Operation Iraqi Freedom: The First Gulf War

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Operation Iraqi Freedom was the offensive led by the United States and president George W. Bush in 2003 as the major part of the Iraq War, accompanied by a coalition of various nations with the goal of removing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power and preventing Iraq from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. Operation Iraqi Freedom was part of a various number of military operations trying to stabilize the middle east beginning in the 1990’s and continuing on even into present day. The first Gulf War, known as the Persian Gulf War, was a short-lived conflict between coalition forces (led by the United States and Great Britain) and Iraqi forces that was triggered by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and Hussein’s refusal to remove military forces from the country. Within a year, Kuwait was liberated but Hussein remained in power in Iraq. President George H.W. Bush decided that regime change was not the best move to stabilize the middle east, so no attempt was made during the first Gulf War to bring down Hussein. …show more content…
Bush. After the Taliban were removed from power in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks, removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq became the next objective to tackle terrorism. There were three main motives stated publicly by president Bush that justified this action: Preemptive attack to prevent further development or use by Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, enforcement of international law, and removing Saddam Hussein’s oppressive and genocidal regime and having him tried for his crimes against his people. Operation Iraqi Freedom began on March 19,