Military Strategies in Iraq
This is an excerpt from the paper...
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the strategies of both the U.S. led coalition forces and the Iraqi military, as utilized in their respective campaigns during the Persian Gulf War. The method used in this analysis will be one of comparing and contrasting the strategies of both sides. In addition, an effort will be made to understand the rationale that led to the selection of these specific strategies. It will be seen that air power played a vital role in contributing to the success of the coalition campaign. By contrast, the lack of effective air power was a decisive factor in the failure of the Iraqi effort. The Persian Gulf War was chosen as the basis for this analysis because it provides an excellent case study in the contemporary use of strategic planning and warfare techniques. When Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, the United States and its allies were faced with the unique challenge of maintaining international cooperation for the purpose of stopping regional aggression. Because of sound planning, based on a practical assessment of the situation on both sides, the coalition was able to succeed in the implementation of its strategy. By contrast, various misconceptions and inconsistencies on the part of the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein resulted in the failure of that nation's military efforts during the conflict. Analysis of the various factors involved in the Persian Gulf War provides not only insights into why the coalition won, but a
. . .
lied effort would eventually turn into a war of attrition (O'Neill & Kass, 1992, p. 228). However, Saddam and his military advisors failed to implement the necessary strategic steps to carry out this type of plan. In fact, Iraq's overall strategy failed to meet the nation's political and military objectives. In addition to Saddam's failure to take the offensive initiative when the opportunity availed itself, the Iraqi strategy did not provide for an effective air defense during the time that the coalition forces were accumulating along the Iraq Kuwait border.
The main objective of the U.S. and coalition forces was to remove Iraq from Kuwait. As such, the coalition was in a better position than Iraq in terms of establishing an offensive campaign. An offensive position is vital for the success of any military strategy. The United States and its allies were also concerned with the objective of undermining Iraq's future ability to wage war. Furthermore, the United States wanted to avoid prolonged involvement in a war in the Middle East. In order to meet these objectives, USCENTAF strategy focused on the speedy attainment of air supremacy and the destruction of key strategic targets. In order to completely destroy Iraq's war
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
O'Neill Kass, Gulf War, Kuwait Kuwaitis, Saddam Hussein's, Saddam Hussein, War Furthermore, Berry Polmar, Iraq Kuwait, Kuwait Iraq, Middle East, coalition forces, gulf war, persian gulf, persian gulf war, o'neill kass 1992, o'neill kass, iraqi military, kass 1992, air power, niva 1991, heisbourg 1991, horner 1991, kass 1992 228, triumph victory 1992, heisbourg 1991 68,
Approximate Word count = 4614
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page)
More Essays on Military Strategies in Iraq
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
