In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, claiming that Kuwait

Mini Case Study on International Crisis (week
6)

In
1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, claiming that Kuwait was stealing oil from an oil
field that straddled the Iraq-Kuwait border and that the territory of Kuwait
had historically been a province of Iraq. Iraq quickly overran Kuwait, which
was much smaller and militarily weaker than Iraq. Once Iraq had taken over
Kuwait, it destroyed property records and other important documents, as if to
eradicate the legal vestiges of the Kuwaiti government. Iraq also postured in a
way that was widely viewed as threatening Saudi Arabia, home to arguably the
most important oil fields in the world.

In
1991, the United Nations Security Council authorized military action to evict
Iraq, and a multinational force with 34 members soon evicted Iraq from Kuwait
and restored the Kuwaiti government. The League of Arab States also approved of
military action to reverse the invasion of Kuwait; both Iraq and Kuwait were
(and still are) members of the league, and a number of Arab states participated
in the military action.

Under
the terms of the 1991 ceasefire after the restoration of the Kuwaiti
government, Iraq pledged to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
programs. At the time, it was widely believed that Iraq was developing nuclear
weapons. Further, it was documented by the U.N. that Iraq had actually used
chemical WMDs against Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s and
against a minority population in Iraq in 1988. In response to Iraq’s
noncompliance with the commitments it made in the 1991 ceasefire, the U.N.
authorized economic sanctions against it. Despite the sanctions, some claim
that Iraq continued to defy the U.N. inspectors who were responsible for
checking on Iraq’s progress in dismantling its WMD programs, and relations
between Iraq and the United States reached a critical level.

In
part, Iraq’s reluctance to work closely with U.N. inspectors may have been a
reaction to the U.S.’s response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on
New York City and the Pentagon. Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks, but
the attacks heightened the concerns of U.S. leaders about the dangers of
nuclear weaponry in the hands of adversaries. Some members of the Bush
Administration were convinced that Iraq was developing WMDs and the United
States raised its concerns at the U.N., but did not request Security Council
authorization for military action against Iraq to enforce the WMD terms of the
1991 ceasefire. U.N. authorization may not have been requested because the United
States knew that the Security Council would not authorize the action; five
members of the Security Council have veto power, which is to say any one of
them could have prevented the authorization from being passed. The United
States claimed that a U.N. authorization was not necessary because the 1991
ceasefire agreement provided the necessary authority; this view was not widely
shared. In 2003, the United States and several allies (the United Kingdom,
Australia, and Poland) invaded Iraq to enforce the WMD provisions of the
ceasefire—but even after defeating Iraqi military forces, no WMDs were found.

Setting
aside your personal views of the Iraq War and its aftermath of violence,
compare and contrast the 1991 and 2003 military actions with respect to the roles
of the United States, the United Nations, other international bodies, and other
states.

Like
your previous essay, this one should have 500 to 750 words, be word processed,
double-spaced, edited, spell-chekced, and fully cited. Good essays will have an
introduction, a thesis statement, topic sentences for each paragraph,
supporting evidence, and a conclusion.

Explanation & Answer

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