Example research essay topic: Persian Gulf War War Against Iraq - 2,005 words

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Gulf War (1) When it comes to analyzing reasons for any war, we need to be able to distinguish between propaganda, on the part of warring parties, and the actual circumstances, which brought about the beginning of hostilities. This thesis appears to be especially applicable, within a context of discussing the reasons for Gulf War of 1991. At the time, George Bush administrations spokespersons used to justify going to war against Iraq by humanitarian and geopolitical reasoning. Citizens were being told that it was crucial for U. S. to get involved into the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait, in order to protect the principle of territorial integrity, upon which international politics in post- WWII were based.

Numerous experts were telling us about the evils of Hussein's regime in Iraq, despite the fact that few years earlier, U. S. considered Iraq as its geopolitical ally, while supplying it with weapons that were meant to be used against Iran. Prior to the outbreak of war, American mainstream Medias strived to convince citizens that Saddam Hussein was just about to create nuclear weapons and that it was crucial for U. S. to deprive him of such opportunity.

In his article Why the Gulf War was not in the National Interest, Christopher Layne provides us with the insight on the fact that in 1991, many experts were seriously discussing the possibility of America being attacked by Iraq, within a matter of few years, if U. S. military was not going to intervene: Before the war the expert consensus was that Iraq was five to ten years away from acquiring an operational nuclear force. Even then Iraq would have posed little direct threat to the United States, because it would have taken far longer for Baghdad to have developed the capability to deliver nuclear weapons inter continentally (Layne, 1991). In 2004, the notion of Saddam's nuclear weapons was being transformed into the notion of weapons of mass destruction, which, as reality has proven, only existed in imagination of those who pushed for war.

At the time, George Bush used to insist that war against Iraq was necessary to establish a new world order, without specifying what he meant by that term, and to insure peace and stability in Middle East. Nowadays, we are perfectly aware that neither of wars proclaimed goals was reached, except for the fact that Kuwait was able to retain its independence, because of American direct military involvement. Moreover, Hussein's reign continued to last for another 13 years, even though Iraq had sustained a military defeat. In its turn, this caused many people to doubt the validity of official reasoning for Americas involvement in war. The overwhelming majority of citizens, who were able to retain their sense of logic, despite being continuously brainwashed by politically-correct rhetoric, came to conclusion that the real reason why Bush's administration opted in favour of war, was to protect the stability on international market of oil. However, if George Bush was really concerned about keeping oil price under control, as his foremost priority, it would be in his interests to allow Iraqis occupation of Kuwait to proceed unopposed.

In his article The Persian Gulf War: Oil, the Environment and Diplomacy, Leigh Kimmel points out at the fact that Gulf War did not make much of economical sense: Sending American troops into Kuwait to force Iraq out would cause even more disruption of oil production and would run the risk of destroying or at least badly damaging the oil-producing infrastructure of the area Not only did the oil fires have to be put out and damaged refineries and pipelines have to be repaired, but the areas in which the wells and related infrastructure were located had to be cleared of unexploded munitions which were there as a direct result of the conflict (Kimmel, 1998). Many Americans expected U. S. to actually take control of Kuwaiti oil, especially given the fact that this country can hardly be referred to as sovereign state. Upon hearing about Iraqis invasion, the Kuwaiti army had simply fled to Saudi Arabia, in order to avoid fighting. Yet, this did not happen.

Kuwaiti king was allowed to come back to the country to continue to enjoy luxurious lifestyle, simply because his country happened to be located over easily accessible oil deposits. Thus, it appears that America did not benefit from the war - neither economically, nor geopolitically, just as it was the case with Second Gulf War in 2004. Apparently, there were other reasons for U. S. government to pursue with the policy of military escalation in the region, at the time. Thus, in order for us to get a better understanding of Gulf Wars true causes, we need to ask ourselves a simple question what country did benefit from this war more then any other?

The answer to this question is very simple Israel. Prior to invading Kuwait, Saddam Hussein came out with few public speeches, in which he threatened to put an end to the existence of Israel. He had done it earlier; however, a so-called Soviet factor at the time, did not allow U. S. to take any drastic measures against Iraq, as such that posed threat to Americas closest ally in Middle East.

In 1991, Soviet empire stood on the brink of collapse, which is why it was in no position to provide any assistance to Iraq. In order to conceal the essence of Gulf War as military operation, which could only benefit Israel, U. S. involved another 31 countries into the conflict and insured UNs approval of this war. In his article The war on Iraq: Conceived in Israel, Stephen Sniegoski quotes diplomatic historian Paul W. Schroeder, who provides us with the insight on the essence of war against Iraq: It would represent something to my knowledge unique in history.

It is common for great powers to try to fight wars by proxy, getting smaller powers to fight for their interests. This would be the first instance I know where a great power (in fact, a superpower) would do the fighting as the proxy of a small client state (Sniegoski, 2003). It is not a secret that Jewish lobby exercises a disproportionate influence on American politics. One does not have to be overly smart to realize that American Medias are very biased, when it comes to depicting conflict in Middle East. Israelis are usually described as sophisticated and gentle people, who are trying to root out Arabic terrorism on the occupied Palestinian territories, which they are keeping under their control, despite numerous UN resolutions. On the other hand, Palestinian children who throw rocks at Israeli tanks, while being shot at in return, are depicted as bloodthirsty terrorists, who need to be treated like wild animals.

This is because the bulk of American Medias are owned by the representatives of chosen people. If we keep this in mind, it will become clear why America became involved in war against Iraq, even though it had nothing to win by doing this. The reason is Israel was concerned that Iraq's growing geopolitical influence would threaten its dominance in the region. This is why Iraq needed to be destroyed. Israel never bothers about respecting international laws, when it comes to protecting its safety and intimidating other countries. This little state is thought to posses 200 nuclear warheads, which it will not hesitate to use.

However, for as long as circumstances allow, Israel tries to solve its geopolitical problems with the help of its main ally United States, with American soldiers serving as cannon meat. (2) Americas close affiliation with Israeli policies became especially noticeable during the course of present election campaign, with two presidential candidates being convinced that there is nothing wrong about them traveling to Israel to pledge their allegiance to Jewish cause, even before the actual election. It makes one doubt as to whether they both intend to serve America rather then Israel. Joel Leyden's article American Jewish Congress Lauds Wolfowitz Appointment to World Bank, provides us with information as to who was in charge of instigating war hysteria in America and raising war funds, before outbreak of Gulf War: In 1989, President George H. W. Bush appointed Paul Wolfowitz to his second Defense Department tour as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the Pentagons third-ranking post. He assisted Defense Secretary Cheney in developing plans for prosecuting the Gulf War and in raising more than $ 50 billion in allied financial support (Leyden, 2005).

The only positive outcome of Gulf War was the fact that U. S. had established a strong presence in the region of Persian Gulf. However, this presence is not being used by the government to effectively deal with the threat of international terrorism, as it was officially proclaimed, but to provide military assistance to Israel. In fact, it was after the end of Gulf War that Islamic fundamentalists agreed upon the fact that Americas civilian population represents a legitimate target.

We can say that Gulf War also helped American armed forces to improve its combat readiness, because only through participation in military conflicts every 10 - 15 years, the army of just about any country is able to maintain its functionality. Army can only exist in the state of war or in the state of getting prepared for war, but it is important to insure that the process of army's preparing for war does not last for too long. Americas willingness to solve geopolitical conflicts with the mean of military force also has a purely economical explanation. Ever since 1971, when Federal Reserve refused to redeem U. S.

dollars for gold, the value of American legal tender is being artificially maintained by variety of different means. For example, even today, U. S. dollar remains only the currency accepted for payments, on international market of oil. However, as time goes by, more and more people get to realize that U. S.

dollars buying power is largely a myth, which is the real reason why large oil corporations, such as Shell or Exxon, now consider switching to Euro. If this happens, American economy will sustain a terrible blow. Therefore, we can say that Gulf War was bound to happen, because it is only by intimidating worlds nations militarily that U. S. can artificially maintain the value of U. S.

dollar as international currency. Ever since the collapse of Soviet Union, America needed to find another enemy, in order to maintain the vitality of its economy. In its turn, Jewish lobby in Senate insured that this new enemy would also be the enemy of Israel. This appears to be only the logical explanation for Gulf War. As time went on, U. S.

military presence in Gulf region, ceased to be associated with any practical benefits to American citizens whatsoever. It is exactly because of never-ending guerilla war in Iraq that the value of U. S. dollar continues to decline rapidly. However, the majority of American politicians lack the courage to insist on withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, because they perfectly aware that this would cost them their offices, since their election campaigns were being overwhelmingly financed by representatives of chosen people. Gulf War signified the emergence of new geopolitical reality in the world, with only one superpower USA, and only one place for money laundering Israel.

This is the reason why in nineties, George Bush was deeply committed to promoting the concept of new world order. Bibliography: Layne, Christopher Why the Gulf War was not in the National Interest. 1991. The Atlantic Online. 19 Sep. 2008. web Leyden, Joel American Jewish Congress Lauds Wolfowitz Appointment to World Bank. 2005. Israel News Agency. 19 Sep. 2008.

web Kimmel, Leigh The Persian Gulf War: Oil, the Environment and Diplomacy. 1998. Geocities. Com. 19 Sep. 2008. web Sniegoski, Stephen The War on Iraq: Conceived in Israel. 2003. Pragmatic Witness. 19 Sep. 2008. web Smith, Michael Ministers Were Told of Need for Gulf War Excuse. 12 Jun. 2005.

Times Online. 19 Sep. 2008. web Outline: Part one Part two

Research essay sample on Persian Gulf War War Against Iraq