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Gulf War Consequences - Coggle Diagram
Gulf War Consequences
POLITICAL EFFECTS
IRAQ
Small risings from Kurds in North and Shia Muslims in South-Saddam had enough strength+military hardware left to crush these brutally -> flood of refugees to Turkey and Iran.
At first no international intervention as US did not want to see a dismembered Iraq that would be unable to counterweight Iran - due to international outrage at Saddam's bombings of his people - caused US and Britain to declare 'no fly zones' and set up 'safe-haven' in the north for Kurds.
April 1991 - UN security council passed resolution 687 requiring Saddam to be open with all his nuclear, chemical, biological weapon programmes. Until he did, tough economic sanctions including ban on Iraqi oil exports would remain + UN inspection teams visited to try find evidence of weapons
Saddam remained in complete power until 2003 with Allied invasion of Iraq.
Ordinary people suffered most from the allied bombing, loss of infrastructure and also from sanctions imposed post war -> infant mortality trebled and life expectancy fell by 15-20 years and general health of population declined significantly.
USA - Desert storm highlighted new unipolar world order in which USA played dominant role dealing with world problems.
Events of this was cause for Iraq war of 2003, after attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9th Sept 2001, the US under George Bush Jnr moved rapidly to complete Saddam Hussein's removal of power
Terrorism
Middle East Region
USA became even stronger force in the region -> provoked Muslim radicals to become increasingly hostile towards America.
Was not the move to democracy in Middle East as had been hoped by West.
National Assembly restored in Kuwait, but with it s narrow, male only franchise - women got vote in 2005.
Palestinian peace process given new boost not due to any previous efforts by Saddam to create linkage but because Yasser Arafat's credibility had been undermined owing to his friendship with Saddam, and bc US was now key player and could move forward on to peace process. Oslo Accords 1993 - first face-to-face agreement between Israeli government and a representative of the Palestinian people
HISTORIOGRAPHY
T.E VADNEY - the outcome of the war did little to resolve issues in the middle east and the role of the US established a patriotic consensus on America's role as a global gendarme
JEREMY BLACK - failure to keep military and political goals helped to ensure the Gulf war did not result in Saddam's overthrow. The US decision to end the offensive to a high tempo war did not consider how to translate outcome of war into a durable settlement.
RICK ATKINSON - pre war President George Bush had established limited objectives for a limited campaign - he stuck to those goals with fixed determination - resisted temptation to march on Baghdad, a decision which spared countless lives and incalculable political complications
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE
Huge cost; partly due to oil spillages.
23rd Feb - Iraq accused of dumping 400 million gallons of crude oil into Persian Gulf to prevent US Marines coming ashore - was largest oil spill in history, resulted in deaths of thousands of seabirds and marine animals. (Iraqis claimed that coalition bombers had damaged + destroyed oil tankers)
Retreating Iraqis set alight to 600 oil wells in Kuwait - oil workers had to work long shifts with hand tools to control the burning flow - 5 million gallons of oil a day worth $100 million going up in flames -> covered thousands of acres, killing plants and animals -> increase in respiratory cases in hospitals -> anti pollution masks selling for $30 in supermarkets
PHYSICAL DAMAGE
Kuwait - damage to oilfields, loss of foreign investments estimated at $30 billion
Iraq - effects of 40 day bombing campaign was huge; power, water, sanitation facilities were destroyed in Baghdad and other cities, along with roads, bridges, telephone exchanges. UN officials - who toured the country after the war described Iraq as having 'been relegated to a pre-industrial age'
CASUALTIES
USA - fewer than 150 killed in action compared to Korea had cost US forces 30,000 dead and in Vietnam suffered over 58,000 dead.
Britain - 24 dead
Arab countries (excluding Kuwait) - 37 deaths
1,500 US and 700 British - killed or seriously wounded from illness/accidents and friendly fire
Kuwait - attacks on civilians continued after ceasefire - due to reprisals of Kuwaiti citizens against those whom they considered were supports f Hussein: Sudanese+Yemenis in particular