Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Bellicose nations are often under careful watch by other nations. Iraq is one such nation whose activities are under constant surveillance. So when Iraq makes aggressive military advances or comes into possession of weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. has to decide what response to make. Twice in the last fifteen years, intervention has been deemed necessary by the U.S. Because of belligerent attacks by Iraq in 1991, and the development of weapons of mass destruction in 2003, the U.S. has twice intervened militarily in the Persian Gulf, each with similar outcomes. On August 2, 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. Iraq then annexed Kuwait, which it had long claimed. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein declared that the invasion was a response to overproduction of oil in Kuwait, which had cost Iraq over 14 million dollars when oil prices fell. Saddam Hussein also accused Kuwait of illegally pumping oil from Iraq's Rumaila oil field. The UN Security Council called for Iraq to withdraw and subsequently embargoed most trade with Iraq. On August 7, U.S. troops moved into Saudi Arabia to protect Saudi oil reserves. On November 29, the UN set January 15, 1991, as the deadline for a peaceful withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. When Saddam H