Persian Gulf War #1Operation Desert Shield and Desert StormOperation Desert Shield and Desert Storm

1990-19911990-1991

Important People• George H.W. Bush• Dick Cheney• Colin Powell• Norman Schwarzkopf

Crisis• Iraq invades Kuwait- threatens

Saudi Arabia

• U.N. Responds (Collective Security)

Desert Shield• The “shielding” of Saudi Arabia

from Iraqi attack

• Build up of American and coalition forces

Desert Storm• Actual attack on Iraq to force them

from Kuwait

2 Phases of Desert Storm• Air War- 6 weeks

• Ground War- 100 hours

Air War…Air War…

Ground War…Ground War…

Results• Iraq forced out of Kuwait

• Iraqi military severely degraded

• Forced to accept UN weapons inspectors to make sure there is no WMD

Results• “No-Fly” Zones established over

Northern and Southern Iraq.

Historical Lessons Applied• Bush- WWII Veteran…..Appeasement

does NOT work…

Historical Lessons Applied• Powell/Schwarzkopf- Vietnam Veterans

…must have public support

… if you are going to war, go to WIN…do NOT fight fair…

Persian Gulf War #2Operation Iraqi FreedomOperation Iraqi Freedom

Spring, 2003Spring, 2003

Reasons for Conflict• Iraqi non-cooperation with U.N.

inspectors.

• Belief that Iraqi’s possessed WMD.

• Part of the overall war on Terrorism.

Important People• George W. Bush• Dick Cheney• Colin Powell• Donald Rumsfeld• Condoleezza Rice

Operation Iraqi Freedom• Goals:

– End the rule of Saddam Hussein

– Eliminate WMD

– Disrupt terrorists and their networks

Continuing Problems…• Guerrilla War continues…

• Moslem extremists continue to enter Iraq

• Sunni vs. Shiite problems