Orozco 1
Isaiah Orozco
Professor Longoria
WRC 1013.0S1
16 Oct. 2014
The United States Involvement in The First Iraq War: Greed or World Police?
The first Iraq War or sometimes called the Operation Desert Storm, was a great success on the
United States side in the sense that it raised awareness of the issues that plague the Middle East then and now. The war began when the leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, invaded the country of
Kuwait in 1990. The international community especially the United States, felt it was unnecessary for the country of Iraq to invade Kuwait. The forced invasion lead to a stronger presence of U.S forces which internally many felt was just more of a reason for the United States to have more control of regulating how oil was sold and at what price.
In the year 1991, the United States began air strikes to force the Iraq military to retreat back to their own land and as weeks followed, the United States sent in troops through Kuwait and within hours the Iraq military retreated back to their border. “After five weeks of air and missile combat, ground troops began their campaign in Kuwait. On February 27, coalition forces entered Kuwait City, forcing Iraq to concede a cease-fire after only 100 hours,”( the Gulf War)
Hussein invading Kuwait, was due to the fact he believed Kuwait was producing more oil than it was supposed to; which in the eyes of Hussein, meant Kuwait was stealing profits that were supposed to be Iraq's. Iraq was also almost $14 billion in debt to Kuwait and with the forced annexation, Iraq felt that Kuwait should forgive the enormous debt which is another reason Iraq invaded. “Iraq hoped to repay its debts by raising the price of oil through OPEC oil production
Orozco 2 cuts, but instead, Kuwait increased production, lowering prices, in an attempt to leverage a better resolution of their border dispute.” (Encyclopedia Britannica) Once Iraq invade Kuwait, many international countries felt that Saudi Arabia was in danger of being invaded especially since majority of the oil reserves in the world are found in Saudi Arabia. In response, the commencement of the Gulf War has begun.
The United States began its presence mainly to act as world police. To make sure the country of Kuwait gained back its security and to push Iraq back to its original borer. The United
States became involved to push for peace in the region, as well as secure their spot in the oil distribution seen going on in the Middle East. When Hussein took over the oil distribution in
Kuwait, many western nations feared that prices for barrels of oil in the region would more than double. When the price of oil rises, foreign countries who are frequent buyers especially the
United States tend to panic due to the fact that if the oil price rises they, meaning countries, cannot buy as much as when the prices are lower. If reacting to the war and having a strong U.S presence meant the U.S had to get something out of it. Till this day the U.S remains heavily present in the region to protect the interest the country has and to regulate who gets how much.
The oil comes from mainly middle eastern countries yet, the U.S is the watch dog on how things run and how oil is produced.
Having a strong U.S presence in the Middle East especially in Kuwait and Iraq, makes the U.S look like the bad guy who runs other peoples business. As we look before the Gulf War there was not a strong U.S presence because there was no threat of oil. The United States is heavily dependent on the Middle East for oil. Oil in the United States is used for almost every day necessities. When the distribution or fighting over oil arises, the United States feels the need
Orozco 3 to move in and regulate control. This Gulf War in acted a strong and now heavily guarded presence of U.S military control.
The United States remains a heavy presence in the Middle East primarily due to the conflicts that arise in
