Gulf War
Essay by review • September 17, 2010 • Essay • 4,632 Words (19 Pages) • 2,135 Views
St. Augustine's Just
War Theory and the Persion Gulf War On August 2nd, 1990
the first Iraqi tanks crossed into Kuwait, as part of an invasion
that marked the start of a six-month conflict between the
United States and Iraq. These tanks were ordered to invade
Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, the ruthless dictator of Iraq. The
Iraqi troops looted Kuwaiti businesses and brutalized Kuwaiti
civilians. Saudi Arabia began to fear that they may be invaded
as well, and on August 7th they formally asked President
Bush for US assistance. The US pledged to defend the
Saudis, and to remove the Iraqis from Kuwait. Great masses
of troops from many different nations were deployed in the
Persian Gulf area. At 4:30 PM EST on January 16, 1991, the
first aircraft with orders to attack Iraqi targets were launched
from Saudi Arabia, marking the beginning of Operation Desert
Storm. Dictators like Mr. Hussein cannot be allowed to take
advantage of smaller countries like bullies after lunch money.
There has to be someone to stop them, or they will gain more
and more power and land, just as Adolf Hitler tried to do in
World War II. That someone, in the case of Mr. Hussein, was
the United States, along with a multinational coalition. The US
had just cause in entering a war against Iraq because of Iraq's
invasion of the small and defenseless nation of Kuwait.
Actions such as that must be repulsed. Iraq had no just cause
in invading Kuwait; their reasons were either obscure or for
their benefit. The US had to help Kuwait regain their nation. In
protecting the Saudis from invasion and removing the Iraqis
from Kuwait the US had the right intention. The real reason
the US decided to fight the Iraqis was to restore Kuwait's
government and to defend Saudi Arabia. There was no
underlying reason, such as to receive better prices on oil or to
make the Kuwaitis indebted to the US so as to receive favors.
Throughout the war, the US made clear their purpose and
intent in fighting the Iraqis, and not once did they stray from it.
Legitimate authority was established when the Congress
voted to follow United Nations resolution 678, section two of
which "Authorizes Member States co-operating with the
Government of Kuwait, unless Iraq on or before 15 January
1991 fully implements, as set forth in paragraph 1 above, the
foregoing resolutions, to use all necessary means to uphold
and implement resolution 660 (1990) and all subsequent
relevant resolutions and to restore international peace and
security in the area." The vote to follow the resolution was as
good as a declaration of war, as far as legitimate authority is
concerned, and is in some ways better. The adoption of the
resolution only authorized the use of force to remove Iraq from
Kuwait. This limited the ability of our military to completely
destroy Iraq's military or to drive Hussein from power. Our
authority to remove Iraq from Kuwait was clearly legitimate.
The Gulf War was fought with proportionality clearly in the
leadership's mind. President Bush planned to get Iraq's troops
out of Kuwait and then stop. He had no intention of carrying
the war further. Although Bush would have dearly liked to
have marched US troops toward Baghdad to destroy
Hussein's government, he did not, because of the risk of
heavy casualties, and because it went against the
proportionality idea.
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