All the Countries the Americans Have Ever Invaded by Laycock Christopher Kelly|Stuart

Author:Laycock, Christopher Kelly|Stuart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Published: 2015-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

Kuwait

Kuwait is a small oil-rich (very oil-rich) nation on the north-eastern corner of the Persian Gulf that has borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The Al-Sabah family has ruled since 1938. From 1899 until 1961, it was a British protectorate. The United States recognised it as an independent nation in 1961.

Iraq has a long-standing claim to Kuwait and traditionally saw it as part of its territory. In fact, almost as soon as Kuwait was independent, Iraq made threatening moves against it. British troops had to rush in once again until things settled down.

American oil companies established trading links with Kuwait and other Gulf states early on, and after Britain’s retreat from empire, the United States eventually took over the British position as the chief protector of Kuwait.

America’s first major military action in support of Kuwait took place during the long, bitter Iran–Iraq War. Fearing that revolutionary Iran’s influence might spread in the Gulf, Kuwait was, despite Iraq’s claims on Kuwait, supportive of the Iraqi war effort. Iran, angered by this as well as Iraqi attacks on its oil industry, started to target oil tankers linked to places it regarded as supportive of Saddam. Kuwait requested American protection for its tankers, and to protect vital oil supplies to the world, the US was happy to oblige. Operation Earnest Will, starting in the summer of 1987, involved re-flagging Kuwaiti ships with the American flag and US Navy escorts through waters where the ships were vulnerable to Iranian attack. The mission came to an end after the war did in the summer of 1988.

However, this is not, of course, the main operation people tend to think about in association with American military operations and Kuwait. Yes, it’s that Desert Storm on the horizon.

Saddam Hussein decided to do something about Iraq’s long-standing claims to Kuwait and launched his invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990. Saddam had, however, seriously miscalculated the reaction to his attack. Only six days later, President George H. W. Bush announced the deployment of US troops to Saudi Arabia to pre-empt further Iraqi aggression. Eventually, over half a million US troops were deployed to the Middle East.

Operation Desert Shield was to be a multi-lateral coalition force deployment with the armed forces of thirty-four different nations. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War had made multi-lateral action possible. Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait was viewed as a direct challenge to the central mandate of the United Nations. Shortly after Saddam’s invasion, the UN Security Council, in a series of resolutions, condemned Iraq, issued trade embargoes, demanded an immediate withdrawal from Kuwait and authorised the use of ‘all necessary means’ to liberate that country. Saddam, however, ignored the UN threats.

An intensive six-week air campaign began on 17 January 1991, targeting vital Iraqi infrastructure and military forces both inside Iraq and in Kuwait itself. Despite firing Scud missiles at Saudi Arabia and Israel in an attempt to drag Israel into the conflict, Iraq had little answer to the onslaught from cruise missiles, stealth aircraft, B-52s, and a wide range of other aircraft.

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