Regional neighbours in outbreak of war

Saddam's assumption about Arab support

Thought his popularity with other Arab countries and their dislike of Kuwait as a puppet monarchy with enormous wealth would give support to his invasion

Kuwait and Iraq's war debt

Kuwait refused to waive Iraq's debt from the Iran-Iraq war ($40 billion to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), which Saddam viewed as contributions to the defence of all Arabs against Iranian fundamentalist extremism

Iraq's inability to repay

Oil revenue of $13 billion was less than the needed $17 billion of imports and $5 billion of debt repayments

Iraq's reconstruction demands

Iraq faced $230 billion of reconstruction costs and demanded $30 billion to cover the financial crisis - an "Arab Marshall Plan" [Marr]

Kuwaiti overproduction of oil

Kuwait produced beyond OPEC national quotas, reducing prices and Iraq's export income; the 1990 limit of 22 million barrels per day was exceeded with 24 million, with Kuwait and the UAE responsible for 75% of the excess production

Oil price collapse in 1990

Oil prices fell from $21 per barrel in January 1990 to $11 in the summer

Tariq Aziz on oil prices

Iraqi Foreign Minister stated that for every $1 less in the price per barrel, revenue dropped by $1 billion

Slant drilling accusation

Iraq claimed Kuwait was slant drilling into the southern end of the Rumaila oil field; OPEC also rejected Iraq's proposal to increase the price of oil

Iraqi territorial claims on Kuwait

Most Iraqis viewed Kuwait as part of their country that Britain had split off to serve British interests; Iraq wanted Kuwait to turn over the islands of Warba and Bubiyan, expand access to the port of Umm Qasr, and give control of the Khaur Abd Allah Channel dominating access to the waterway

Saddam's threat at the Arab League summit (May 1990)

"If they do not give this money to me, I will know how to get it" - after seeing Kuwait waging "a kind of war" economically

Nayirah testimony

Kuwait aided the gathering of international coalition support through the falsified story of babies being killed by removal from incubators, told by the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador, coached by Hill and Knowlton (American PR company)

Saudi Arabia's fears

Feared Republican Guards setting up near its southern border (which the US stressed); the addition of Kuwait's oil reserves and assets could challenge Saudi Arabia's swing producer role in OPEC and its financial dominance in the Gulf

King Fahd's role

Agreed to US forces entering Saudi territory for protection and future military operations against Iraq, setting a precedent for Egypt and Morocco; US personnel in Saudi Arabia grew to over 500,000 in about 6 months

Saudi and Kuwaiti financing

The Saudi and Kuwaiti governments paid the US $32 of the $60 billion cost of mobilising the coalition against Iraq

Saudi military contribution

Committed 60-100,000 troops to Operation Desert Storm and housed the US and 33 other nations

Iran's position

Agreed to stay out of the war after obtaining the Shatt al-Arab waterway, alongside its anti-Western stance; Iraq stationed more than 80 planes in Iran during 1991

Turkey's objective

To avoid Iraqi Kurds forming an autonomous state that could encourage Kurdish aspirations in Turkey; the US used Incirlik Air Base

Arab League Meeting, 7 August 1990

12-8 vote in favour of Iraqi withdrawal; Sudan, Algeria, the Palestinians and Jordan opposed US involvement

Arab states inclined to support the US

States dependent on the US for military or other assistance (e.g. Saudi Arabia) and those that supported Iran in the Iran-Iraq War (e.g. Syria) opposed Iraq's action; Arab oil monarchies viewed a provisional republican government in Kuwait as a threat to the legitimacy of all Gulf ruling families

Attempted mediation

King Husain of Jordan and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat attempted to mediate, while Mubarak of Egypt visited Baghdad on 24 July; Jordan had strong economic ties to Iraq and wanted to appease, and the Palestinian majority was sympathetic to Iraq and its stand against Israel

US buying Egyptian support

Bush informed Egypt that the US Congress would write off its debt, forgiving $7 billion