Abstract:
During the past two decades, three wars have occurred in the Persian Gulf:- The eight-year Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988),- The 1990 occupation of Kuwait by Iraq and the international community's response to that occupation which led to the second Persian War (1991), the eight-year U.S. containment policy towards both Iran and Iraq, and,- The 70-hour bombing campaign against Iraq between17-20 December 98 (on the Eve of Christmas 1999 and the holy month of Ramadan 1419).Has anything really changed in the aftermath of the U.S. -_U.K bombing of Iraq? What objectives did the U.S. fallow in Iraq and in the region and how effective was the bombing in terms of advancing U.S. objectives? What are the security implications for Persian Gulf countries? These areamong the questions for which this paper will try to foulresponses. It argues that, beyond the U.S. -U.K bombings, the strategic importance of the Persian Gulf can still be defined by quot;Oilquot;. The low oil prices seem to be very pleasing to the west and therefore any scenario that can help the current situation last longer, will most probably be supported by the westAfter having focused on the conduct of the quot;wars� in thePersian Gulf and the outcome of U.S. policies vis-a-vis the region as well as strategic importance of the Persian Gulf, the paper will consider ways to foster stability and cooperative security for the Persian Gulf region.
Machine summary:
S. President Clinton announced a halt to the bombing and claimed that American and British missiles and war-planes had quot;significantlyquot; damaged Iraq's military capabilities and its ability to produce weapons of mass destruction.
The movement for an overall Middle East settlement proceeds slowly and will be long and difficult, if it succeeds at all And the world scarcely seems to be a more secure place in spite of the performance of the anti-Iraq coalition?1 Controversial points of views and ambiguous policies about the second Persian Gulf War do not in fact permit us to praise it as a war that put an end to Saddam Hussein's aggressive stance vis-a-vis her neighbors.
S. President Clinton's statement on military strikes launched against Iraq on Wednesday December 16: Six weeks ago, Saddam Hussein announced that he would no longer cooperate with the United Nations weapon inspectors called UNSCOM They are highly professional experts from dozens of countries.
13 Bjerm Meller (Copenhagen Peace Research Institute), in a rejoinder to White's article gives another point of view and while including the 1991 military intervention in the region, he argues that: The war against Iraq thus seemed to herald a quot;New World Orderquot; characterized, inter alia, by greater respect for international Law. U.
After four nights of furious strikes, President Clinton announced a halt to the bombing and claimed that American and British missiles and war planes had quot;significantlyquot; damaged Iraq's military capabilities and its ability to produce weapons of mass destruction.