Persian Gulf War Causes of Term Paper

The United States should propose economic and political incentives for Iraq to moderate its behavior and to increase our influence" (George Bush- the Persian Gulf War, 2008). The incentives included massive food exports to Iraq which was a huge benefit to American farmers. The administration resisted demands from many human rights activists in Congress to enforce sanctions against Iraq. And they dismissed Saddam Hussein's public threat to destroy half of Israel with chemical warfare as mere show (George Bush- the Persian Gulf War, 2008).

In spite of all the help that the Bush administration offered Iraq, they still found themselves in difficult economic condition. The country was suffering from widespread unemployment. Oil prices were down, which greatly affected national revenue. They were facing high costs in order to repair the damage from the long war with Iran, and they were already deep in debt to other Arab states. In the mid-1990's Saddam Hussein claimed that Kuwait was pumping Iraqi oil from an oil field near the border. He claimed that the entire field rightfully belonged to Iraq and claimed that he would use force to protect it. In July of 1990 Iraqi armed forces began to progress towards Kuwait (George Bush- the Persian Gulf War, 2008).

The Bush administration's response was this movement was to try appeasement and hope that it worked. April Glaspie, who was the American ambassador in Baghdad, was instructed by Bush to tell Saddam that the United States had no position on the differences between Arab states. This position and the absence of any significant American military movement more than likely contributed to Saddam Hussein's decision to invade Kuwait in August (George Bush- the Persian Gulf War, 2008). The victory in the Gulf War was the high point of President Bush's presidency. Bush often spoke afterwards of a new world order in which all nations would be protected from hostility and the United Nations could function as it had originally been intended. After the war Secretary of State Baker worked hard to bring the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the other Arab countries to a peace table for discussions. President Bush also put pressure on Israel to limit the organization of new Jewish settlements in the territories that they occupied after the 1967 war. In September of 1992 he persuaded Congress to deny Israel's request for $10 billion in loan money that was to be used for new housing for emigrants from the Soviet Union. For this Bush was strongly criticized by those Americans that supported Israel. The pressure that Bush applied eventually worked because in 1992 Israel agreed to restrict the settlements and the loan money that they wanted was approved (George Bush- the Persian Gulf War, 2008). Works Cited "Economic Causes of the Gulf War." 2006. World Socialist Movement. 15 April 2009, "George Bush- the Persian Gulf War." 2008. Profiles of U.S. Presidents. 15 April 2009, Paul, Ron. 2005. "Why we Fight." Ron Paul's Speeches and Statements. 15 April 2009, "The Gulf War." n.d. Yahoo Geocities. 15 April 2009, "The Persian Gulf War (1990-1991)." 2009. The History Guy. 15 April 2009, .....