Iraq invades Iran after dispute over Kuwait territory on August 2, 1999. United States declares war! Exactly nine years after the invasion of Kuwait, President William Clinton declares war on Iran and Iraq. Years of attempts to establish a secure relationship with the Middle Eastern countries has led the United States no where. President Clinton hinted at last Tuesday Ôs evening press conference that relations with other Middle Eastern countries had been improving but US relations with Iran and Iraq has only gotten worst. Now President Saddam Hussein of Iraq and President Mohammad Khatami of Iran are in dispute over territory that legally belongs to Kuwait. The Clinton administration sees this as a potential threat to US political and economic interests. Middle Eastern countries has been fighting to expand their borders and increase their resources for several years. There is no precise punishment for these countries who break international laws and UN policies. There are however, various hegemons (an especially powerful nation), such as the US, that can inflict economic and political pressures on countries who act only on self-interest. ÒA state seeks to ensure its survivalÓ explains why a leader would need to approach situations that can in the end increase their countryÕs utility. Oil is the most valuable and abundant resource the Middle East has to export. It provides a large percentage of Middle Eastern economies. Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the entire world (Saudi Arabia has the largest). ÒIraq contains over one hundred billion barrels of proven oil reserves, with up to two hundred and fifteen billion barrels of probable and possible resources.Ó Iran holds eighty-eight billion barrels of proven oil reserves with oil accounting for eighty percent of its export earnings. Thus expanding a states border not only means more oil but also more power and money. The Middle East as a result, has a history of border disputes. Originally, the countries on the Arabian peninsula formed the Ottoman Empire. After World War I ended, the empire collapsed and new Middle Eastern boundaries were shaped by an alliance that included France and Great Britain. Most of the states created were unsatisfied with the area of land they were given. Inhabitants of the Middle East wanted to expand their borders but no states were willing to give up their territories for the otherÕs benefit of expansion. In 1932, the borders of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait were set and have not been changed since that time. Conflicts over the neutral area between Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia had lasted until 1975 while conflict between Iraq and Jordan had lasted until 1984. However the disputes between Iran, Iraq and the small state of Kuwait has existed the longest. Much of the conflict has resulted from Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq and a member of the radical BaÕth Regime. The BaÕth Regime first took power over Iraq in 1963 when former president QasamÕs government fell apart. Under this regime, Iraq became increasingly hostile against the United States. After he was elected president in 1979, Saddam Hussein has led his country into several wars. Most of his decisions were irrational and consequently became quite costly each time his country lost. Hence the nickname ÒSaddam InsaneÓ. During the 1970Õs both Iran and Iraq continued to fight over territories most of which belonged to Iran according to the original borders setup by European countries. The two countries tried to settle many of their problems through the Algiers Treaty in 1975. One are in particular called Aribstan by Iraq and Khuzestan by Iran, was a large source of the dispute and was later put under Iranian control when the treaty was signed. After other attempts to settle, border disputes flared in 1979 when both Iran and Iraq elected new leaders. In Iran, the fundamentalist Shiite Regime was now in power while in Iraq Saddam Hussein took over the presidency. In 1980, after border violations from both sides, Iraq aggressively attacked Iran and began the eight year war. It seemed like the eight year war was unnecessary simply because Iraq would have been able to be successful at land settlements though less extreme tactics. ÒBut Iran appeared weak and the Iraqi president thought he could easily win. His miscalculation of his opponent and corresponding overestimate of his own ability to impose a solution proved disastrous. It was exactly the kind of error that a highly personalized leadership lacking institutional checks and balances was inclined to make.Ó At the beginning of the war, neighboring states of Iran and Iraq showed generally more support for Saddam Hussein. In total the Gulf Region had donated approximately fifty billion dollars to Iraq. They provided them with military assistance and exported oil on their behalf to lessen their economic losses. Ironically out of the Arab states, Kuwait had been the most generous to Iraq throughout the start of the war. Possibly because they realized that Saddam Hussein had an extremely high threat credibility and could incur great loss on Kuwait as an enemy. Also Iraq may have received so much help from the states such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain because they too had been threatened by Iran shortly before and during the Iran-Iraq war. However, states in the Persian Gulf began to realize that Iraq too, could become a serious threat to their security. In May 1981, they formed an alliance, called the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), that included Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Iraq had asked for membership to the alliance but was denied until it started progressive negotiations with Iran. The goals of the council was to provide security for neighboring states and eventually put an end to the Iran-Iraq war. They did form a strong alliance but did not have the military power it should have had. Because they expressed more interest in maintaining a good relationship with the United States, US policies had begun to favor the alliance. The United States, although interested in the security of the states in the GCC, mainly had been concerned with Iraq winning the war and becoming a problem seller of their supply of oil. US policies differed in the way they dealt with the war. First the US attempted to improve their relationship with Iraq. When that was unsuccessful, some officials began to sell arms to Iran. In the 1970s, the United States began to take on a more active role in the Middle Eastern unrest. The country was in need of a policy that would help establish and regulate its relationship with the Middle East. On January 23, 1980, President Jimmy Carter introduced the Carter Doctrine. During his State of the Union address that year he stressed the idea of the document which was that Òan attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military forceÓ Now when the US military got involved it was for the interest of the country. The US provided military assistance to the GCC alliance and helped them strengthen their own militaries. In August of 1988, eight years after it started, the Iran-Iraq war ended Òwith both sides exhausted and Iraq claiming victory but without Iraqi success in achieving control of the Shatt al Arab.Ó Even though Iraq presented itself as the winner, there was still some resentment of the GCC for their lack of support near the end of the war. The country, after the war, was in debt almost seventy billion dollars. It had suffered great economic loss from low exported oil. Since many of the waterways were blocked, it was hard to get oil shipments out. As a result of the loss, Iraq had become more dependent on its surrounding wealthier states including Kuwait. Kuwait, for Saddam Hussein, was already an Iraqi territory and furthermore seemed defenseless against attacks or unable to stand any great loss. Hussein became biased by ignoring information that insisted the small state of Kuwait would be a difficult battle to win because of its alliances with other Gulf countries and outside relations with more powerful countries. Although Iraq had fallen below Saddam HusseinÕs reference point, it seemed like the gain of Kuwaiti territory would certainly make Iraq the wealthiest Arab nation. Prospect theorists refer to this rationale as the Endowment Effect. The term explains that a person is willing to take more risks (and possibly lose more utility) after losing utility and falling below their reference point than they are to gain utility and rise above their reference point. So for Saddam Hussein, after suffering the losses of the Iran-Iraq war, believed the risk of invading Kuwait was worth the gain. On August 2, 1990 Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait. The United States realized that ÒKuwait, the door to the entire oil-producing region, was very vulnerable. Threats to its stability, either from external or internal pressures, would have wide ramifications, endangering the flow of oil and the economic h of the industrial West.Ó Immediately after the invasion, President Bush, following the Carter Doctrine policy, sent military troops to defend the Kuwaiti territory because SaddamÕs invasion went against the economic interests of the United States. The United Nations reacted with economic sanctions on Iraq. The Security Council of the United Nations adopted several resolutions that condemned the invasion of Kuwait and ordered Iraq out of the territory. They included but were not limited to the following: ÒThe United Nations Special Commission to oversee the destruction, removal or rendering harmless of all IraqÕs chemical and biological weapons... The Iraq-Kuwait Demarcation Commission to demarcate the international boundary set out in the ÒAgreed Minutes between the State of Kuwait and the Republic of Iraq regarding the restoration of Friendly Relations, Recognition and Related MattersÓ, signed by them on 4 October 1963 and registered with the United Nation. Resolution 661 all states shall prevent the import into their territories of all commodities and products originating in Iraq or Kuwait...any commodities or products from Iraq or Kuwait...the sale or supply by their national or from their territories but not including supplies intended strictly for medical purposes, and, in humanitarian circumstances, foodstuffs, to any person or body in Iraq or Kuwait...states shall not make available to the Government of Iraq or to any commercial, industrial or public utility in Iraq or Kuwait, any funds or financial or economic resources and shall prevent their nationals and any persons within their territories from removing from their territories...all states including non-members shall act strictly in accordance with the provisions of the resolution...Ó It was not until March 3,1991, four days after President Bush ordered a cease-fire that, that Iraq accepted and withdrew from Kuwait. Iraq was clearly outnumbered by the 500,000 US forces in the region. Today, though, Iraq has not fully complied with a number of UN resolutions which makes it no surprise that on August 2, 1999 they would again attempt to expand their nation into Kuwait. In January 1996 US Defense Secretary William Perry during a visit to Saudi Arabia said ÒWe are prepared to here if necessary to protect the region...the threat from the Gulf from Iraq is greatly reduced from what it was before Operation Desert Storm. But it is not one that we can ignore.Ó Arab countries had continued to worry about the intentions of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and IranÕs President Mohammad Khatami. Even the United States was unsure about what their relations with Iran would be like after Khatami was president. Mixed signals made things unclear. ÓIn one article in Arab newspaper, Al-Hayat, , President Khatami wrote Ôwe should look to the West in an unprejudiced way...without love, without hatred.Õ Then at a press conference several days later in Tehran though, he stated that ÔUS policies have always been hostile to our revolution of our systemÕ and indicated that US-Iran relations would only improve with a change in US policies.Ó Clinton Administration disagrees with Khatami and Hussein and does not want to see them take any further steps of war with any other Gulf nation. In the past, the US has used sanctions and some military force to end the Iran-Iraq war. The US then used harsh sanctions and more force to end the Persian Gulf War. Now they must declare war on Iran and Iraq as a defense of US interest and the sovereignty of Arab nations. Bibliography 1. http://www.eia.doc.gov/emeu/cabs/hot.html United States Department of Energy Information Administration (Iraq) United States Department of Energy Information Administration (Iran) 2. http://www2.nando.net/newroom/ntn/world/011796/world14_16759 _53.html US Ready to Fight Again for Arab Oil 3. http://www.nd.edu/~aleyden/chrono.html Chronology of Important Events in the Iraq/Kuwait Crisis 4. gopher://gopher.undp.org/o/unearth/pko/IRAQ_KUW.TXT Resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and Statements By Its President Concerning the Situation Between Iraq and Kuwait 5. http://imabbs.army.mil/cmh.pg/www1.htm Background to War 6. http://www.liii.com/~hajeri/events.html Important Events in KuwaitÕs History 7. Art, Robert and Jervis, Robert, International Politics, Harper Collins College Publishers, 1996 1.ÓThe Anarchic Structure of World PoliticsÓ by Denneth N.Waltz 2.ÓThe UN in a New World OrderÓ by Bruce Russett and James S. Sutterlin 3.ÓThe Four Functions of ForceÓ by Robert J. Art 8. Professor Raymond Tanter, Class Notes Waltz, Kenneth N.,Theory of International Politics http://www.eia.doc.gov/emeu/cabs/hot.htm http://www.eia.doc.gov/emeu/cabs/hot.htm http://imabbs.army.mil/cmh.pg/www1.htm http://imabbs.army.mil/cmh,pg/www1.htm http://imabbs.army.mil/cmh.pg/www1,htm gopher://gopher.undp.org/o/unearth/pko/IRAQ-KUW.TXT http://www2.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/world/011796/world14_16759_53.html http://www.eia.doc.gov/emeu/cabs/hot.html Political Science 472 1 Tricia Yolanda Fullerton International Security Affairs Spring 1997 Term Paper