Bellicose nations are often under careful watch by other nations. Iraq is one such nation whose activities are under constant surveillance. So when Iraq makes aggressive military advances or comes into possession of weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. has to decide what response to make. Twice in the last fifteen years, intervention has been deemed necessary by the U.S. Because of belligerent attacks by Iraq in 1991, and the development of weapons of mass destruction in 2003, the U.S. has twice intervened militarily in the Persian Gulf, each with similar outcomes.
On August 2, 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. Iraq then annexed Kuwait, which it had long claimed. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein declared that the invasion was a response to overproduction of oil in Kuwait, which had cost Iraq over 14 million dollars when oil prices fell. Saddam Hussein also accused Kuwait of illegally pumping oil from Iraq's Rumaila oil field. The UN Security Council called for Iraq to withdraw and subsequently embargoed most trade with Iraq. On August 7, U.S. troops moved into Saudi Arabia to protect Saudi oil reserves. On November 29, the UN set January 15, 1991, as the deadline for a peaceful withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait. When Saddam Hussein refused to comply, Operation Desert Storm was launched on January 18, 1991, under the leadership of U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf. The U.S.-led coalition began a massive air war to destroy Iraq's forces and military and civil infrastructure. Iraq called for terrorist attacks against the coalition and launched Scud missiles at Israel and at Saudi Arabia. The main coalition forces invaded Kuwait and Iraq on February 24 and, over the next four days, encircled and defeated the Iraqis and liberated Kuwait. When U.S. President George H. W. Bush declared a cease-fire on February 28, most of the Iraqi forces in Kuwait had either surrendered or fled. Although the war was a decisive military victory for the coalition, Kuwait and Iraq suffered enormous property damage, and Saddam Hussein was not removed from power; in fact, he was free to turn his attention to internal Shiite and Kurd revolts and moved to brutally suppress them.