The First Gulf War

Introduction

The United States has been a dominant world power in the Middle East since the advent of Second World War. Noticeable shifts in the United States' policy toward the Middle East were made since after WWII. These shifts were targeted to cater United States' goal of securing cheap and abundant supplies of oil. It is a fact that the Middle East controls approximately two-thirds of the world oil reserves. United States' interest in the Middle East is not new. Previously the British and more recently the Americans have made conscious efforts to prevent autonomy of a single Middle Eastern state over the oil reserves. Many believe that not only the Gulf War but also the Iran and Iraq war were triggered by the United States. The Gulf War is evidence of its vested interests and its potential to act upon any threats to its oil supplies.

This paper examines the United States' ulterior motives behind the Iraq Iran war and the Gulf war. It analyzes the severe implications of United States interest in the Middle Eastern oil reserves and its tactful manipulation of multiple countries in its own interest.

Discussion and Analysis

U.S. steps in

The basic target of United States' policy in the Middle East after the Second World War was to establish itself as the major power in the region (Benjamin, p. 197). Its chief concern comprised of the fear of nationalist regimes taking control of the region. United States sensed the threat when Mohammed Mossadeq, the democratically elected president of Iran, nationalized an Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, owned by the British. The replacing of the Shah of Iran and toppling of Mossadeq's regime was a CIA engineered coup. Massive infusions of American aid kept the Shah's power underwritten and, Savak, the infamous, brutal secret police continued to uphold it.

The chief concern of United States was Egypt becoming a centre for pan-Arab movements since Gamal Abdel Nasser came to power. The U.S. declared its inclination to use armed forces for resistance on the assistance request of any Middle Eastern country which was controlled by international communism. This was known as the “Eisenhower Doctrine” and, it was one of the first of a series of doctrines stated by U.S.

United States anger over Nasser's turn to the Eastern Bloc for weapons was evident from the Eisenhower Doctrine. It refused weapons assistance to Egypt and placed the condition of joining a regional security agreement under U.S. auspices known as the Baghdad Pact. A series of nationalism waves in the region put the pact to test. The pro-British dictator Nuri Said's regime, in Iraq, was overthrown in a nationalist military coup. This was a serious blow to U.S. prestige and a potential threat to the oil interests of United States. Kuwait was a relatively small country which was created by the British with the intentions to prevent the control of any large state on the oil reserves. The first of two chief concerns of the United States was a possible reassertion of ...