Page 84 - History of War - Issue 01-14

Trigger

poinT

the start

of the

gulf war

summer 1990… with the Cold war a thing of the past, the
world was embracing an optimistic new dawn. but in the
Middle east, tensions were stirring and a full-scale military
conflict was about to erupt. Paul Dimery investigates…

obody who saw that eerie since oil was iraq’s main source of income,
green footage will ever forget it. his first tactic was to suggest that oPeC
it was February 1991 and millions (the organisation of the Petroleum exporting
around the world sat at home, Countries, of which iraq is a member) restrict
Nglued to the drama unfolding the supply to western countries, thus increasing
on their tV screens. an onslaught of bombs demand and pushing up prices. however,
rained down on baghdad from the night sky, the while there was some agreement from iraq’s
devastating display of pyrotechnics made visible neighbours with regard to this policy, Kuwait and
by thermal imaging. as each missile found and the United arab emirates failed to comply and
obliterated its target, an american voice could continued to sell oil cheaply. (at the time, the
be heard uttering the immortal words: “holy two nations had considerable interests in the
cow!” the ratings went through the roof – but west, so it suited them to keep prices down.)
this was no fictional tV series, this was a CNN it was this latter point that influenced
news bulletin; death and destruction saddam’s second tactic: he insisted that
being played out in front of our very iraq’s wartime debts be suspended,
eyes. real war, beamed into our claiming that the money Kuwait had
living rooms for the first time. saddam loaned them came from profits
if the first Gulf war’s began made from this over-production
unprecedented media coverage throwing of oil. his plea fell on deaf ears.
lives long in the memory, the running out of ideas, and
same can’t be said for the accusations convinced that Kuwait’s refusal
reasons the conflict started at his to budge was a threat to his
in the first place. indeed, neighbour country’s prosperity (and his own
for many of us, it began with welfare), in July 1990 saddam
images of iraqi tanks ploughing began throwing direct accusations
undeterred into Kuwait in august at his neighbour. First, he claimed
1990, seemingly an act of unprovoked that Kuwait had stolen around $2billion of
aggression by President saddam hussein. but, oil from iraq’s rumaila oilfield (near the border
while there’s some truth in that assumption, between the two countries). then he alleged that
there is, of course, much more to the story. it had harboured a secret agenda to acquire iraqi
only two years before, iraq had come out of territory while the latter was at war with iran.
an eight-year war against islamic fundamentalism at breaking point, the iraqi leader ordered
in iran – a conflict that had crippled its economy his army to advance towards Kuwait, with just
(within the first few days of the war alone, under 40,000 soldiers from his republican
many of iraq’s oil-producing facilities had been Guard positioned along the border by 19 July
destroyed or damaged, leading to an average (this number later grew to 100,000). while
drop in productivity of 9.7 per cent a year. saddam gave reassurances to the arab League
and then there was the exorbitant cost of (represented by egyptian President hosni
the war itself). with much of his country now Mubarak) that his forces wouldn’t actually
in the grip of poverty, and having been the invade Kuwait, and that he was willing to begin
subject of four assassination attempts by his face-to-face negotiations with them at a summit US troops board a C-130 Hercules
own people, saddam needed to act quickly. in saudi arabia on 31 July, the move was of transport plane destined for Kuwait
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