Questions about the Gulf War

Here you have questions that will be chosen for your oral exams:

1.Why Iraq decided to invade Kuwait?

      Iraq decided to annex Kuwait because, historically taking, Iraqi people have always thought that Kuwait belongs to their territory. In addition, after the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) Iraq’s economy had become weak and Kuwait was an oil-rich small neighbor. So, Saddam Hussein thought that adding Kuwait to its territory would help to improve Iraq’s financial problems. Also, the annexation of Kuwait would place Iraq as a world economic power because it would acquire the control over 25% of global oil production.

2. What was the role of the USSR during the conflict?

     During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), both USA and USSR supported Iraq. So, when Hussein decided to invade Kuwait he didn’t expect opposition of any quarter (actually, he thought he would be supported again). But, by the time of the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, the Cold War had ended. The USSR, the main arms supplier of Iraq, decided to become a peaceful country. In fact, they tried to persuade Hussein to stop the invasion but they failed, so they decided not to contribute in favor of Iraq. The Soviet Union stopped the sale of weapons and aircraft to Iraq and they didn’t sent troops to the war.

3. What was the impact of the Gulf War on Saudi Arabia?

     Saudi Arabia is a neighbor country of Iraq and Kuwait. From the beginning of the conflict, Saudis were against Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. As they fully supported action against Iraq, Saddam sent his troops on Saudi borders, who later made a brief invasion on Saudi territory. After the Gulf War, Saudi economic and political situation changed:

-During the Gulf crisis, Saudi financial resources reduced by about $16 billion (but her oil fields remained intact).

-After the Iraqi threat of invasion, they had to improve their military forces to be prepared for another war situation. Saudi Arabia emerged as a new military power in the Middle East.

-The Iraqi-Saudi relations were badly damaged. The Saudi Government supported future sanctions against Iraq till Saddam Hussein was ousted. It became a United States economic allied.

4. Describe the role of the 28-nation coalition in the liberation of Kuwait.

    The 28-nation coalition was put together by the United States under authorization of the United Nations. Armed forces were mainly provided by the US and Saudi Arabia, Britain, France, Egypt and Syria (other Arab countries like Jordan didn’t take military action against Iraq nor gave it support). Despite the USSR efforts to persuade Iraq and delay actions against Iraq, they finally attacked. They had 38 days of air strikes followed by 4 days of ground fighting that liberated Kuwait. The UN imposed sanctions against Iraq which were not withdrawn for several years.

   

The Aircraft used during the Gulf War (Iraqi Aircraft)

It is important to take a look over the Aircraft used during the Gulf War, specially because this war was practically fought and won from the air. The Iraqi Aircraft was made up by a group of Russian planes that were very strong and fast. Actually, these planes were sold to Iraq by the USSR in order to use them for the war against Iran (1980-1988). Some of the Iraqi aircraft were: the Mig 21, the Mig 23, the Mig 25, the Sukhoi 20 and the Mirage F1. The number of planes was around 600, which was too little, compared to the US Armed Force's number, a fact that led to the Iraqi defeat.

 

The Aircraft used during the Gulf War (American Aircraft)

It is important to take a look over the Aircraft used during the Gulf War, specially because this war was practically fought and won from the air. The American Aircraft was made up by the most sophisticated and modern military planes that existed by that time, which included the F-15 (eagle), the A-10, the F-16, the Tornado and the F-117 (this one could not even be detected by enemy radar, being practically invisible). The US Armed Forces counted with 2600 aircraft, an important number that gave them the advantage needed to win the battle.

George Bush speech about the Gulf War (1991)

Here you have a short speech given by the former President of the United States of America, George Bush (father) in which he announces the beggining of the war. It was broadcast live; you can see that it was televised from the NBC's reporting news and the speech starts in minute 3:27. 

20th Century Battlefields (by BBC) - Gulf War (1991)

Documentary about the Gulf war presented by father and son historians Peter and Dan Snow, from BBC (they were actually in charge of a project named “20^th Century Batterfields” which shows a set of documentaries about the most important wars and military events from the last century, including some of the topics that we have studied in class, such as: World War II, the Korean War, Middle East and USSR internal affaires, etc.). We know that this video could be a little long (it lasts an hour) but uploaded it because it shows a very detailed description of the war. In here, you will see a set of interactive maps describing the military actions during the war and you will also experience some of the US military attacks live (remember that this was the first war in history that was filmed), where you will also realize how powerful and even dangerous the US Armed Forces can be. However, the video’s point of view could not be exactly the most neutral one because it shows an occidental perspective of the war, which can lead to some criticism.  

Gulf War: Multimedia Maps

We uploaded this video that contains a very good summary of the war in which you can see descriptive maps of the places where the war was developped. We really recommend you to watch this video!

Here you have a full presentation of The Gulf War, including its background, causes, main events and consequences. This could be really helpfull for your oral test.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2H_r1gXKXFHbnBYRDNhRWVyUnM/edit