Analysis of the international crisis that led to and resulted from the 1990 iraq invasion into kuwait

Although the existing regimes and boundaries never changed during and after the war, the economic status of the states involved did not remain the same. Iraq was unable to pay the debts they owed Kuwait, and it is this same debt that led to the 1990-1991 war which left Iraq in dire poverty. Iraq is one of the nations that have to date never recovered its economic status as a result of the war. The reasons for the Kuwait invasion by Iraq can be described by many factors. This paper will address the connections between the factor that led to the invasion by Iraq and the ancient forces that led to the 1990 Kuwait attack by Iraq (Khalidi, 1991). Americans main reason was to support Iraq to win against Iran to gain the advantage of weakening the Iran revolution.

Due to the support of the United States, the Iraqis were able to defeat the Iranians who were not in the position of retreating. In 1988, the war came to an end, and Saddam Hussein wrote to the Iranian president requesting peace talks between the two countries. Since Iraq was so strong, the Iranians were forced to accept resolution 598 to the benefit of the Western powers (Verma, 2008). Causes of the Iraq Invasion in Kuwait The root of the tension between Kuwait and Iraq started due to border issues. The feud between the two Arab nations grew worse, and the Iraq army began to gather close to the Kuwait border in 1990 thus forcing some Arab countries to try to arbitrate the dispute between the two nations.

Kuwait did not want to look like a puppet and therefore did not ask for support from the neighboring Arab states and the US. The western countries and the United States had their expectations that Iraq would try to seize the border to frighten Kuwait and therefore did not make any attempts to stop Iraq from its actions. On 1st of August, 1990, the Arab arbitrators successfully induced negotiation between the two countries but this did not yield any fruits, and the negotiation ended in charges and countercharges between Kuwait and Iraq (Musallam, 1996). The United States did not take a straightforward stand in the dispute between the two Arab nations and only wished that they could strike an agreement. Iraq indicated that Kuwait’s trouble might come to an end if they adhere to petroleum quotas and pay the amount demanded to Iraq.

Kuwait’s ruler disturbed by the open military threat by Saddam Hussein and rushed to Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd to intercede. Kuwait also wrote to the United Nations and stated that Kuwait is a nation of integrity and principles and that they were not ready to yield to Iraq’s demands (Simpson, 1991). The Iraq military started moving into the border of Kuwait thus forcing the Arabian nations to hold an urgent meeting in Jeddah. On 31st July 1990, the meeting was held, and everything was changed, but not as Saddam Hussein wanted. In a meeting organized in Cairo, the Arab League and the GCC ministers held a debate concerning the Kuwait invasion. After the meeting, the ministers then denounced the invasion by Iraqi forces and demanded an unconditional and immediate withdrawal and made clear their efforts to uphold the territorial and sovereignty of all Arab League member states.

The foreign ministers were against foreign interventions in the disaster and opposed Kuwait’s request to form a combined Arab Military to fight back the Iraq army. The United States was successful in getting the anti-Iraq objections embraced in the United Nation Security Council. The US as well sent military troops to guard Saudi Arabia and other Arab Nations from possible Iraq attacks. Iraq as well implied that they will leave Kuwait if Israel left from the territories they were occupying. The suggestion was opposed by Western Countries immediately it was made. International Reaction on the Invasion On 29th November, the United Nations Security Council allowed the coalition forces gathering in Saudi Arabia to use any necessary ways to evict Iraq from Kuwait because it did not show any signs of surrendering (Greenwood, 1991).

The Iraqis refused to give in to the ultimatum that had been set on 15th January 1991. Coalition attacks then commenced air attacks early in the morning on 17th January 1991. On 28th February 1991, the Iraqi resistance broke down, and this led to Iraqis being pushed out of Kuwait. Effects of the War on Iraq The war cost 158,000 lives with 32,195 children, 86,194 men and 39, 612 dying (Ascherio et al. Military forces accounted for 40, 000 deaths that happened. The bombs also affected sanitation and water treatment facilities, power and fertilizer plants (Alnasrawi, 1992). A short period after the war, resistance broke out in Iraq with the ones from the north handled by Kurdish nationalists and those from the south being spontaneous. and Ismael, J.  S. The United Nations, however, decided to ease the struggles by the Iraq civilians by allowing the Iraq government to 1.

6 billion dollars worth of petroleum to import medicine and food. Saddam, however, rejected this offer since the United Nations insisted on being in charge of the funds holding 30 percent of the funds towards war compensations. After consultations and negotiations that took a whole year, the Security Council appropriated Resolution 1284 and thus choosing to initiate the United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission which was to take the place of the Special Commission (Siljeholm, 2012). It was ordered that Iraq should cooperate with the United Nations Security Council if Iraq wanted the sanctions on export and import periods. Iraq later expelled all the members of the inspection committee from the United States claiming that they were using inspections to spy Iraq, charges which the United States accepted (Chitalkar and Malone, 2013).

The team again came back between 1997 and 1998 which was a more turbulent period for Iraq. Saddam also claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency was using inspection for secret operations in Iraq. The surviving troops were later used to shut down rebellions by the Kurds and the Shi’a. Oil-for-Food Scheme The United Nations Security Council responding to the continued humanitarian crisis established two objectives 706 in 1991 and 986 in 1995 (oil-for-food program). The second resolution was put into practice in 1996 after a memorandum of understanding with the Saddam Hussein government. Despite the sanctions, Iraq was allowed to sell oil up to the value of 1 billion in three months for it to import foodstuffs and medicine for the suffering civilians. Before the oil for food program commenced, the Hussein government was supplying approximately 1300 calories of food daily in terms of food subsidies and food rations.

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