Gulf War I

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Gulf War I

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Energy Wars

• Grassroots attack on energy sources and uses
• Demand for less environmental degradation
• Demand for less dangerous methods
• Counterattack on Environmentalists
• attack via reduced enforcement, legislation,
  terror intimidation
• continuing push to exploit ALL resources
• War in Gulf (1990 - 1991, 1998?)
• Historical Background (See "Why War?" art.)
• Saddam Hussains motivations
• George Bush Sr. (et. al.) motivations
• War, media and aftermath

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Historical Background the long run - I

• Persian Gulf countries boundries and governments
  arranged by colonial powers
• Ottoman Empire ruled much of region
• WWI ended Ottoman Empire, Iraq became League of
  Nations mandate territory
• 1922 British drew national boundaries, seized
  piece of Kurdistan for Iraq, kept Kuwait
  separate, limited Iraq access to Gulf
• 1932 Iraq independent, 1958 nationalist
  Revolution
• Repeated Iraqi demands to reintegrate Kuwait
  failed
• 1953 CIA overthrow of Mossedegh in Iran for cheap
  oil, rising wages and the Keynesian auto economy

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Historial Background IIthe long run - II

• 1958 nationalist revolution
• Saddam Hussein member of opposition Baath party,
  tried coup, fled to Egypt
• 1968 Baath Party seized power, Hussein returned
  to Iraq, played ever greater role
• 1973-4 OPEC achieves 4X increase in price of oil
  w/US support
• 1979 Hussein becomes head of Baath Party and of
  Iraq
• 1978-9 Iranian Revolution overthrows Shah (put
  and maintained in power by US) becomes Islamic
• 1980 Hussein invades Iran, with tacit US support,
  war 1980-88, US et al support Iraq w/military
  equipment and force
• 1978-81 Carter-Reagan-Volcker Depression drops
  oil price and triggers international debt crisis

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Historical Background the long run - III

• During Iraq Iran war US helped both sides, Iraq
  was funded by Arab states fearful of Islamic
  fundamentalist regime in Teheran
• Kuwait essentially an expanded town, run by a
  single ruling family (the Sabah) with whom the
  British had cut deals
• Oil gave that family power and command over
  foreign labor (80 of labor force)
• Limited citizenship and even more limited rights,
  only men could vote, etc.
• Kuwait major funder of Iraq during Iraq Iran war

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Historical Background the short run

• Regional conflicts over relative power
• Iraq Yemen Lebanon PLO Jordan
• Saudi Arabia Egypt Syria Libya
• UAE Iran
• OPEC prices undermined by over production, Iraq
  sees economic warfare
• April 1, 1990 Hussein speech threatens actions
  against overproducers
• Speech also threatens CBW response to Israeli
  nuclear and chemical threat, calls for nuke-CBW
  free zone in Middle East

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Gulf War I Hussein Motivations

• Saddam Hussain invaded and conquered Kuwait, Bush
  counterattacks
• Husseins motivations
• Expand his power seize territory long claimed
  and the Rumaila Oil fields that cross the border
• Reduce his costs eliminate debt to Kuwait
  incurred during Iraq-Iran war
• Increase income reduce oil production to raise
  prices

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Gulf War I Bush Motivations

• Bush motivations? - I
• Principled resistance to international
  aggression?
• Inconsistent w/US govt support for similar
  aggressions
• High-priced oil? Invasion spiked prices, blockade
  reduced supplies supported prices
• More resources for hard-pressed allies?
• Increased competitiveness vs Europe as in 73-4?
• OPEC as continuing financial intermediary?
• Excuse to push revitalization of nuclear power?
• Excuse to bypass constraints on oil drilling?
• More resources for Russia?
• Austerity for Eastern Europe?
• Increased profits for American producers? Banks?

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Bush Motivations - II

• Containment of Hussein, regional balance of power
  
• Bush Sr. vision balance of power
• as in post-Shah Gulf Iraq-Iran war
• Was Saddam suckered? Glaspie-Hussein exchange
• Did Hussein overstep the admissible bounds of his
  power?
• Militarization of Gulf, permanent US presence
• Repression of local instability in oil
  communities?
• From Palestinians to foreign workers (who are
  often Palestinian as well as Yemeni, etc.)
• Excuse for further military-industrial expansion?
• Excuse to further cut social expenditures?
• Recession?
• Depressing effect of war consistent with Fed
  restrictionary zero-inflation monetary policy

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Media the War

• Media was completely contained by Pentagon,
  virtually all news vetted by military
• TV images of smart bombs were only of hits
• Media accepted this censorship and in process
  became extension of Pentagon public relations
• Chomsky on how US media ignored history of US
  Security Council Relations
• Also ignored history of US invasions Grenada,
  Panama
• Also ignored history of how US ignored (Chinese
  of Tibet) or backed (Indonesian of East Timor)
  invasions of other countries. Or quietly
  negotiated (South Africa of Namibia)
• See Kellners Persian Gulf TV War, 1992.

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Aftermath

• Ecological disaster in Gulf
• From burning oil wells
• From widespread depleted uranium, toxins
• Destruction of social infrastructure
  electricity, food and water supplies
• Causes widespread suffering and death
• Blockade of Iraqi oil exports
• Reduction of export revenues
• Reduction of food supplies
• Reduction of medical supplies
• All adds up to thousands of deaths a year
• No fly-zones and repeated bombing
• Partitioning of Iraq w/creation of Kurdish zone

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- End of Phase One -