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... Iraq remains determined not to relinquish Kuwait and continues to demand a settlement of the broader Middle East issues, especially that of a Palestinian homeland. ... Iraq is confronting a war with the United States, says Secretary
In August of 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, for reasons which remain unclear to this day. ...
In a sudden move that caught the world with its pants down, Iraq crashed over tiny Kuwait with an overwhelming force, taking the nation virtually overnight. ... Offended, bin Laden stormed off to Afghanistan and started dreaming up September 11, while an oblivious Pentagon began war-gaming Iraq and moving preliminary forces into place. ... to muscle Iraq out of Kuwait before launching military action, but the Hussein regime didnt budge, rationalizing its obstinence with a claim that the U. ... had Iraq in its gunsights with or without provocation. ... and its allies began an intensive air campaign against Iraq, the likes of which had never been seen before in the history of warfare. ... With the same goal in mind, Iraq also lobbed missiles at Israel and Iran. The strategy was a miserable failure and only served to further alienate Hussein from the rest of the Arab world. ...
At that point, the coalition faced an uneasy choice: Whether to continue into Iraq and depose Hussein, or accept the rout and start celebrating. The decision was complicated by tepid Arabic support for a full invasion of Iraq and the promise of beaucoup political points at home for a fast and virtually painless resolution to the war. ... , Bush wasted no time in identifying Iraq as a threat to national security, despite an astounding lack of evidence existed tying Iraq specifically to 9/11 or generically to al Qaeda. ...
Time May Be Arch-Foe in Struggle With Iraq
By Daniel Williams
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, December 22, 1998; Page A25
AMMAN, Jordan, Dec. ... determination to spark a revolt against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by piling military action atop economic sanctions takes place at a time of little viable opposition to his government inside Iraq and increased opposition to the war on Baghdad from key governments. ...
The chances of a popular revolt in Iraq soon appear slim, Western diplomats and Arab observers say. ...
During last weeks aerial campaign, opposition groups outside Iraq sat on the sidelines. ...
A Western diplomat said several factors are complicating the creation of a viable external opposition: No attractive leader has emerged to rally support inside Iraq and no rear-guard base has been established, either in neighboring countries or within Iraq, with the goal of launching a military drive. ...
Outside Iraq, the United States is finding fewer and fewer fans of its Iraq policy. The alliance of Arab, Western and other states that fought Iraq during the Persian Gulf War has decomposed considerably during Clintons six years in office. ... Syria has become far more preoccupied with a budding alliance between Israel and Turkey than with any danger posed by Iraq, analysts say. ... stand against Iraq was compared unfavorably to Washingtons cautious treatment of Israels prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who stiff-armed Clintons efforts to induce new Israeli troop withdrawals from the West Bank under the Oslo and Wye River peace accords. "After what Netanyahu has done, the attacks on Iraq look all the more overbearing," said Taher Masri, a former Jordanian prime minister.
A Little Diplomacy Goes a Long Way
By Laura Blumenfeld
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 13, 1996; Page C01
The congressman sat under a mango tree, hand-dipping chunks of goat in a green okra slime, the meat bristling with hair. ... Since December 1994, the eight-term congressman has also bargained for the release of captives in Iraq, Bangladesh, Burma and Cuba. ...
"He conveys an unusual mix of urgency, force and human compassion," said Bruce Laingen, president of American Academy of Diplomacy and himself a former hostage in Iran. ... He received a masters degree in the subject from Tufts Universitys Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and began his career with stints at the State Departments congressional relations office and at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. ... As he was leaving for Iraq, Barbara recalled, "he realized he didnt have a gift, so he grabbed a pueblo pot I had bought some time ago. ... On April 2, 1990, Saddams rhetoric became more threatening: "I swear to God we will let our fire eat half of Israel if it tries to wage anything against Iraq." Saddam said his nations chemical weapons capability was matched only by that of the United States and the Soviet Union, and that he would annihilate anyone who threatened Iraq with an atomic bomb by the "double chemical" (Reuters, April 2, 1990). ... He added that Iraq could launch chemical weapons at Israel from several different sites (Reuters, April 18, 1990). The Iraqi leader also made the alarming disclosure that his commanders had the freedom to launch attacks against Israel without consulting the high command if Israel attacked Iraq. The head of the Iraqi Air Force subsequently said he had orders to strike Israel if the Jewish State launched a raid against Iraq or any other Arab country (UPI, April 22, 1990).
On June 18, 1990, Saddam told an Islamic Conference meeting in Baghdad: "We will strike at [the Israelis] with all the arms in our possession if they attack Iraq or the Arabs. ...
Saddams threat came in the wake of revelations that Britain and the United States foiled an attempt to smuggle American-made "krytron" nuclear triggers to Iraq (Washington Post, March 29, 1990). ...
Israeli fears were further raised by reports in the Arabic press, beginning in January 1990, that Jordan and Iraq had formed "joint military battalions" drawn from the various ground, air and naval units. ... Iraq denied it was building a "supergun," but, after the war, it was learned that Iraq had built such a weapon (Washington Post, August 14, 1991).
Iraq emerged from its war with Iran with one of the largest and best-equipped military forces in the world. In fact, Iraq had one million battletested troops, more than 700 combat aircraft, 6,000 tanks, ballistic missiles and chemical weapons. ...
Iraq also served as a base for several terrorist groups that menaced Israel, including the PLO and Abu Nidals Fatah Revolutionary Council. ... moves against Iraq, he said in December 1990, "then Tel Aviv will receive the next attack, whether or not Israel takes part" (Reuters, December 26, 1990). At a press conference, following his January 9, 1991, meeting with Secretary of State James Baker, Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz was asked if the war starts, would Iraq attack Israel. ...
The Nuclear Danger
In 1981, Israel became convinced Iraq was approaching the capability to produce a nuclear weapon. ...
It was not until after Iraq invaded Kuwait that U. ... Again, many critics argued the Administration was only seeking a justification for a war with Iraq. ... Analysts had thought Iraq was incapable of enriching uranium for bombs, but Saddams researchers used several methods (including one thought to be obsolete) that were believed to have made it possible for Iraq to have built at least one bomb.
American Interests Are Threatened
Prior to President George Bushs announcement of Operation Desert Storm, critics of Israel were claiming the Jewish State and its supporters were pushing Washington to start a war with Iraq to eliminate it as a military threat. ... going to war with Iraq and 22% disapproved (Washington Post, January 17, 1991).
It is true that Israel viewed Iraq as a serious threat to its security given its leadership of the rejectionist camp. Israeli concerns proved justified after the war began and Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at its civilian population centers. The Bush Administration had promised to prevent Iraq from attacking Israel, but the U. ... troops did not face a nuclear-armed Iraq.
¡ Even in its low-profile mode, Israeli cooperation was extremely valuable: Israels military intelligence had focused on Iraq much more carefully over the years than had the U. ... utilized Israeli information about western Iraq in its search for Scud missile launchers (UPI, March 8, 1991). ... committee dealing with reparation claims against Iraq dating to the 1991 Gulf War approved more than $31 million to be paid to Israeli businesses and individuals. The 1999 decision stemmed from a 1992 Security Council decision calling on Iraq to compensate victims of the Gulf War (JTA, 4/14/99). ...
The PLO Backs Saddam
The PLO, Libya and Iraq were the only members who opposed an Arab League resolution calling for an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. ...
According to an eyewitness account by Al-Ahram editor Ibrahim Nafei, Arafat worked hard to "water down" any anti-Iraq resolution at the August 1990 Arab League meeting in Cairo. Arafat "moved from delegation to delegation, hand in hand with Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, who was openly threatening some Gulf and other Arab delegates that Iraq would turn them upside down," Nafei wrote (Al-Ahram, August 12, 1990). ... "We expect them to take suicidal operations against the American troops in Saudi Arabia if the Americans move against Iraq," he declared. "There are more than 50,000 Palestinian fighters" in both Kuwait and Iraq, he said, who "will defend the interests of Iraq" (UPI, August 10, 1990). Abul Abbas, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, threatened that "any American target will become vulnerable" should the United States attack Iraq (Reuters, September 4, 1990). ...
Once the war began, the PLO Executive Committee reaffirmed its support for Iraq: "The Palestinian people stand firmly by Iraqs side." The following day, Arafat sent a message to Saddam hailing Iraqs struggle against "American dictatorship" and describing Iraq as "the defender of the Arab nation, of Muslims and of free men everywhere" (Agence France-Presse, February 26, 1991). ... "Let us work together until we achieve victory and regain liberated Jerusalem" (Baghdad Republic of Iraq Radio Network, November 16, 1991). ... Arms Couldnt Save Gulf States
Iraq had one of the largest and most powerful armies in the world prior to its invasion of Kuwait. ... Kuwait is a tiny nation, which had received $5 billion worth of arms and yet never had any chance to stop Iraq. ...
Moreover, the rapidity with which Iraq overran Kuwait was a reminder that U. ... For example, Iraq captured 150 U. ...
Failure to employ preventative diplomacy to avert Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. ...
Iraq and Kuwait had had a long standing, but low level, border dispute over a pair of Persian Gulf islands. In 1990, after the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq faced an economic crisis. ... In addition, Iraq accused Kuwait of, in effect, stealing oil from the Iraqi side of the shared Rumaila oil field. A successful invasion of Kuwait would have relieved Iraq of its war debt, increased oil prices, and provided Iraq with long-sought access to the Gulf. Iraq began to press the border issue, and threaten invasion. ... Iraq in turn increased its threats and demands, not wanting to lose face and believing that invasion was a viable option. No preventative diplomacy was employed during this period of escalation, and Kuwait was invaded in August of 1990. ... Second, both Iraq and Kuwait showed an inability to admit mistakes. Having openly threatened invasion, Iraq felt committed to make good on their threat. ... Each side having framed the conflict in these ways, Kuwait felt it could not compromise until Iraq withdrew its threat. Iraq in turn felt it could not withdraw its threat until Kuwait agreed to negotiate. ...
Disarmament Diplomacy
Issue No. ... This will be followed by a discussion of the history, motivations, and responses to the proliferation of non-conventional weapons in Iran and Iraq. ... The threat from these non-conventional weapons was demonstrated during the massive use of chemical weapons and missiles in the war between Iran and Iraq (1980-88). ... No wonder both Iran and Iraq seek to prepare for such a development. ... As a result of the pressure imposed by the Iran-Iraq war, the clerical regime began to show a renewed interest in acquiring nuclear technology from 1984, when it concluded an agreement with Kraftwerk Union (a German firm) to complete the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a project started under the Pahlavi regime (2). ... (3) Similarly, Irans biological warfare program began during the Iran-Iraq war. ... Motivations: Iran is located in a "rough" neighborhood where several States - including Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia - have access to one form or another of non-conventional weapons. ...
Irans experience in the war against Iraq has had a significant impact on the initiation and development of its non-conventional capabilities. ... Indeed, the probability of war with Iraq remains higher than that of any other war scenario for Iran. (7) It is also important to point out that in the aftermath of the Gulf War Iran, like many other countries, was shocked to find out how advanced Iraq had become in developing all kinds of destructive weapons. ... " (12)
Given these perceived threats from Iraq and Israel, most analysts believe that Iran is seeking to develop and stockpile its arsenal of non-conventional weapons. ... This conclusion can be applied to the other proliferator in the Gulf - Iraq.
Iraq: History, Motivations and Responses
Iraq, the other giant in the Persian Gulf, had embarked on an ambitious program to develop its arsenal of non-conventional weapons since the mid 1970s. ... History: Iraq entered the Gulf War with a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons, a well-developed complex nuclear program, and extensive ballistic missile capabilities. ... Officially, Iraq became an independent State in 1932 but the British influence dominated the country until 1958 when the monarchy was overthrown. ... (14) According to an agreement signed between the two countries, France agreed to supply Iraq with a large reactor, technical assistance, and training. In return, Iraq provided a substantial proportion of Frances imports of oil. ...
The war with Iran, however, provided Iraq with an opportunity to re-build and develop its chemical, biological, and nuclear capabilities as well as ballistic missiles. ... When Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran and against the Kurds in 1988, the international condemnation, including that of the United States, was very modest. ... According to David Kay, who was chief nuclear weapons inspector on Iraq during 1991-92, at the time of the Gulf War Iraq was probably only 18 to 24 months away from its first crude nuclear device and no more than 3 to 4 years away from more advanced, deliverable weapons. (16) Finally, it is worth mentioning that due to these advanced capabilities Iraq was able to use its ballistic missiles against both Saudi Arabia and Israel. ... Motivations: Iraq does not share borders with Israel but the relations between the two countries have always been characterized by suspicion and hostility. ...
Iran, on the other side, has been perceived in Iraq as an immediate and direct challenge to its national security. ... Irans population is more than twice that of Iraq. ... Indeed, the Special Commissions inspectors have succeeded in destroying more weapons in Iraq than were destroyed during the entire Gulf War. ... These disclosures revealed a much more extensive nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and missile effort than Iraq had previously admitted. This development, and the rocky relations with the regime in Baghdad, have left UNSCOM and the IAEA unprepared to finally declare Iraq free of WMD. 1998 saw a marked deterioration in Iraq-UNSCOM/IAEA relations, with numerous diplomatic crises and salvage operations finally leading to Decembers air strikes by America and Britain. As reported and considered at length elsewhere in this issue, these strikes have left the future of UNSCOM, and the international communitys policy towards Iraq more generally, in grave doubt and some disarray. ... Second, Iraq is not proliferating simply because its current regime is extremist. ... In the long run the international community needs to offer Iran and Iraq incentives to forgo their WMD programs. ... The conflict culminated in fighting in January and February 1991 between Iraq and an international coalition of forces led by the United States. ... In 1961 Britain granted Kuwait independence, and Iraq revived an old claim that Kuwait had been governed as part of an Ottoman province in southern Iraq and was therefore rightfully Iraqs. Iraqs claim had little historical basis, however, and after intense global pressure Iraq recognized Kuwait in 1963. ... Relations between the two countries improved during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), when Kuwait assisted Iraq with loans and diplomatic backing. ... By 1990 Iraq had fallen $80 billion in debt and demanded that Kuwait forgive its share of the debt and help with other payments. At the same time, Iraq claimed that Kuwait was pumping oil from a field that straddled the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border and was not sharing the revenue. Iraq also accused Kuwait of producing more oil than allowed under quotas set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), thereby depressing the price of oil, Iraqs main export.Iraqs complaints against Kuwait grew increasingly harsh, but they were mostly about money and did not suggest that Iraq was about to revive its land claim to Kuwait. ... and other Western governments generally expected that at worst Iraq would seize some border area to intimidate Kuwait, so they avoided being pulled into the dispute. Arab mediators convinced Iraq and Kuwait to negotiate their differences in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 1, 1990, but that session resulted only in charges and countercharges. A second session was scheduled to take place in Baghdâd, the Iraqi capital, but Iraq invaded Kuwait the next day, leading some observers to suspect that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had planned the invasion all along.
Approximate Word count = 14484
Approximate Pages = 57.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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