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.