On August 2, 1990, the Iraqi army during the rule of the late President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and annexed this small oil-rich Gulf country, before an international coalition led by the United States expelled it after 7 months. For Kuwait, via the United Nations.
Accusations of theft
The crisis between the two countries began on July 18, 1990, when Baghdad accused its neighbor of "biting" its lands and "stealing" oil from the Rumaila oil field in the south of the country, and demanded payment of about two billion euros.
Kuwait denied these accusations, responded that Iraq was the one trying to drill oil wells on its soil, and Iraq also accused Kuwait of "deliberately" sinking the oil market.
There are many differences between the two countries, but the issue of demarcating the borders suspended since the independence of Kuwait in 1961 is the most complex.
Baghdad called on Kuwait to cancel the debts it borrowed from it during its war against Iran (1980-1988), considering that it defended this Gulf country as well.
On July 20, 1990, the Arab League began two mediations, but they failed, and the Iraq-Kuwait talks were suspended on August 1.
Jul 25 1990 Saddam met with US Amb to Iraq Glaspie who said US had no opinion on border dispute between Iraq & Kuwait Lead up to Gulf War pic.twitter.com/Yo2n3LUHLE
- Joel Wing (@ JoelWing2) July 25, 2017
The American role
In the same context, the German newspaper Die Welt (WELT) published a report a few days ago, in which it again shed light on the mysterious role of the United States in the Gulf War, and whether the US ambassador to Iraq at the time, April Glasgow, actually gave "green light" to Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait during Her meeting with him just a few days before the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait, or did the ambassador's words have been understood by the Iraqi leadership differently from what I meant?
The American magazine Foreign Policy dealt with the famous interview between Saddam and Glasby, noting that the ambassador made it clear to the Iraqi president that she had no opinion about Iraq’s border dispute with Kuwait, which made some people blame the words of the American ambassador for the occurrence of this invasion. However, the magazine said that the US State Department had also previously sent assurances to Saddam that Washington had no special defense or security obligations towards the State of Kuwait; Which negates the matter confined to the meeting between the American ambassador and the Iraqi president at that time.
Glassby insisted, in her appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington in March 1991, that she repeatedly warned the Iraqi president against the consequences of his attack on Kuwait, but in a diplomatic tone, as was also explained by James Akins, the former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who commented on This is because, in diplomatic language, you cannot direct the warning - as some believe - directly.
In this context, Foreign Policy magazine mentioned that Saddam repeatedly boycotted the American ambassador, and he informed her of a list of grievances for her delivery to the then US President George W. Bush, and he accused the United States of having malicious intentions against his country, which shows - in the magazine's opinion - that the Iraqi president was He has enough time to understand American intentions, and it is not true that only one sentence is the reason why Saddam did not understand the ambassador's words or interpret it incorrectly.
The beginning of the invasion
On August 2, 1990, the invasion occurred, and "Iraqi forces began entering Kuwaiti territory and occupying locations inside" the country, and violent clashes with heavy weapons occurred between Kuwaiti units and the Iraqi army in the center of Kuwait City.
But in front of 100,000 Iraqi soldiers and 300 tanks, the situation exceeded the capacity of the Kuwaiti army, which numbered 16,000 men. The city was occupied during the day, and Prince Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah fled to Saudi Arabia, while his brother Sheikh Fahad was killed. In the evening, the Iraqi army headed to the oil ports of Shuaiba and Al-Ahmadi.
The international community strongly condemned the invasion, while oil prices rose dramatically.
In an emergency meeting, the UN Security Council demanded "the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces." Washington has frozen all Iraqi assets in the United States and its subsidiaries abroad, as well as Kuwaiti assets to prevent Kuwaitis from seizing it for Baghdad, and the Soviet Union stopped supplying weapons to Iraq.
On August 6, the Security Council imposed a trade, financial, and military embargo on Iraq.
On the 8th of the same month, the US President announced that he would send troops to Saudi Arabia. The next day, the first batch of soldiers arrived at what was known as Operation "Desert Shield", which after the start of the war was called "Desert Storm".
Iraq closed its borders, and detained thousands of Western, Arab and Asian civilians of their own free will in Iraq or Kuwait, and about 500 people were used as "human shields" for more than 4 months.
On August 8, Iraq declared the annexation of Kuwait "complete and irreversible." At the end of the same month, Baghdad announced the administrative division of Kuwait, and made Kuwait City and its surrounding areas 19th governorate in Iraq.
Footage of coalition fighter jets flying over the skies # Kuwait_ Kuwait The archive snapshot dates from February 1991 # Desert Storm pic.twitter.com/k2sJR2sUtr
- Abdulaziz Al-Tamimi (@azaltamimimo) August 2, 2020
Desert Storm
On November 29, the Security Council allowed "member states to use all necessary means" if Iraq did not leave Kuwait before January 15, 1991.
On 17 of it, after several diplomatic initiatives failed, the "Desert Storm" operation began with intense air strikes. The next day, for several weeks, Baghdad responded by launching Scud missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The United States, Russia, France, and Britain urged Israel not to respond, and the United States deployed Patriot anti-missile batteries in Israel on January 20.
On February 24, 1991, the ground campaign against Iraq began, and after 3 days Bush declared that "Kuwait was liberated," and that "the Iraqi army was defeated."
The next day, Baghdad agreed to all UN resolutions. And the Iraqis left behind a devastated and plundered country and more than 750 oil wells burning.
The crisis was divided among Arabs. Where the Egyptian and Syrian armies participated in the alliance, which sparked condemnation of other Arab countries.
Resume relationships
Relations between the two countries resumed in 2004 at an existing level, and Kuwait appointed its first ambassador to Baghdad in July 2008, and in March 2010, Iraq named his ambassador to Kuwait.
The United Nations did not lift the sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990 only in 2010, that is, 7 years after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime after the American invasion of the country in 2003.
Nevertheless, border disputes remain, as Iraq recognizes the land borders drawn up by the United Nations in 1993, but considers that its maritime borders prevent it from reaching the Gulf, which is vital for its economy; Therefore, the Kuwaiti Navy regularly arrests Iraqi fishermen.
The missing are still in thousands on both sides, and according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, only 215 Kuwaitis and 85 Iraqis have been returned. But overall, relations between the two countries have improved dramatically.
In 2018, Kuwait hosted a donors' conference to rebuild Iraq, and it was the first of two billion dollars in shares, and leaders of the two countries exchanged visits over the past years.