Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini
#.
Western
involvement in the Iraq- Iran war
-
Their main aim in the Middle East was to
preserve the balance of power.
-
They also wanted to ensure the
uninterrupted flow of oil from the region.
-
France, Germany and the soviet union
were supporting Iraq as well as the USA
-
They were bitterly opposed to new regime
in Iran
-
France became the main non-Arab supplier
of arms to Iraq.
-
Americans became more involved when the
Iranians counter attacked and were advancing towards Baghdad
-
Americans and other states in the Gulf
were terrified by Iran’s control over most of the oil reserves therefore,
Khomeini had a chance to control oil prices
-
An Iranian victory was going to lead a
collapse of pro-western regimes in the Gulf.
-
Americans kept Iraq informed about the
location of Iranian forces by the use of satellite technology.
-
They also supplied Iraq with equipment
which were later used to make chemical weapons.
-
From 1996, the war was focused on the
Gulf which was a very important route which was used by Iran and Iraq to
transport their oil.
-
Each side attacked the enemy’s oil
installations and tankers.
-
The Iraqi air force controlled the sky
but the Iran navy was stronger.
-
The Iranians started to attack the
Kuwaitis for assisting Iraq and the Soviet Union began to assist the Kuwaitis.
-
The USA swiftly stepped in to protect
the Kuwaiti’s ships so as to reduce the Soviet’s influence in the oil rich Gulf
States.
-
The Iranians cut off the Iraq’s access
to the gulf through the Shatt al-Arab waterway, the US provided protection for
Iraqi shipping and destroyed much of the Iranian navy.
#. Ceasefire 1988
-
In July 1988, the Iranians finally
accepted a ceasefire.
-
Their economy was in ruins.
-
The stream of martyrs had subsided and they
faced the prospect of a direct war with America.
-
However, there was no peace treaty which
was signed and both sides continued to re-arm.
-
Iran-Iraq war is one of the most
destructive wars since the Second World War (WWII).
-
Iran causalities were almost a million
while for Iraq had half a million.
-
There was severe brutality on huge scale
from both sides.
-
Both sides assumed that the minority
groups within the enemy’s country would rise up and welcome the invaders.
-
National feelings proved stronger in
both cases.
#. Consequences for Iran
-
Khomeini said that he found agreeing to
a ceasefire more dangerous than poison.
-
Khomeini dies in 1989
-
Despite the death of many people, he was
praised my most of the Iranians for his courage to fight against great powers.
-
12 million people filled the city of
Tehran for his funeral
-
The Islamic republic continued to
attract popularity in Iran.
-
Although Iran faced a number of deaths
and widespread destruction of infrastructure, it had population of 55 million
and it remained a major power.
-
However it failed to spread its Islamic
revolution.
#. Consequences for
Iraq
-
The Health and education of the Iraq
people was affected.
-
This was because most of the money was
used for buying weapons. [ about 93% of all imports was directed to arms]
-
Life expectance decreased and infant
mortality rate increased.
-
After the war, the Iraq government
promised its people peace and prosperity.
-
However the people of Iran got more
hardship and Terror.
-
Iraq faced a debt of 80 million
-
Instead of rebuilding the country,
Saddam kept a million man in the Army.
-
He also directed money in assembling
weapons.
-
He had the fourth largest army in the
world.
-
In 1990, Saddam had more aircraft and
tanks than Britain and France combined.
-
The economy was in tatters and there was
no post war recovery.
-
The value of Iraq oil exports decreased
because of war damages and the fall of oil prices on the world market.
-
My people in the Oil industry lost their jobs.
-
More so, many soldiers were demobilized
which increased unemployment
-
There was terror
which was exercised by Saddam’s police.
-
There was riots and strikes
-
Some opposition was coordinated in the Mosques and Saddam’s police and army was unaware of those plans.
-
The
army was afraid to attack the Mosques because they were afraid of facing
opposition from all Muslims.
-
Many
officers blamed Saddam for failing to defeat Iran.
-
There
was a number of attempts to overthrow Saddam between the year 1988-1990 and
many officers were executed for conspiracy.
#. Why did Saddam invade Kuwait in 1990?
Background of the Invasion
-
Kuwait
is a small oil rich state on the southern border of Iraq.
-
Both
Iraq and Kuwait were under British rule but after World War 1, Iraq was free.
-
In
1963, Iraq tried to have influence over Kuwait and failed.
-
Again
in 1990, Iraq threatened Kuwait.
-
The
Iran-Iraq war affected Oil production of Iraq therefore, Saddam wanted to
invade Kuwait to increase Iraq oil production.
-
He also
wanted to use that Oil to pay a debt of 80 billion.
-
However
the problem of mass production of Oil was that, the price of Oil will go down
and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia refused the request of Saddam.
-
NB both
Iraq, Saudi Arabia were members of OPEC (Oil Production and Exporting
Countries) which was a board in charge of controlling oil production.
-
The
members of OPEC also demanded repayment of funds which were given to Iraq
during the war
-
Saddam
claimed that it was an insult as the people of Iraq defended Kuwait.
-
Saddam
also accused Kuwait of Drilling under Iraq’s boarders and taking oil which
belonged to Iraq.
#. Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait, August 1990
-
Saddam
decided to invade Kuwait because he faced increasing discontent at home and a
military crisis on his hand.
-
On 2
August 1990, 300 000 Iraq forces crossed in to Kuwait.
-
The
whole world was surprised.
-
Almost
all the Arab states condemned Saddam’s action.
-
The
United Nations Security Council also imposed trading sanctions on Iraq.
-
The
condition of the sanction was that no country was supposed to trade with Iraq
until its forces withdraw from Kuwait. NB these were the most effective
Sanctions which were imposed by the UN.
# Saddam’s response to the UN sanctions.
-
Saddam
declared Kuwait a province of Iraq.
-
He
tried to win Arab support by saying he will only withdraw Iraqi forces if
Israel withdrew its forces from Palestinian lands that had been occupied since
1967.
-
The
Palestinians were happy but most Arabs still condemned Iraq.
-
Thousands
of Kuwaiti protestors were arrested and hundreds of them were gunned down in
front of their families.
-
Hundreds
of foreigners were detained and were kept as hostages.
-
Some of
the hostages were used as shields by being kept near to military targets.
# The American reaction
-
The
Americans were very disappointed by the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.
-
The
Iraqi forces were now targeting the Saudi Arabia Oil fields.
-
The
Saudi Arabia king asked for help form the USA.
-
The USA
Quickly agreed and send their troops.
-
Within
few months, they built up large naval, land and air forces.
# Multi-national force
-
Many
Arab states supported UN’s decision that Iraq will face military force if they
did not withdraw from Kuwait by 15 January 1991.
-
Saddam
predicted the mother of all battles.
-
Over
700 000 troops were assembled in the deserts of Saudi Arabia.
-
Most of
the soldiers were Americans, British and French forces.
-
Also,
Egypt, Syria, Pakistan and Bangladesh also sent their soldiers.
-
In addition,
the Saudi Arabia contributed 100 000 soldiers.
-
In
total, 34 countries joined the coalition.
-
This
was the biggest coalition assembled my UN.
# The January-March 1991Gulf War,
-
The war
to liberate the Kuwait became known as the Gulf war.
-
It
began with a five week air assault on military targets as well as airports,
bridges, factories and roads.
-
The
Coalition had the best air force which were up-to date.
-
Saddam
thought that the world will turn against the coalition but it failed.
-
He
tried to fire missiles on Israel to get support from the Arabs and it failed.
-
The US
persuaded the Israelis not to retaliate.
-
The
Arabs of the US-led coalition stayed firm.
-
In February,
the ground attack began.
-
The
Iraqi forces were no match with the coalition.
-
They
were quickly defeated with heavy causalities.
-
The US
and the coalition forces were better trained and they had better weapons.
-
They
were also motivated.
-
They
were also backed up by helicopter gunships.
-
When
the Iraqi forces retreated, they tried to wreck Kuwait by pouring oil in the
Gulf and set fire.
-
The US
forces continued in to Iraq itself.
-
The US
president called the Kurds and the Shiites to overthrow Saddam.
-
However,
they failed because they lacked weapons and they received no support from US
troops.
-
This
led to the killing of 100 000 Kurds and Shiites by Saddam’s army.
-
USA and
Britain introduced no fly zones and it prevented Saddam from regaining control
of the north.
-
The USA
wanted to advance to overthrow Saddam but the UN restricted them, however,
their Arab allies were not going to support them.
-
The
coalition was going to collapse if the USA had attacked Bagdad.
-
NB.
Many Arabic journalist commented that USA was involved in the Gulf war because
they wanted to dominate the world’s oil resources.
-
On 28
February, a ceasefire was called.
# Weapons inspections
-
A month
after the ceasefire, the United Nations Special Committee (UNSCOM) started to
search and destroy Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.
-
Iraq
co-operated because of the serious effect of sanctions
-
It
admitted that it had stockpiled nerve gas and chemical warheads.
-
The UN
inspectors uncovered a nuclear program.
-
There
was many kilograms of uranium which is necessary for the manufacturing of
nuclear weapons.
-
After a
year, UNSCOM had destroyed all medium and long-range missiles.
-
After three
years, it reported that all the material for making nuclear and chemical
weapons were destroyed
-
However,
it failed to eliminate all Iraq’s biological weapons programs.
-
Saddam’s
son-in-law told the UNSCOM that Saddam had tasked his son to hide some of the
Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.
-
Americans
were now too suspicious and distrustful of Iraqi government and they began to
demand regime change.
# The impact of Sanctions on Iraq
-
The
living conditions of the Iraqi people became increasingly hard
-
A blockade
prevented any imports of machinery, fertilizers, most medicines and even books.
-
At
first, Iraq was not allowed to sell oil, after some months it was allowed but
the sales were limited.
-
Sanctions
also affected the importation of food. This led to malnourishment to children
under the age of five. (According to a survey done by UN). In 1997, 7000
children were dying each month because of hunger and disease.
-
Iraq
was not allowed to import chlorine to purify water in case it was going to be
used to make chemical weapons. It led to the outbreak of dysentery. A million
children died during this period.
-
In
1996, humanitarian crisis worsened and the UN came with a plan to allow Iraq to
sell its oil in order to buy food. NB,, this Oil for Food was to be done by UN.
It brought much-needed relief to a desperate people.
-
The
sanctions also lead to rebellion against Saddam.
-
Saddam
used violence and terror to control resources.
-
He
rewarded his most loyal supporters.
-
Disloyal
elements in the army were purged and sometimes executed.
-
A
special army unit was created to protect the president.
-
All the
top jobs in government and the armed forces went to Sunnis that is Saddam’s
family and tribe.
-
The
roads, bridges and electricity systems in Baghdad and the Sunni areas were largely
rebuilt.
-
Although
the WMD program was depleted, the army was still the biggest in Arabic world.
-
Saddam
allowed the filming of mass suffering in Iraq as evidence of the greedy,
uncaring Western world.
-
The
international opinion began to turn against the policy sanctions.
# Iraq emerges from isolation
-
Saddam
did not want to give up all his nuclear weapons.
-
He knew
that the UN nuclear inspectors were working with CIA and other Western secrete
agencies.
-
He knew
that they were planning to overthrow him.
-
The
inspectors demanded access to the headquarters of the Iraq special security
services and to the presidential palaces.
-
Saddam
refused and in 1997, the inspectors were forced to leave Iraq.
-
In
1998, America and Britain began to bomb Iraq military sites although the people
had agreed that Iraq had no more nuclear weapons.
-
The
bombing campaign turned many of them against the USA.
-
Many
Arabic states began to trade with Iraq again.
-
Iraq
reemerged from international isolation.
-
The US
also accepted the revival of Iraq’s oil industry.
-
Several
American oil firms won contracts to rebuild Iraq’s oil wells.
-
BY
1999, the UN approved unlimited oil exports from Iraq.
-
Saddam
had also restored diplomatic relations with all its neighbours.
-
Saddam
had the most feared army in the Arab world.
-
In
2000, there were new talks in Washington DC of the need to remove Saddam
Hussein.
-
source: Ben Walsh
Mr T.Mutsigiri
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