Home

Crises and Power
History
   
Civil War
   Progressive Era
   World War I
   Great Depresssion
   World War II
   Cold War
   Gulf Wars
   Terrorist War
U.S. Foreign Policy

Quotes on Power

About the book Crisis and Leviathan

Center on Peace & Liberty Gulf
Wars

Contents:

Introduction:

One of the far-flung places in which the U.S. government acquired a stake after World War II and reinforced during the Cold War was the Middle East. The attraction was oil and domestic politics, specifically regarding support for the new state of Israel and control of the region. Contrary to common misconception, Soviet expansion was a minor concern compared to awakening Arab nationalism, which was by nature hostile to both Soviet communism and American hegemony.

The supposedly vital U.S. interest in the Middle East easily rationalized the sacrifice of taxpayers’ treasure on behalf American “allies.” It also created enemies who would not always distinguish between the U.S. government and the American people.

The combination of oil and Israel motivated advocates of an expansionist U.S. foreign policy to favor bold measures to gain influence and power in the Middle East. The United States thus had to have a hand in every intra-regional conflict, picking clients and undermining any rivals. A key example is Iran, where the United States backed a brutal, but pro-U.S. monarch, the Shah--helping him return to power in 1953 after a popular middle-class movement drove him from power. Predictably, when the Shah was overthrown in 1979 by Islamic radicals, the U.S. government was targeted for retribution. The American embassy was seized and dozens of hostages were held for a lengthy period. With the Iranian regime now seen as the chief threat to U.S. interests in the region, the policymakers predictably favored Iraq when it went to war against Iran in 1980. The new leader of secular Iraq, and the latest American client, was Saddam Hussein, who received vital U.S. intelligence and other valuable assistance during the conflict.

When the devastating ten-year war ended in a stalemate, the newly prestigious Hussein aspired to lead the Arab world. High on his agenda were long-time grievances with Kuwait. When the U.S. ambassador told Hussein that his dispute with the Kuwaiti monarchy was a purely Arab affair, he invaded the emirate. Exaggerating the threat to the West, American policymakers, with U.N. cover, assembled a coalition of nations to drive Iraq out of Kuwait and demand that Hussein, now the bête noir of the U.S., destroy “weapons of mass destruction.” To that end, the United States stationed troops in Saudi Arabia, including near holy Islamic sites; bombed the Iraqi civilian infrastructure to rubble; and imposed an economic embargo on Iraq killing over 500,000 children and lasting more than ten years after the Gulf War ended.

The result of the war was an on-going U.S. garrison in Saudi Arabia, ten years of low-level but civilian-killing warfare against Iraq, and increased military aid to Israel, despite unrelenting occupation of Palestinian territory, and almost every other regime in the entire region.

Although justified as “democratizing” Iraq and eliminating a despotic dictator who could give terrorists weapons of mass destruction (an unlikely senario according to the CIA), the invasion of Iraq in Gulf War II was more likely about improving Israel’s security, obtaining a central U.S. military outpost in the oil-rich Persian Gulf region, and settling old scores wih Saddam Hussein from Gulf War I and the ensuing decade of containment. After invading Iraq, the United States is faced with the unpleasant choice of a long military occupation and expensive reconstruction of the country or letting it disintegrate into chaos.

Also, click here for Bibliography for Crisis and Leviathan.

Consequences of Gulf War I:

Atkinson, Rick. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. New York: Mariner Books, 1994

Bandow, Doug. “Review of the book Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire by Chalmers Johnson,” The Independent Review, Vol. V, No. 4 (Spring 2001), pp. 611-614.

Carpenter, Ted Galen, ed. America Entangled: The Persian Gulf Crisis and Its Consequences. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 1991.

Eland, Ivan. “Adjusting to Iraq--and Reality,” Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, June 12, 1998.

—. “The Clinton Administration’s Tough Rhetoric.” Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute.

Johnson, Chalmers. Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire. Owl Books, 2001.

McElroy, Wendy. “No Oil for Food.” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, April 29, 2003.

Weaver, Mary Anne. “Blowback,” The Atlantic Monthly, May 1996.

General:

Ahmad, Imad-ad-Dean. Islam and the West: A Dialog. Alexandria, VA: United Association for Studies and Research, 1998.

Cobane, Craig T. “Review of the book For the President's Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush, by Christopher Andrew,” The Independent Review, Vol. I, No. 3 (Winter 1997), pp. 456-459.

Dobbs, Michael. “U.S. Had Key Role in Iraq Buildup: Trade in Chemical Arms Allowed Despite Their Use on Iranians, Kurds,” Washington Post (December 30, 2002), p. A01.

Eland, Ivan. “The American Taxpayer Is Paying Dearly to Be Attacked by Terrorists.” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, May 13, 2003.

—. “Is Withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Saudi Arabia Enough?”, Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, April 30, 2003.

Higgs, Robert. “Iraq and the United States: Who’s Menacing Whom?,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, August 5, 2002.

—. “Some Other Costs of War,” The Free Market, March 1991.

Husain, Khurram. “Neocons: The Men Behind the Curtain,” Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Vol. 59, No. 6 (November/December 2003), pp. 62–71.

Kinzer, Stephen. All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003.

Lapham, Lewis H., Alan W. Bock, Jonathan V. Marshall, Seth Rosenfeld, David J. Theroux, and Paul H. Weaver. “The U.S. War on Terrorism: Myths and Realities,” Independent Policy Forum, The Independent Institute, September 24, 2002. [Forum Announcement, Forum Audio, Forum Transcript, Order Tapes and Transcripts]

Menon, S. M. “Iraq--‘Terror Bombing’, Starvation and Mechanical Force: U.S. Prescription for Good Governance,” Economic and Political Weekly of Mumbai, India (January 2-9, 1999).

Morris, Roger. “A Tyrant 40 Years in the Making,” New York Times, March 14, 2003.

Gulf War I: Continuation of the Cold War:

Higgs, Robert. “The Cold War is Over, but U.S. Preparation for It Continues,” The Independent Review, Vol. VI, No. 2 (Fall 2001), pp. 287-305.

—. “The Cold War: Too Good a Deal to Give Up,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, 2002.

Gulf War II: War with Iraq

Bock, Alan W. “Criticizing U.S. Foreign Policy,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, March 5, 2003.

Eland, Ivan. “The Bush Administration’s Weapons of Mass Deception.” Oakland, Calif: The Independent Institute, June 5, 2003.

—. “Bush’s Early Blunders in the War Are Downplayed by the American Media.” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, April 1, 2003.

—. “A Dangerous Military Adventure Indeed,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, February 20, 2003.

—. “A 51st Star for Old Glory?” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, April 9, 2003.

—. “Frying the French,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, March 12, 2003.

—. “How Gulf War II Differs from Gulf War I,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, March 25, 2003.

—. “Is the U.S.’s ‘Rosy Scenario’ in Iraq Holding?”, The Independent Institute, March 31, 2003.

—. “Look to Iran for the Real Costs of the War in Iraq,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, May 9, 2003.

—. “National Security Policy Turned on Its Head,” Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.), November 6, 2002.

—. “Poking the Hornets’ Nest: Sanctions Against North Korea,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, February 21, 2003.

—. “The Terrorist Retaliation U.S. Risks in Attacking Saddam,” Sacramento Bee, February 1998.

—. “Top 10 Reasons Not to ‘Do’ Iraq.” Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, August 22, 2002.

—. “The U.S. Must Have Stronger Evidence for War in Iraq,” Norwalk (CT) Hour, September 7, 2002.

—. “Wanted: New Player for the ‘Axis of Evil’ Team.” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, April 20, 2003.

Gregory, Anthony. “Unbelievable Reasons for War,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, February 28, 2003.

Henderson, David R. “A Case for Not Invading Iraq,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, January 28, 2003.

Higgs, Robert. “Camelot and the Bushies: Some Disturbing Parallels,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, March 7, 2003.

—. “Facing the Consequences of the U.S. War in Iraq,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, May 2, 2003.

—. “George Bush’s Faith-Based Foreign Policy,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 13, 2003.

—. “Iraq and the United States: Who’s Menacing Whom?”, Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, August 5, 2002.

—. “Military Precision versus Moral Precision,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, March 24, 2003.

—. “Not Exactly an Eye for an Eye,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 23, 2003.

—. “Saddam Hussein Can’t Blackmail Us with a Fissionable Softball,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, October 10, 2002.

—. “Some Are Weeping, Some Are Not,” Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, April 26, 2003.

—. “Suppose You Wanted to Have a Permanent War.” Oakland, Calif: The Independent Institute, June 12, 2003.

—. “Why the Rush to War?”, Oakland, Calif.: The Independent Institute, January 23, 2003.

Lapham, Lewis H. Theater of War. New York: New Press, 2002.

Marshall, Jonathan V. “Iraq: Foreign Policy Malpractice,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 20, 2002.

—. “The Lies We Are Told About Iraq,” Los Angeles Times, January 5, 2003.

Moore, Thomas Gale. “A Humbler Foreign Policy,” San Jose Mercury News, February 18, 2003.

Pitt, William Rivers. War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn’t Want You to Know. Context Books, 2002.

Rai, Milan. War Plan Iraq: Ten Reasons Against War with Iraq. New York: Verso Books, 2002.

Solomon, Norman and Reese Erlich. Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You. Context Books, 2003.

Vidal, Gore. Dreaming War: Blood for Oil and the Cheney-Bush Junta. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002.

—. Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002.

Military Analysis of Gulf War I:

Atkinson, Rick. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

Summers, Harry. On Strategy II: A Critical Analysis of the Gulf War. New York: Dell Publishing, 1992.

Watson, Bruce W., Bruce George, Peter Tsouras, and B.L. Cyr. Military Lessons of the Gulf War. Greenhill Press, 1993.

Truth in Gulf War I:

Clark, Ramsey. Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1994.

MacArthur, John R. “Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War: How Government Can Mold Public Opinion,” Independent Policy Forum, The Independent Institute, October 7, 1993 [Forum Audio, Forum Transcript]

—. Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.