3.4 Iraq & Saddam Hussein

WHO? Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq.

WHAT? Had to be removed from power so US forces could withdraw from Saudi Arabia.

WHEN? Operation IRAQI FREEDOM launched after military operations wound down in Afghanistan.

WHERE? US forces staged in the Persian Gulf overran Iraqi forces and took Baghdad in six weeks.

WHY? It was a quiet concession to bin Laden’s aims of removing US forces from Saudi Arabia.

Osama bin Laden declared war against the US because our forces were stationed in Saudi Arabia, home to the two holiest shrines in Islam, Mecca and Medina. The stationing of US forces in Saudi Arabia was an affront to many Muslims. The only way to prevent the situation from becoming a pretext for another 9/11 was to remove them. The only thing standing in the way of a US withdraw from Saudi Arabia was Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator. In 1979 he took control of Iraq by having all his political opponents killed. Over the next 24 years he killed thousands: enemies, friends, family, and countrymen. In September 1980 he invaded Iran. The attack quickly ground to a halt. Both sides took up defensive lines and began pounding each other’s positions. It became a bloody war of attrition. The conflict resembled World War I in terms of large-scale trench warfare with bayonet attacks by human waves against machine guns behind barbed wire, and extensive use of chemical weapons. Mustard gas was used to halt Iranian advances on the front, and punish Kurdish rebels in Iraq. After eight bloody years, the war ended in stalemate. An estimated half-million soldiers died. Iraq came out of the war heavily in debt. It owed $30 billion to its wealthy neighbor Kuwait. Kuwait refused to forgive Iraq’s debt. Saddam Hussein also accused them of stealing Iraq’s oil. To eliminate Iraq’s debt to Kuwait, Saddam Hussein decided to eliminate Kuwait. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces advanced south into Kuwait, and overran the country in two days. Concerned that Iraqi forces might continue south into Saudi Arabia prompted the Kingdom to accept an offer of US military support. On August 7, 1990, the 82nd Airborne landed in Dhahran. Over the next four months the US forged an international coalition and led a rapid buildup of military force that was designated Operation DESERT SHIELD. After diplomatic efforts failed to dislodge Iraq from Kuwait, the United Nations passed Resolution 678 authorizing the use of force. On January 16, 1991, the coalition launched DESERT STORM. DESERT STORM began with a 42-day air campaign that quickly gained air supremacy before it began whittling away at Iraqi leadership, communications, and forces. On February 24, 1991, the ground campaign commended when the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions and 1st Light Army Infantry Battalion crossed into Kuwait and headed for Kuwait City. At the same time, the US VII Corps together with French and British armor divisions drove deep into Iraq then turned east and smashed into the flank of the elite Republican Guard. The Iraqis took heavy casualties before resistance crumbled and they began to surrender or retreat. Within 100 hours coalition ground forces overran the enemy and liberated Kuwait. An estimated 100,000 Iraqi soldiers died in the conflict. Although Saddam Hussein lost the war, he still remained in power. He now turned his attention to crushing the rebellions trying to topple him. He sent his remaining forces to crush the uprising of ethnic Kurds in the north, and Shia Muslims in the south. Tens of thousands of Iraqi people were killed before the coalition intervened. The coalition established military exclusion zones to keep Iraqi forces out of northern and southern Iraq. These were enforced by US and allied forces based in Turkey and Saudi Arabia. US forces also remained in Saudi Arabia to deter Saddam Hussein from again attacking south. It was because US forces remained in Saudi Arabia that Osama bin Laden declared war in 1996. After removing the Taliban and al Qaeda from Afghanistan in 2002, the US turned to Iraq. On March 20, 2003, the US, again at the head of a coalition, launched Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. The combined air and ground campaign lasted only six weeks before Baghdad was taken. Within days, US forces began pulling out of Saudi Arabia, and no more remain there today. Saddam Hussein fled into hiding, but was found and captured nine months later. Three year later he was tried and found guilty of crimes against humanity. On December 30, 2006, he was hanged.