Iraq War

Iraq War

What happened in the First Gulf War 1990/1991?
1. Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. A UN coalition force crushed the Iraq forces, Saddam Hussein was not removed from power
What happened in the Second Gulf War in 2003?
1. USA and UK invaded Iraq claiming that Hussein had WMD's, Hussein was Removed from power
Saddam Hussein
1. Leader of Iraq from 1978-2003
2. He was a dictator who used brutal methods to control his population and used aggressive foreign policy (invades other nations)
Ethnic Groups in Iraq
1. Sunni Muslims these were the 2nd largest group, lived mainly in the center of Iraq. Hussein was a Sunni therefore they had more power.
2. Shi'ah Muslims were the largest group and dominated south Iraq. Have less power than Sunnis. In 1999 Hussein drained marshes of Southern Iraq which affected Shi'ah living standards, limited political power
3. Kurds were the smallest group who live in Northern Iraq. They have no political influence. Hussein used chemicals weapons against them in 1988
Why did USA and UK decide to invade Iraq in 2003?
1. 1998- Hussein had the UN inspectors removed so nobody knew if he still had WMD's from the 1980's or if had developed new ones since 1998. Saddam's secret police were very strict in Iraq which held suspicions that Hussein was trying to hide something.
2. 1999-2001- In 1999 and again in 2001 Hussein refused efforts to get the inspectors back in Iraq. However it was another miscalculation he told the UN he had no WMD's. Saddam had become weaker since 1991.
3. 8th November 2002- The UN passes UN Resolution 1441 (which meant that the USA and the UK could criticise Hussein because he broke previous resolutions and given one last chance to comply, if he did not do this he would face serious consequences)
4. November 2002-March 2003- An UN weapons inspection team, led by Hans Blix, is allowed back into Iraq. They find no evidence that Hussein has any WMD's.

Next up

Description

Resource summary

Similar

	Created by Joshy Hughes over 8 years ago