1. 1st Persian Gulf War
On August 2, 1990, Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, ordered his army to invade Kuwait.
At the time Kuwait produced over ten percent of the world's oil.
The War itself only lasted a little over a month. (Jan to Feb of 1991) 1

4. The U.S. Gets Involved
Saddam Hussein tells rest of world not to get involved
U.S. and the U.N. demand Saddam withdraw his armies
Economic sanctions/naval blockade put on Iraq
Iraq continues to invade Kuwait
U.S. begins deploying troops in Saudi Arabia 4

5. The United Nations responded by forming a UN coalition of countries, led by the United States, which drove Saddam’s forces out of Kuwait in 1991.

6. World Joins Battle 34 countries contributed to helping Kuwait
U.S. was 73% of the 956,600 troops
Soviet Union supplied Iraq with missiles
Arab nations allied with the U.S. 6

7. Operation Desert Shield/Storm
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia asks for U.S. protection from Iraq after Iraq invaded Kahfji
U.S. doesn’t want Iraq to gain control of Saudi oil
U.S. launches Operation Desert Shield to protect Saudi Arabia
Operation Desert Storm is then launched
It was the air campaign where Iraqi forces were bombed 7

9. At the invitation of its king, coalition forces fighting against Iraq were based in Saudi Arabia, and US military bases remained there until after 9/11/2001.
This is a map
from 2002.

10. The Saudi Arabian monarchy supported this move because they felt their own border with Iraq was threatened by Saddam’s aggression. Notice the location of Saudi oil fields.
the King allowed the US to build military bases in his nation.

11. Iraq Shoots Missiles at Israel
Saddam orders his forces to fire missiles at Israel
Goal was to provoke Israel into fighting back
Would cause Arab allies to withdrawal their troops
U.S. offers protection from missiles
Shoots them down so Israel won’t fight back 11

12. The War is Over Ground war is launched but only lasts 100 hours
Iraqi soldiers gave up without a fight
The Alliance took back Kuwait
As the Alliance continues to bomb retreating Iraqi forces, rebellion broke out in Saddam’s regime
Iraq agrees to ceasefire on March 3, 1991 12

13. Retreating Iraqi’s set fire to oil wells in Kuwait, because their view was that U.S. interests were only based on oil in the Middle East. This created a major environmental disaster.

17. Though the Persian Gulf War was successful in freeing Kuwait Hussein remained in power.
UN sanctions, or limitations, were placed on Iraq’s oil sales
This was done to limit Saddam’s military spending and thus lessen his military threat to other nations.

20. UN sanctions also required that UN Weapons Inspectors be allowed inside any Iraqi facility to investigate and make sure no weapons of mass destruction (WMDs*), were being made there and that the ones he previously had (chemical weapons) were destroyed.
* WMDs - include chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. These are seen as being different from conventional weapons

22. Also, no-fly zones were established to protect the Kurds and Shia Muslims in the north and south of Iraq from more of Saddam’s attacks.

23. 9/11/2001
This event makes our government extraordinarily sensitive to possible threats from the Middle East.

24. After 9/11 with fear of further attack from groups from the Middle East, the US administration came to believe that Saddam Hussein was still hiding WMDs and that there were ties between Iraq and members of the terrorist group Al Qaeda.

26. For these reasons, the US tried to gain UN support in invading Iraq, but the UN did not vote to support the US invasion.

27. This invasion was never sanctioned by the UN, and several of our allies refused to participate. Those who did formed what was called The Coalition of the Willing.

28. By 2003 continued Iraqi failure to obey the UN resolutions resulted in the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

29. US in Iraq
Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons and offering aid to Al-Qaeda
This was called Operation Iraqi Freedom
Hussein’s government collapsed quickly because many Iraqis felt his was a cruel leader 29

32. As it turned out, Saddam was bluffing about his WMD capacity to keep Iran from attacking, but we were also fooled, to Saddam’s detriment.

33. U.S. and Iraqi security forces have had to struggle with Iraqi and Islamic insurgencies and sectarian violence that military and civilian planners had failed to foresee.

34. Some US forces remain in Iraq today, trying to restore poor infrastructure and helping to support an elected government
While simultaneously dealing with the insurgency which escalated into what at one point amounted to a civil war within Iraq between the Sunnis and Shia.

40. Religious and Ethnic Conflict
Different religious and
ethnic groups are
competing with each
other for power

44. No WMDs or pre-9/11 ties to Al Qaeda have ever been found, though Al Qaeda moved into Iraq during the war.

45. Continued Fighting
Insurgents, now including Al Qaeda, continue attacking our US forces, and fighting still exists between Iraqi groups, especially between the Shia and the Sunni Iraqis, but involving the Kurds, as well.

48. Current Situation The situation has however, recently
improved enough that the
U.S. is slowly removing
troops from the nation,
The Iraqi government is
taking more and more
responsibility for running
the country
But currently, Sunni-Shia
violence is on the rise,
and it seems that more
Iraqis are joining the Al
Qaeda network there.

50. Iraq’s Oil Fields

51. Vocabulary
insurgency – a disorganized revolt; rebellion within a group, as by members against leaders. Also, an organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing an official government through the use of guerilla attacks; a revolt against a recognized government that does not reach the proportions of an organized revolution.
insurgent - a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against a government; a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment, a guerrilla.