MLS 610B-81
Spring 2003

WEEK 4: Monday, February 10.
Iraq, Kuwait, & the Gulf War
Background:
 
 
 

“Arab” does not designate an ethnic group because it includes countless different ethnic groups; it is a linguistic designation.  Arabs are the majority group in Iraq (~75-80%), but there is also a significant Kurdish minority (~15-20%) residing mostly in the northern mountains.

Three Key Points:
1)
 

2)
 
 
 
 
 

3)
 

In 1932 Britain granted Iraq independence as a monarchy under the rule of King Amir Faisal.  During WWII Iraq’s military, which dominated the country politically since independence, was divided between pro-German and pro-British factions.  In 1941 a group of nationalistic, pro-German military officers overthrew the pro-British government.  Britain responded by attacking Iraq, removing the new government, and reinstating a pro-British government.

Iraq in the 1950s:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Kuwaiti independence (1961):
 
 
 

In Iraq, Qasim’s government was overthrown by a military coup in 1963 led by nationalist military officers in the Ba’th (“Resurrection” or “Rebirth”) Party:
 
 

The Rise of Saddam Hussein:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Iran-Iraq War (1980-88):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Roots of the Gulf War:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

In June 1990, a US State Department report on the Middle East called Saddam a “secularist” and “a key to stability in the region,” describing him as “someone we can work with.”  The US ambassador to Iraq told Saddam that “the US has no opinion concerning Iraq’s border dispute with Kuwait,” which Saddam evidently interpreted as a green light to invade.  His country defeated, Saddam sued for peace a few weeks after the ground war began in February 1991.  The US-led international coalition stopped short of removing Saddam Hussein from power.

Due to the devastation of Iraq’s infrastructure, including its water and sewage systems, and because of the embargo, as many as 1 million Iraqis died from starvation or disease between 1991-2000 (UNICEF estimate), more than half of whom were children or the elderly.