The Reasons Of The Iraq Invasion Of War By Peter Fitzgerald

728 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Causes and effects of war in general

Date War and Peace
Article summary
I searched a lot to find an article that talks about the Iraq invasion of Kuwait. The article by Peter Fitzgerald “The Invasion of War” explores the reasons of the war between Kuwait and Iraq, considering that they were great allies in the past. He suggests that the differences between these two countries were economic and diplomatic. In the past the two were great allies and they greatly assisted each other during wars providing a protective edge in their territories. Their friendship was brokeup when the Iraq government realized that they owed them billions. Although at that particular time after the Iraq-Iran war Iraq used much of their resources and could not pay their debt to Kuwait. In a desperate move to resolve this problem, they requested for a reduction in oil prices (Fitzgerald 45).
Iraq and Kuwait were some of the biggest oil producing countries in percentage. The author claims that before the war they engaged into numerous arguments in regards to their oil business. At this time the author explains that Iraq requested for a reduction in the price of oil, but Kuwait didn’t want and this caused a lot of loss for Iraq. Iraq, as put by the then foreign minister Tariq Aziz, is said to have expressed his concern on the kind of losses that were occurring in the tune of billions on their oil business as prices per barrel dropped. All that Iraq wanted from the lowering of prices on crude oil was to help them clear their debt with Kuwait (Fitzgerald 7). Fitzgerald continues to explain how the relationship between Kuwait was finally stained when Iraq found out they were drilling their oil. Tensions between the two b...

... middle of paper ...

...The lack of diplomatic leadership was also a great factor; he describes Iraq as it lacked political and social legitimacy. Fitzgerald’s research on the invasion of Kuwait article summarizes their history and provides a clear overview of the history of the relationships between Iraq and Kuwait (Hassan 28). This helps the people to get a clear picture on the kind of problems that faced the Middle Eastern countries. The article provides a better knowledge with worthwhile information on the occurrences that destabilized the Middle Eastern countries. It mentions the reign of Saddam Hussein who was one of the most powerful dictators that did not bow down to Western influences (Musallam 67). As a result of his tough skin it led to a war that could have been avoided. In conclusion, war creates danger for any economy and while peace provides for steady economic growth.

Show More
Related

  • Desert Storm Pros And Cons

    691 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kuwait has the 3rd most oil in the Middle East. Iraq was very poor and needed money. They had just suffered a war with Iran. (Stroilov)They invaded Kuwait in hopes of getting oil to sell and get some money. America was the number 1 country buying oil from Kuwait so we put troops on Kuwait's grounds to defend them.(Stroilov) The deadline for Iraq to leave was Jan. 15, 1991, so Iraq needed to leave and America took action and forced them out of Kuwait. Although before they left they set over 600 oil wells on fire. It took over 1 year to extinguish the fires. In the Gulf War USA played a big part to defend Kuwait. (Stroilov)In 1990 USA defended Kuwait from Iraq invading them for oil to sell it. Later Iraq did get into Kuwait and Desert Storm

    Read More

  • Desert Storm Research Paper

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Iraq and Saddam Hussein were trying to take over Kuwait, which was a major oil supplier to the world. If Iraq got Kuwait than Saudi Arabia would be right next to them. So then Iraq would pose an Immediate threat to take over Saudi Arabia, which was also a major oil supplier.

    Read More

  • Middle East Dbq Essay

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Saddam’s government collapse in the US impacted the country of Iraq by creating a democratic government where the citizens have rights. Two years earlier Afghanistan was invaded by the us because their government was believed to be an aid to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Later the US defeated Afghanistan’s government, the Taliban and established a democratic government like in Iraq today. We can infer that the Middle East has complicated problem going on with the region, that not even the u.s. president can figure out. (Doc C) all in all the US has impacted the region of the Middle East and build a strong relationship with it over the past

    Read More

  • The United States 's Operation Desert Shield

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    Saddam Hussein’s main purpose of sending troops to take over Kuwait was to take control of their oil fields, which Hussein believed would be an easy task; however, he failed to understand that the United States and United Nations were keeping a very close watch on the Iraqi’s actions. Hussein also had other motives, such as freeing himself from the debt he was drowning in from the Iran-Iraq War just two years earlier. He set the pretense for war with Kuwait by defining their refusal to give land to Iraq as an act of military belligerence. President Bush ordered the United States to respond just five days after Iraq had invaded Kuwait. If the United States had not taken action, Hussein would have possibly continued to invade other oil producing countries and take control of the United States main sources of oil as well as threaten a number of innocent people’s lives.

    Read More

  • Sadam Huisein's Invasion of Kuwait Led to Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    Only two weeks later Hussein held a speech, where he accused the neighbor, Kuwait, for draining oil from the Ar-Rumaila oil fields, this was an oil field located along the border, and was a part of both countries. He accused Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for conspiring to keep the prices of oil low to pamper the western oil-buying nations. In addition to Hussein’s speech, the Iraqi troops had already started to gather along the border of Kuwait, ready to invade. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was alarmed by this, and started negotiations between the two parts to try to avoid nasty things to happen, and to keep the US from getting involved, but after only two hours, he had to give up, and on August 2 1990, he ordered the invas...

    Read More

  • The Iraqi Culture

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many historical events have occurred in Iraq in the past few centuries. The day that Iraq gained independence was a very important day for the Middle-Easterners. They gained their independence on October 3, 1932 (Black 7). The Iraqis f...

    Read More

  • Geography and History in the Iraq War

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    The course of the Iraq War has been shaped immensely by the geography of the region for nearly 40 years. The movement of Iraq forces throughout the region, for better or worse, has had many effects on the way in which the way has gone. For instance, these forces often threatened certain resources needed by many countries and regions. The result of this was often war or conflict, concluding in a devastating amount of casualties. This also left Iraq with debt as well as very low resources such as food and water. The basis of the whole entire war has been on certain aspects of the geography, which has had a result of creating many small wars throughout this whole ordeal as well as many other consequential occurrences.

    Read More

  • Theoretical Perspectives on Iraq War 2003

    2300 Words  | 5 Pages

    In this paper, I intend to analyze Iraq war of 2003 from Realist and Marxist/ Critical perspectives. I intend to draw a conclusion as to which theoretical framework, in my opinion, is more suitable and provides for a rational understanding of the Iraq War. While drawing comparative analysis of two competing approaches, I do not intend to dismiss one theory in entirety in favour of another. However, I do intend to weigh on a golden balance, lacunas of both theories in order to conclude as to which theory in the end provides or intends to provide a watertight analysis of the Iraq war.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Public Opinion On U.S. Foreign Policy Since Vietnam

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    Saddam Hussein sent troops into Kuwait on August 2, overtaking it and renaming it Kuwait City, Iraq's 19th province. Bush sent 50,000 troops to the Gulf on August 8 and ordered a naval blockade on August 12. This increased the support from the American people to 80 percent. ...

    Read More

  • Howard Kurtz's Argument Against The Iraq War

    456 Words  | 1 Pages

    What the video was trying to get across was the irony in what Howard Kurtz has said which is, “I believe that these newscasts in 2005 and 2006 played the biggest single role in helping to turn public opinion against the war.” They also show more videos of the news fabricating a lot of the Iraq War. It showed the media hyping up previews of stories to gain more viewers for their ratings. A lot of the news networks also used controversial language and propaganda as well. The news wanted to try and exaggerate real events and incite fear to prove that we needed the military to intervene.

    Read More

  • The words of President George W. Bush on 9/20/01

    3363 Words  | 7 Pages

    1990, President George H.W. Bush went to the Persian Gulf region with his wife and top congressional leaders at Thanksgiving time to visit the 400,000 troops gathered in Saudi Arabia, whom he sent there to protect that country from an Iraqi invasion. When the President arrived, he was greeted by Saudi officials with nothing less then open arms. This was period in US-Saudi relations that saw little if any disagreements and appeared to be a continuing foundation for pleasant ties in the future. However, this President could not for see the hardships between the two countries that would emerge during his sons Presidency.

    Read More

  • The Iraqi Culture In Iraq

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    Iraq’s economic system was crippled by the Iran and Iraq War, the Persian Gulf War and the UN embargo. The country has yet to recover from its 1980 levels when Iraq was the second largest economy is the Arab world (Khadduri,

    Read More

  • Essay On The Iraq War

    2350 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Iraq War had a great impact on American history. “At a… fundamental level, the failure

    Read More

  • The Iraq War Of Iraq

    1565 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition. The US wanted to destroy Saddam Hussein’s regime and bring democracy. To addition to that, US and its allies believed that Iraq had secret stocks of chemical and nuclear weapons, hence Iraq was a threat to the world (Axford 2010). In March 2003, US air bombed Baghdad and Saddam escaped Iraq. The invasion disarmed the government of Saddam Hussein. President Bush in March 2003 gave a premature speech, that tyrant of Iraq has fallen and US has freed its people. President Bush flew into Iraq to show the world that the war is over, even though nothing was accomplished (Kirk et al. 2014). Iraq was facing 13 years of scantions, therefore regime diverted its resources to flexible networks of patronage that kept it in power (Dodge 2007, 88). Iraq faced widespread of lawlessness and after the violent regime changed US could not control the situation. Iraqi civilians were looting, attacking ministries building and this resulted into a series of event (Kirk et al. 2014) . From a military perspective the regime was taken down, but they made no commitment to rebuild or secure the country.

    Read More

  • Saddam Hussein

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein, an Iraqi political leader, was born to a poor Arab family on April 28, 1937. Hussein studied law in Egypt after his attempt to assassinate the premier of Iraq, Abdul Karim Kassem, in 1959. In the summer of 1968, the Baath party returned to power and named Hussein as deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. Hussein has been described by many as the most powerful person in Iraq because of his intimidation of enemies, careful control of his political power, and his military purges. Saddam finally gained control of the Iraq presidency in 1979. His many goals as President included attempting to increase industrial production, reorganizing government policies in agriculture, and improving education and the status of women. Hussein first began a successful development program of Iraq’s huge petroleum resources. However, this development and economic and social advances were at risk when Iraq went to war with Iran from 1980 to 1988. Hussein started this war to control Arab-inhabited areas and especially for oil resources. Hussein is also known as a ruthless leader who used chemical weapons on Kurdish people seeking freedom in the 1980’s. In August, 1990, Hussein invaded and annexed Kuwait for violating oil production laws set by the Organization of Petroleum Exports Countries(OPEC). (Kuwait had lowered the price of oil.) The Iraqi forces killed many Kuwaiti people and stole or destroyed much property. Hussein apparently wanted to use Kuwait’s vast oil resources to help Iraq’s economy. Many people believed that Iraq would next invade neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia. Some of the countries that opposed Iraq’s invasion and that sent forces to this region were the United States, Canada, and several Arab and Western European nations. These countries formed an allied military coalition that caused a worldwide embargo against Iraq. The United Nations Security Council condemned Iraq’s occupation and approved the use of military force on Iraq if their troops did not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991. Hussein ignored this demand and refused to withdraw. The consequence of this decision was to go to war. On January 16, 1991, the allies bombed military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. Iraq, in return, launched missiles against Saudi Arabia and Israel. The U.S.-led military coalition drove Iraq’s armies out of Kuwait. This war, called the Persian Gulf War, lasted only six weeks. On April 11, 1991, the U.N.

    Read More

More about The Reasons Of The Iraq Invasion Of War By Peter Fitzgerald

Open Document