-- Critical Media Literacy
in Times of War

The Gulf War: Iraq

When the Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988, Iraq was left with significant debt and a weakened economy. In July of 1990, relations between Iraq and Kuwait deteriorated when negotiations failed to resolve disputes over territorial claims, oil production levels, and the repayment of war debts. Iraq also claimed that Kuwait had siphoned oil from Iraqi territory. In late July, Iraq intensified its threats against Kuwait, and Iraqi troops massed along the Kuwaiti border. In early August, Iraq unexpectedly invaded and occupied Kuwait. The United Nations responded by imposing comprehensive economic sanctions on Iraq with the goal of ending the occupation.

In early August 1990, the United States led a massive military build-up in the region called "Operation Desert Shield." In mid-January of 1991, after Iraq refused to unconditionally pull out of Kuwait, United States and allied forces initiated "Operation Desert Storm." A sustained air attack was followed by a ground offensive, and by late February Kuwait was declared liberated and a cease-fire took effect.

However, the conflict did not end with the departure of allied troops and the liberation of Kuwait. For more than ten years, the United States and United Kingdom have controlled Iraq's airspace and have carried out regular bombing campaigns against Iraqi targets. A U.N. sponsored inspections program - designed to assess and dismantle Iraq's biological, chemical and nuclear weapons - was in place until 1998. In December of that year, disagreements between Iraq and the U.N. eventually led the U.S. to order the weapons inspectors out of Iraq. Soon after, the US and Great Britain led a three-day bombing campaign against Iraq called "Operation Desert Fox."

During the 11 years since 1991, the US played a central role in imposing the most stringent sanctions against import of medical supplies in history. Eleven years of UN sanctions have created extraordinarily harsh living conditions for the Iraqi people. According to UN reports, the estimated number of deaths resulting from these sanctions range from 500,000 children under five to a total of more than 1.2 million people. Factors such as poverty, undrinkable water, malnutrition, and lack of health care are major factors in these deaths.

Despite air attacks on Iraq that have continued since 1991, and despite the sanctions, Iraq has never attempted to use weapons of mass destruction.

By late 2002, Iraq was back in the international spotlight as George W. Bush began systematic efforts to gain international and US Congress approval for another military invasion of Iraq. Bush's stated motivations for renewing warfare against Iraq have fluctuated.