an invasion that marked the start of a six-month conflict between the
United States and Iraq. These tanks were ordered to invade Kuwait by Saddam
Hussein, the ruthless dictator of Iraq. The Iraqi troops looted Kuwaiti
businesses and brutalized Kuwaiti civilians. Saudi Arabia began to fear
that they may be invaded as well, and on August 7th they formally asked
President Bush for US assistance. The US pledged to defend the Saudis, and
to remove the Iraqis from Kuwait. Great masses of troops from many
different nations were deployed in the Persian Gulf area. At 4:30 PM EST on
January 16, 1991, the first aircraft with orders to attack Iraqi targets
were launched …show more content…
The adoption of the
resolution only authorized the use of force to remove Iraq from Kuwait.
This limited the ability of our military to completely destroy Iraq's
military or to drive Hussein from power. Our authority to remove Iraq from
Kuwait was clearly legitimate.
The Gulf War was fought with proportionality clearly in the leadership's
mind. President Bush planned to get Iraq's troops out of Kuwait and then
stop. He had no intention of carrying the war further. Although Bush would
have dearly liked to have marched US troops toward Baghdad to destroy
Hussein's government, he did not, because of the risk of heavy casualties,
and because it went against the proportionality idea.
The leaders who picked targets for our forces never targeted civilians.
Civilians were killed, for sure, but they were not deliberately targeted.
Non-combatant immunity is an important part of every war the US has been
engaged in. The Iraqis definitely targeted civilians, as was quite evident
by their SCUD attacks on Israel and Saudi Arabia. Many civilians and
military personnel were killed by SCUDs during the course of the war.
Civilians are not responsible for harm done to one's country, and …show more content…
They were also more loyal, although that was not discovered until
the ground war began and Iraqi troops began to desert, tens of thousands at
a time. The US would not have entered into this conflict if they had not
clearly known that they would win.
Sanctions were placed against Iraq almost immediately, and were in place
and doing nothing for six months before President Bush realized that they
had to turn to their last resort, the use of force, to get the Iraqis out
of Kuwait. All diplomatic means had failed, from the initial meeting
between US ambassador April Glaspie and Saddam Hussein to the
implementation of sanctions. The use of force was clearly our last resort.
Epilogue-Who Won The War
The Persian Gulf War, in military terms, was won by the United States and
her allies. The Iraqis were forced out of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia was
protected, and the US casualties were only in the hundreds. However,
politically, the war may have resulted in a draw. Saddam Hussein is still
in control of Iraq, and Bush is no longer in office. Kuwait is once again a
free country, but Hussein is still right next door to threaten them again.
Although it would have gone against St. Agustin's Just War Theory, it