On August 2, 1990 Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq, invaded Kuwait. They thought that Kuwait was taking most of the oil on the border of the two countries. A few days later the Iraqi troops positioned attacks on the Saudi Arabia border. The United States was asked by Saudi Arabia for help. The U.S immediately started to help Kuwait. The actions of Iraq are what started the Gulf War.
Many oil producing countries helped Kuwait because they were afraid that Saddam Hussein would try to invade their country next so they knew they had to stop it in Kuwait. The United States helped by setting up multinational task forces in the Persian Gulf. The United Nations also helped. They started to refuse trade with Iraq. Within a few weeks a blockade was formed to block Iraq’s access to the sea.
The United Nations warned Saddam Hussein to move his troops out of Kuwait or they would start to attack. On January 17, 1991, nearly 27 hours after UN’s deadline, Iraqi troops were still in Kuwait. The United States started an aerial bombing campaign. The bombing lasted for 43 days. Finally the Iraqi troops surrendered and went back to Iraq.
I think that The United States did the right thing by helping Kuwait. Saddam Hussein needed to be stopped. If he hadn’t been stopped he could have taken over the world. It would have been a very bad thing if Saddam Hussein succeeded.
Sources:
http://www.asm.gov.au/atwar/gulf.asp
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