20 TH CENTURY WARS

CASE STUDY #1: DESERT STORM (GULF WAR 1991)

PAPER #2 will have 2 essays in 90 minutes1. The Cold War

2. A War of the 20th century

These are the parameters for 20 th century WAR: 1) Causes of war :

Short- and long-term causes Economic, ideological, political, territorial and other causes

2) Practices of war civil wars; wars between states; guerrilla wars Technological developments; theatres of war—air, land and sea The extent of the mobilization of human and economic resources The influence and/or involvement of foreign powers

3) Effects of war The successes and failures of peacemaking Territorial changes Political repercussions Economic, social and demographic impact; changes in the role and status of

women

We have already discussed according to up top:1. Korea – Civil War, foreign powers, IDEOLOGICAL, POLITICAL-FAILURES OF

PEACEMAKING2. Vietnam - IDEOLOGICAL, POLITICAL guerrilla war, foreign powers, 3. Afghanistan - IDEOLOGICAL, POLITICAL guerrilla war, technology,

Case Study #1: Desert Storm (1991) America vs. Iraq and Saddam Hussein War between states/// technology/////ECONOMIC!!!

The Gulf War, also known as Desert Storm (1991) , was the first major war since the Cold War ended in 1990. It was over in 43 DAYS!

Desert Storm was a LIMITED WAR. Unlike WWI and WWII which were TOTAL WARS

TOTAL WAR LIMITED WAR- Every country in the world Just America and Iraq

(+ Saudi Arabia and Kuwait)

- Use every weapon imaginable We didn’t use NUKES- The Draft No Draft- Women join the workforce No major social changes- Targeting civilians We try not do this- Major territorial changes (WWI and WWII) Nope!- Major mobilization of the WHOLE COUNRY Nobody even knows where Iraq IS!!!

(War bonds, victory gardens etc.)

HERE’S A QUICK BREAKDOWN Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 We responded by invading Iraq It was over in 43 DAYS! George H.W Bush was President (Bush’s daddy!) He was also Ronald Reagan’s Vice-President

We used new TECHNOLOGY that completely shocked the world (laser guided missiles, Smart Bombs, Stealth fighters. Our defense budget went up AGAIN! It was all on TV like a video game!!!!!!!! We let Saddam Hussein live to keep stability in the Middle East even though he was a brutal dictator (something that George W. Bush FAILED to do in 2003! $3,000,000,000,000.00 later……………………)

WHO WAS SADDAM HUSSEIN??

He was the DICTATOR of Iraq! Born in 1936

Became dictator in 1979 Hanged in 2006

Arabic name: Abd al-Maǧīd al-Tikrītī;[

التكريتي المجيد عبد حسين دام

2 kids: Uday and Qusay: One of them would eat the hearts of his enemies but “boys will be boys!”

BUT WHY DID SADDAM INVADE lil’ ol’ KUWAIT?????

1. First of all, he borrowed a lot of $$$$$$ from Kuwait to fight Iran in the 1980’s. Now, he owed them BILLIONS!!!!!!!

- Iraq fought Iran in the IRAN-IRAQ WARS of 1980-1988. Saddam is Sunni but Iran is Shia and THEY DO NOT GET ALONG!! (See the end of the chapter for why.)- Nobody really won but Saddam Hussein borrowed A LOT of money from countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to fight Iran. And who really wants to pay all that money back?! Better to just invade!- He can’t invade Saudi Arabia so…….bye-bye Kuwait- But he undersestimated Amurikha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- We weren’t gonna let that happen.

2. Secondly, after the Iran-Iraq Wars Saddam Hussein had about 1.5 million soldiers that needed something to do. The last thing he wanted was for them to come home and then have no work. He had already survived one assassination attempt after losing to Iran. He needed and new enemy and Kuwait was it. Remember, the best way to DISTRACT a population from their problems is with a…………………..WAR!!!!! Or the Super Bowl!!

3. Plus, remember that it was the Europeans who drew up the lines of the Middle East after WWI. Well, Iraq believed that Kuwait actually belonged to Iraq. There was no such thing as a ‘KUWAIT’ before WWI. Europe just kind of created them just like they created all the lines in Africa and the rest of the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan included!

4. There was also a major oil field on the Iraqi/Kuwait border that Saddam wanted. And oil is Iraq’s ONLY major export (also figs and AK-47’s)

The PERSIAN GULF is basically the single biggest oil depository in the world. And it just happens to lie in between Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait.

HE THOUGHT KUWAIT BELONGED TO IRAQ. AND KUWAIT HAS………..OIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. Another economic problem that Saddam had that he needed to address was that all that Iraq had was OIL, and if oil is your #1 export, you have a problem. Why? Because not only is the price constantly changing, but the price is actually out of your control.

For example. Right now gasoline is $2.00 per gallon and $40.00 per whole barrel1. Russia’s federal budget is based on oil costing $100 per barrel2. Iran’s is based on $135 per barrel.3. Venezuela’s on $150.00 per barrel4. Right now, in 2016, it’s trading at $40.00 per barrel. Uh Oh!!!5. OPEC controls the price of oil (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela…) O.P.E.C stands for…………………. OIL and PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES.

SADDAM GOES BEGGING - He asks Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Kuwait to give him a break on the money he owed them and to give him an additional $30 billion. They, uh, said NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- He also asked OPEC (all the countries that make oil) to raise the price of gasoline. Again, they said NO.

So, on August 2 nd , 1990 at 2:00 a.m. Saddam invaded Kuwait.- He waited until 2:00 a.m when everyone was sleeping. (Except for Shandee, Taija, and Shavane who were out clubbing that night)

1. First we tried negotiating……….. Then we tried economic sanctions.

- The 1st thing that the UN did in 1990 was impose Economic Sanctions (no country could buy Iraqi oil. No Iraqis could use US or European banks etc.)

- The United Nations Security Council QUICKLY authorized these economic sanctions. This is because the Soviet Union no longer existed and Russia was NORMAL.

- Cuba and Yemen voted against us and China abstained. The UN Security Council is 12 members with 5 PERMANENT MEBERS WITH VETO POWER (US, Russia, China, England and France)

2. Finally we went in with 500,000 American and Arab troops. I was 13 years old and a Freshman in High School. Just had my Bar Mitzvah. You will NEVER see the video! I was chubby but my mommy said I looked cute. On January 16 th , 1991 we invaded Iraq.

The Arab League (10 Arabian countries) sent us troops as well. This is HUGE. America and the Middle East NEVER cooperate militarily. But remember, they don’t want chaos

in the region either. Plus, some of the countries are Shia and some are Sunni.

- By January, 1991: Coalition forces = 550,000 troops! (That’s A LOT!!!!).Of course 350,000 were Amuhrikun!

The real question is WHY the United States wanted to get involved??

1. First of all, we DID NOT want Saddam Hussein to control that much oil (Iraq + Kuwaiti oil)

2. Secondly, now that Russia wuz dead we were now the #1 SUPERPOWER in the world. Gotta show the world who’s boss.

We can’t have crazy little dictators going around INVADING people. Especially in the Middle East. That would make us look weak. We wanted to teach Saddam a lesson about following international guidelines. We didn’t want other crazy dictators thinking they could just do whatever they wanted. i.e. Kim Jong Whatever

3. We also DEFINITELY wanted stability in the Middle East which is ALWAYS a hot spot because of our support of Israel. (Chapter: Latin America)

4. Obviously President George H.W. Bush said that it was for HUMANITARIAN REASONS. I mean, Iraq did INVADE a neighboring country and cause untold deaths. We had a DUTY to go in, didn’t we?!

5. NUCLEAR WEAPONS It is also true that people were afraid that Saddam Hussein was building a nuclear bomb. If this was the case he MUST be stopped. Some intelligence estimates noted it would take him up to 10 years to build a nuke. Others noted even if he DID build a bomb, he DIDN’T have ICBM’s.

But Bush’s foreign policy experts noted that even the mere POSSIBILITY of Saddam Hussein getting nukes was REASON ENOUGH to attack.

This IS a strong argument and the one my father fully supports!

** By the way, this is the EXACT SAME REASON Bush Jr. Gave in 2003 when we invaded Iraq and actually took Saddam down. Bush said that we had evidence that Iraq was developing WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. This turned out to be COMPLETELY FALSE and we have spent over $3,000,000,000,000.00 in Iraq so far.

*** IRONY: Again, what’s interesting is that it was the US (Reagan and his Vice-President Bush) who sold Saddam Hussein all his weapons and arms during the Iran-Iraq War. Now Bush was under pressure to stop it.

But is there another reason why we invaded Iraq?Some suggest that President Bush Senior (Dubya’s dad) needed a boost to his popularity. After all, he was running for re-election in 1992 and the war was in 1991. Coincidence? You decide!

PRESIDENT GEORGE Herbert Walker BUSH

He was a WWII fighter pilot (hero) Then he was head of the CIA (kind-of-hero)

Then he was Ronald Reagan’s Vice-President (?- hero) In 1988 he became President and was actually the Prez when the Berlin Wall fell,

the Soviet Union collapsed and we left Afghanistan

Hi son is Jeb Bush (former Governor of Florida and 2016 republican Presidential candidate

His other son is George W. Bush (9-11 and Iraq and Afghanistan) Just jumped out of an airplane at the age of 90!! He is now 92 and in a wheelchair

Lost to Bill Clinton in 1992 and then again 1996. Voted for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump

Some quotes that suggest the ONLY reason for war was Bush’s popularity: (Wouldn’t it be KOOOL if u could mention journalists and academics as potential sources in a debatable essay on an IB Exam 1. The New Yorker Magazine

“A short successful war would be POLITICAL GOLD for the President and would GUARANTEE his re-election.”

2. The Washington Post “Some observers in his own party worry that the president will be forced to initiate combat to prevent further erosion of his support at home” (The US economy was not doing well and Bush staff members felt a war might be a good distraction)Fun Fact: George H. W. Bush I the ONLY President to win a war and lose re-election (1992 Bill Clinton)

It will not be the FIRST nor the LAST time a President goes to war to boost his popularity at home. In fact, Robert de Niro and Dustin Hoffman made a movie about this very thing called “Wag the Dog”. It’s about a fake war made for TV to boost the President’s popularity. “Canadian Bacon” is a movie that stars John Candy and is about a president who starts a fake war with Canada just to get TV ratings.**Never trust a country with a maple leaf on its flag!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…………ANOTHER POTENTIAL REASON FOR THE GULF WAR: THE COLD WAR IS OVER. NOW WHAT? Our Cold War defense budget was about $250 billion per year (That’s about $5 billion per week) Many people thought that now that the Soviet Union had collapsed and our #1 enemy was gone, maybe we should cut our ginormous Cold War Defense Budget Uh no, they were wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The United States NEEDED an excuse to USE all that money. Companies that make rockets, and jets and bullets and lasers needed SOMEWHERE to use them. This is a bit of a conspiratorial and arguably an illegitimate conjecture, but hey, you’re High School students!

TECHNOLOGY: WE LUV GUNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LIONS AND TIGER AND BEARS?

NO, SMART BOMBS, LASERS, AND BUNKER BOMBS!

We had all these new military toys to play with that we REALLY, REALLY wanted to use.

The Gulf war completely changed the nature of warfare in the 21st century and at the end of the 20th century.

IRAQ WAR TECHNOLOGY DON’T 4GET: You may be asked ONLY about War Technologies on Paper #2: 20th Century Wars

1. Smart Bombs The biggest problem with firing missiles from airplanes is that 1) It’s hard to find the targets and 2) The missiles don’t always hit the targets.

Well, the US Military came up with a system where soldiers on the ground would point a GREEN LASER at a target, and the missile fired from a jet would FOLLOW that laser. It was pinpoint technology that greatly increased accuracy. (They used this in the 1st Transformers movie when they were shooting missiles at the metal scorpion in the desert. You can see me in the background guiding them)

o Patriot Missiles These were the first Defense Missiles that were used to shoot down other missiles. And they worked!

The only reason they worked during Desert Storm was that the Iraqi missiles sucked. They were called SCUD missiles. SCUD stands for……I have no idea. SCUD missiles could not change direction for example. Plus they were Soviet made so you know they suck. We either took out their SCUD launchers, or shot them down with Patriot Missiles. We were anywhere from 40%-70% effective. Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system claims a 90% success rate.

Generals in 2015 STILL can’t get our Missile Defense System to work properly on normal missiles. I think we hit 1 out of 13 missiles.

**Remember, SALT in 1972 between Nixon and Brezhnev (part of Détente) LIMITED these ABM’s (Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Systems)

And it was ALL on television. It was like watching a VIDEO GAME. All of our Patriot Missiles shooting down Iraqi Scud missiles, AT NIGHT. It was on ALL the channels.

BUNKER-BUSTING BOMBS One of the problems we had in Vietnam is that many of the enemy bunkers were found underground. That’s why Nixon illegally bombed the famous Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cambodia and lied about it on national television.

Anyway, Saddam Hussein put a lot of his anti-aircraft missiles and artillery underground as well. We needed something that could destroy stuff under 10 feet of rock, sand or mud. Enter: bunker-busting bombs (Can you say that 3 X fast) We only dropped two in Iraq but still..

F-117 Stealth fighter-bombers  

- Reagan made them put Papa Bush USED them- 660 MPH- Can elevate at 4000 feet per minute.- Laser guided missiles that can be controlled by automatic autopilot.- 5000 pound bunker busting bombs- Pilots are called ‘bandit’s- Hit 1600 targets in Desert Storm/Gulf war- 1 was shot down-----they have self-destruct mechanisms. Like my bathroom

passes.- Saddam NEVER SAW EM’ COMIN’.

AND WELAUNCHED THE NEW TOMAHAWK MISSILES…FROM FAR AWAY!!!!!!!!!  

- 1.59 million dollars EACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- During Desert Storm we launched 288 Tomahawks

o 12 from subs……………..276 from battleshipso Has a 9’ wingspan (like a condor)o Can go 1500 miles (Miami to NYC)o Subsonic: 550 mph

TANKS AND STUFF1) the M-1 Abrams main battle tank

- 45 miles per hour- 1500 horsepower (like my Honda)

- Gets an awesome 1.5 miles per gallon!- Just starting it takes 10 gallons

2)the AH-64A Apache attack helicopter

A VIDEO GAME CALLED WAR……OUR GENERAL DURING DESERT STORM WAS “STORMIN” NORMAN SHARTZKOPF. HE AND ARNOLD SCHWARTZENEGGER MADE THE HUMMER FAMOUS

STEP ONE: SHOCK AND AWE- The Air Force flew 100,000 bombing missions. - We bombed military targets all over Iraq. Any infrastructure (command centers, communication centers, military bridges, factories roads etc.) was GONE!- We also had night vision and pilots who knew how to fly at night.- We took out ALL the Iraqi air defenses in ONE NIGHT. I believe it was a Thursday!- The Iraq Air Force ran away to Iran!- 89% of our missiles hit their targets. 1,800,000,000 pounds of bombs (Yeah!)- Actually we dropped that many bombs EVERY 2 MONTHS in the Vietnam War (Idiots!) Can you imagine how many civilians we killed?!

- Saddam starts launching missiles against Israel, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait City. - This means he is responsible for indiscriminate killing, targeting civilians and anyone else. If he had any brains he would have known in the eyes of the world, attacking Israel and Saudi Arabia made him look terrible.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declares: “The great showdown has begun! The mother of all battles is under way.” He’s basically insane!!!

THE LAND WAR- Iraqi tanks were old. They could not move AND fire at the same time. Ours could! - Our tanks had this cool new invention called GPS, and had the ability to drive at night.

- Our troops, all 550,000 of them drove, out the ENTIRE IRAQ ARMY from Kuwait in 100 hours!!!!!!

DON’T 4GET: EVERY TANK, JET, MISSILE, SHIP, AND HELICOPTER USED GPS!!!!!!

In 2016 our GPS is accurate to….2 feet!!

We then sent about 6 battleship groups into the Persian Gulf. We were worried that Saddam had planted “sea-mines” and he had, but we and England only lost 2 ships.

The most damage came when we shot at Iraqi ships trying to “escape” to Iran just like the pilots did.

The Navy also made sure nobody broke the UN sanctions by trading with Iraq through the Persian Gulf.

Iraq dumped 400 million gallons of oil into the Gulf to try to stop our ships (not the best strategy. Kind of like trying to kill all the trees in Vietnam) Saddam also LIT 400 OIL FIELDS IN KUWAIT ON FIRE!! By the way, when we invaded in 2003, THE FIRST THING WE PROTECTED WERE THE OIL FIELDS!!!!

AMERICA LOVES IT!!!! (RA-RA-RAH)

The Gulf War (Desert Storm) had an 85% approval rating. Wars have a habit of bringing out the Ra-ra-ra in people, even if they don’t know where Iraq is. Plus it was like a video game on cable.

THE END OF THE WAR (PROBABLY THE EASIEST AND MOST IMPORTANT POINT)

What’s MOST interesting about war is that we ended it WITHOUT killing Saddam Hussein. I mean, we left him in power. President Bush knew that an Iraq with a brutal dictator is BETTER than an Iraq in chaos.

He feared all the terrorist would come out. Better to let Saddam kill them every once in a while and keep the crazies in check.

This is the EXACT reason why we right now leave Bashar al-Assad in power in Syria. He has killed over 200,000 civilians and truned 4,000,000 Syrians into refuges but President Obama, Germany and the United States feel he is better than terrorists and chaos. The poor people of Syria disagree. This is why President Obama now has grey hair.

Bashar al-Assad in Syria is also the reason ISIS finds it so easy to go in and out of Syria. Russia and America are afraid if we kill one Middle Eastern dictator, 1000 terrorists will take his place.

We also didn’t kill or arrest Saddam Hussein because we NEEEDED him as a buffer against Shia Iran. Remember, 80% of Iraq is Shia, just like Iran. The LAST THING we wanted was for Iran and Iraq to join forces. The same reason we supported Iraq during the 80’s and the Iran-Iraq Wars.

P.S. This is EXACTLY what happened after President Bush and Dick Cheney invaded Iraq in 2003 and the people hanged Saddam. Iran and Iraq are now BFF’s and WE HATE IT!President George W. Bush did not understand what his dad H.W. Bush DID! An Iraq without a gang leader is an Iraq with 1,000 gangs!

March 26, 1991, The New York Times“President Bush (the elder) has decided to let President Saddam Hussein put down rebellions in his country without American intervention rather than risk the splintering of Iraq”

CASUALTIES OF THE GULF WARCASUALTIES:- The US: 150- England: 24- Arab countries (not Kuwait): 37- Iraq: anywhere from 20,000 – 40,000 (civilians maybe half)Friendly Fire cost America 1500 guys and England 700

Kuwait got HAMMERED: About $30 billion in damage when Saddam started launching missiles indiscriminately for 10-20-3-40 DYAS!!!.

After we invaded in 2003 we caught Saddam in a cave and the Iraqis hanged him!

He hid in a cave. We found him and his psychotic sons plus about $10,000,000,000 in cash and gold in his 6 palaces!!!!!! If u gave me 3 billion dollars and 6 months notice, I would disappear, get plastic surgery, and u would NEVER see me again! But Saddam was crazeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Fun Fact: When France declined to participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq Congress actually changed the name of FRENCH FRIES in the Congressional cafeteria to FREEDOM FRIES. Idiots!

In terms of WHY we invaded Iraq, which answer is correct is up to you, but for the purposes of the IB Exam, all are debatable. And the more analysis you offer on the IB Exam in May the more points you will get.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

OK, THESE PAGES SHOULD BE UR STUDY GUIDE FOR THE EXAM

PART 1: List 4 reasons WHY Saddam would invade Kuwait:1.2.3.4.

PART 2: THE US GETS INVOLVEDPlease create a BUBBLE MAP with all the potential reasons for American involvement in the Gulf War in TERMS OF ‘BELIEVABILITY’.

PART 3:

Technology Question You might get a question on Paper #2: Wars of the 20th

Century ONLY about the use of technology in a war. List them here.

IRAN-IRAQ WARS OF THE 1980’SINFO U MIGHT FIND HANDY…GET EDUKATED!!

SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS SUNNI………………….IRAQ IS SHIA (SHI’ITE)

SHIA/SUNNI SPLIT: Shiites believe only relatives of Ali can be the ruler cuz that’s who Muhammad chose……………… Sunnis believe that regular people like Abu Bakr can be Muslim rulers. Sometimes they call them Caliphs, sometimes they call them Sultans.

MUHAMMAD- Muhammad was born in a city called Mecca in Saudi Arabia in 570 CE. (The 6th century)- Khadija was Muhammad’s 1st wife- Aisha was Muhammad’s 2nd wife (either 9 or 12 years old depending upon ur translation of the Koran!)- Abu Bakr: Was Aisha’s dad and thus Mohammad’s Father-in-Law- Ali: Muhammad’s cousin (Hence the boxer’s name; Muhammad Ali)

When Muhammad died in 632 CE, he made his cousin Ali the next ruler OF Islam. Unfortunately, not everybody liked this and Ali was assassinated after 4 years. As a result, Muhammad’s father-in-law Abu Bakr became the first Caliph (Muslim ruler).

This has led to massive wars between Muslims!!!!

MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES THAT ARE MUSLIMSHIA SUNNI

IRAN SAUDI ARABIA PAKISTAN

AFGHANISTANTURKEY

SADDAMA HUSSIEN

In 1979 the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran becomes:AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI

THE AYATOOLAH IN IRAMIran is a theocracy, ruled by the principals of Sharia, or Islamic Law. Lowered the marrying age to 9! After a lot of protests he raised it to 13! (That’s better!) This goes back to Muhammad’s 2nd wife Aisha. Made it illegal for married women to go to school (like Afghanistan under the Taliban) Made all beaches sex-segregated (finally!!) Sports were strictly segregated and all female athletes, even those in the Olympics, had to wear the hijab Women COULD NOT become judges (Judge Judy?) It is now legal to have 2 wives! (Don’t know why it’s not 4)

- The Revolutionary Guard is the real strong-arm police force and they are loyal to only one man, the Ayatollah.- They also have a ‘Morality Police’ which enforce, among other things, that: Women must wear the hijab, or head covering, even Men and women cannot hold hands and kiss in public. God help you if they are two men cuz the Iranians won’t. (But they do allow transgender surgery and there is a great episode of Vice from Season 2 on this) Confiscating obscene material like pornography. (And Justin Bieber posters)

*********************************************************************DON’T 4GET: This is one of the reasons the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, cuz they were afraid of what was happening in Iran and didn’t want Islamic Revolutions spreading to their other Central Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan etc.) I KINDA forgot to tell you this the last time

Today, they are known as the Islamic Republic of Iran!

AND NOW….Which of these does Desert Storm apply to? Causes of war:

Short- and long-term causes Economic, ideological, political, territorial and other causes

Practices of war civil wars; wars between states; guerrilla wars

Technological developments; theatres of war—air, land and sea The extent of the mobilization of human and economic resources

The influence and/or involvement of foreign powers

Effects of war The successes and failures of peacemaking

Territorial changes Political repercussions

changes in the role and status of women

AND NOW….. PLEASE MOVE ON TO WARS OF THE 20 TH

CENTURY: CASE STUDY #2- WORLD WAR 1