraq was going to take 'all' of Kuwait. Obviously there was something fishy going on. After several attempts to negotiate, the Iraqi military invaded Kuwait and quickly took control of the tiny nation. If Saddam wanted to take Kuwait as to enhance his power, then he wouldn't have attempted to negotiate the oil and border matters. In a matter of days the United States together with the United Nations, demanded that Iraq immediately withdraw or face the threat war with the UN.

The U.S. and other UN member nations started sending troops to Saudi Arabia within the week, and the worldwide coalition began to form. The military coalition consisted of 36 countries which included the UK, Turkey, France and Australia. The war was also financed by countries that were unable to send in troops. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were the largest donors.

Surprisingly Switzerland also contributed to the allies, this after being neutral during both World War 1 and 2. Many of these countries were bribed by the US to vote 'yes' (for the war resolution) in the UN meetings. An estimated 45 billion dollars (minimum) was spent just on bribes. By January 1991, a minimum of 500 thousand troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.

After more attempts to negotiate, U.S. and Iraqi officials failed to bring an Iraqi withdrawal, maybe because Saddam didn't want to look like a coward or because the US refused to negotiate on fair terms. So on January 16, allied forces began the bombing of Iraq and its forces in Kuwait as Iraq went from the fourth-largest army in the world to the second-largest army in Iraq in 100 hours The question is, why did the US attack Iraq if its mission was to get Iraqi soldiers out of Kuwait? Here are some of the excuses that the White House has given to back up their 'war resolution' outcome: . They had to protect human rights in Kuwait and the Middle East. Funny thing is nothing got to do with human rights has changed in the Middle East since the war ended... They had to protect Saudi Arabia from an Iraqi attack.

This statement is also false because if Saddam were to attack Saudi then it would " ve right after it had taken over Kuwait, not wait until the US forces had come... Iraq posed a nuclear threat. This is another lie because the Americans had already said that it was impossible for Iraq to get the needed materials to make a nuclear bomb. If they were to buy the materials then it would " ve have to been from the Allies! (or western states). Just about all of the excuses the US has given are either fake or lies, this just proves how desperate they were for a war to take place. The UN Security Council resolution was only to expel the Iraqi forces in Kuwait.

Now to do that 88,000 tons of bombs were dropped over Iraq, civilians were killed and civilian structures were turned to dust. The US also fired on retreating and defenseless Iraqi soldiers and used very brutal and ugly weapons. Such as fuel-air explosives, cluster bombs, depleted-uranium shells, and many more. All of the things above are completely illegal and was against the UN constitution.

Now we must realize that any type of war is not 'good's o there can't possibly be a good versus evil in war. The only way we may think a country is good or evil is if we have been brainwashed by the media and nationalism... JENSON, Robert - The Gulf War Brought Out The Worst In Us, News Center, July 30th 2002. PARENT I, Michael - Against Empire, City Light Books, San Fransisco, 1995. PILGER, John - Distant Voices, Vintage, London, 1992. FISK, Robert - The Last Great Tyrant, The Independent, December 30th 2000. web. web The Gulf War by unknown. web. web The Algiers Accord by MidEast web.