The Gulf War Essays

The Gulf War Essays The Gulf War Essay The Gulf War Essay The Persian Gulf war was launched on January 6, 1991, after international diplomatic efforts and sanctions had failed to force Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, which was ilegally invaded on August 2, 1990, by the january 15th deadline set by the united nations. The 31-nation military moved against Iraq, commanded by U.S. general H. Norman Schwarzkopf, included forces from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Britain, Syria, and France. Japan, Germany, and others aided the war effort financially. The war, code-named Desert Storm, began as a massive air strike carried out on key Iraqi military targets. The allies quickly gained air superiority; many Iraqi planes were flown to Iraq because it was a neutral area and they stood a less chance of being shot down. Iraq launched scud missle attacks on Israel in an effort to bring them into the war, and weaken the side of the allies. The ground war started when Saddam Hussein ignored a February 23 U.S. deadli ne to begin moving out of Kuwait immediately, but it only lasted about 100 hours. Allied casualties totaled at 147 killed in action and 407 wounded. The Iraqi casualties numbered to be 100,000 dead and 300,000 wounded. Allied military operations were suspended at midnight on February 27. Iraq agreed on February 27-28 to accept the United Nations terms. the UNs decision to terminate the ground war was later criticized because Saddan Hussein was still in power and could still supress post war revolts iraqis. In 1992 the United States, France, and Britain estabished a no fly zone to end Iraqi air attacks on Shiites in southern Iraq. Among the postwar priorities were the re-building of Kuwait, the destruction of Iraqs chemical and nuclear weapons capabilities, and the negotiation of a broad Middle East peace accord. The war was notable for the prominent