U.S. Lead in 1991 Gulf War

This paper explores the issue of why the United States took the lead in (a) forming the coalition and (b) leading the coalition in the military campaign to oust Iraq led by Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in the Gulf War of 1991. Within the context of this issue are such subsidiary issues that concerned why some other country did not take the lead and what the primary motivation of the United States was in taking the lead.

At the outset, it must be stated that few countries were capable of taking the lead. Two possibilities were economic powerhouses of the day ù Germany and Japan. There were sound reasons why neither took the lead, although both were willing to follow the lead of the United States. In the case of Germany, the countryÆs military redevelopment in 1991 was not at a level that would allow Germany to play a lead role in such an endeavor. Further, German reunification was the dominant concern to Germany at the time. In the case of Japan, the countryÆs post Second World War constitution prohibited hostile military actions in foreign countries. For the same reason, JapanÆs military capacity had not developed to a level that would allow Germany to play a lead role in such an endeavor (Miller and Yetiv 63).

Two further potential leadership candidates were Russia and the United Kingdom. First, Russia was still in the early stages of transforming itself fr

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s, Iraq was an embarrassment. Bush had pushed for American support of Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, and Saddam Hussein had double-crossed Bush by attacking Kuwait (Woodward 234; Spiller 84). When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the Bush Administration viewed the action as a betrayal of trust. Thereafter, Bush Administration relations with Saddam Hussein and Iraq were primarily through the United Nations in the form of Security Council resolutions until the Gulf War commenced. All of the Security Council resolutions were passed at American urging and in response to pressures applied by the Bush Administration (Woodward 211-213). The Security Council passed Resolution 660 on 2 August 1990. This resolution condemned IraqÆs invasion of Kuwait, and called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. The major effect of this resolution was the development of unanimity of opinion on the issue among the permanent member nations of the Security Council, as the resolution had no effect on IraqÆs outward actions toward Kuwait or efforts to defuse the crisis (Sciolino 298). The unanimity of international opinion strengthened the hand of the United States in forming the coalition. The Security Council passed Resolution 6
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Gulf War, Security Council, Bush Administration, Iraq Kuwait, Chinese Russians, Miller Yetiv, World War, United United, United Germany, United Nations, gulf war, security council, lead coalition, bush administration, saddam hussein, crude oil, oust iraq, miller yetiv, united lead, george bush sr, united sought, crude oil imports, oust iraq kuwait, former soviet union, collective security arrangements,
Approximate Word count = 1322
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)