All Resources: Iraq and the Gulf War: Decision-Making in Baghdad

F. Gregory Gause III

Maps and Country Data

For a map of Iraq and basic information about the country today, consult the CIA World Fact Book that was mentioned earlier in the case. From that site you can also get basic information on other countries involved in the crisis -- Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Links

The interviews with Tariq Aziz and Wafiq al-Samara'i that were referenced in the text can be found on the PBS series Frontline's website devoted to its broadcast of a very good PBS/BBC documentary on the Gulf War. That website also has a number of interviews with U.S. participants in the war, a chronology of events and a series of maps. The Iraqi interviews can be found at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/oral/iraqis.html Other material can be accessed from the main page on the documentary http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/index.html

The Kuwait Information Office in Washington, D.C. maintains a web page that includes a Kuwaiti perspective on the Gulf War, on the Iraq-Kuwait dispute and a number of maps.

The Washington Post keeps an archive on the on-going struggle between the United States and Iraq, from the Gulf War to the present. It is a useful source for those who want to follow up events in the aftermath of the Gulf War.

The Gulf/2000 project at Columbia University is an excellent portal for beginning to research questions about the international and domestic politics of the countries in the Persian/Arabian Gulf. The project began after the Gulf War, so there is not much material there on the Gulf War itself, but it is an excellent on-line source on current political issues in the Gulf.

The U.N. Security Council resolutions adopted in 1990 on the Gulf crisis can be found at http://www.un.org/Depts/oip/scrs/scr661onu.htm The most important are UNSC Resolution 661, which imposes economic sanctions on Iraq, and UNSC Resolution 678, authorizing the use of force to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. U.N. Security Council resolutions adopted in 1991 on the Gulf crisis can be found at http://www.usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/gulfsec/unsc678.htm. The most important are UNSC Resolution 687, which establishes Iraq's obligations after the war and requirements for the lifting of sanctions, and UNSC Resolution 688, which condemns Iraqi treatment of its own citizens.

Those who want to follow the operations of the U.N. "oil for food" program in Iraq now should consult the website of the U.N. Office for the Iraqi Program.

The now-defunct U.N. weapons inspection organization, the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq, also has a website. Those interested in the efforts to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction should consult it.

Bibliographic Essay

Much of the information in this case study about Iraqi beliefs and perceptions is based upon books written by two Iraqis who were on the inside of the regime before and during the Gulf War, but who have subsequently defected to the West – Sa'd al-Bazzaz and Wafiq al-Samara'i. al-Bazzaz was general director of Iraqi Radio and Television from 1988-1990, and editor of al-Jumhuriyya, one of the major Iraqi newspapers, from 1990-92. Gen. al-Samara'i ended his career after the Gulf War as director of military intelligence in the Iraqi army. He was deputy director during the Gulf War, and in charge of military intelligence on Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. al-Bazzaz now runs an Iraqi opposition newspaper, al-Zaman, out of London. al-Samara'i is active in Iraqi opposition circles.

The credibility of accounts provided by such figures could naturally be questioned. However, I am confident that the information they provide is accurate for a number of reasons. First, both authors, because of their positions, had close contacts with the inner circle of the regime. al-Samara'i had regular access to Saddam himself during the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War, which is discussed in his book hatam al-bawaba al-sharqiyya [The Destruction of the Eastern Gate], (Kuwait: dar al-qabas, 1997) The information they provide has the ring of authenticity about it. Second, al-Bazzaz wrote two books about the Gulf War, one when he was still affiliated with the regime and the other after he had severed his ties (harb tulid ukhra [One War Gives Birth to Another], Amman: al-'ahliyya lil nashr wa al-tawzi', 1993; and al-janaralat 'akhr man ya'lam [The Generals Are the Last to Know], Amman: al-'ahliyya lil nashr wa al-tawzi', 1996). While there is new information in the second book, the basic story he tells does not change from the first book to the second. Third, if these authors were looking to make Saddam Hussein out to be even worse than he is in fact, they would have portrayed him as plotting the invasion of Kuwait for years and lying about the feelings of threat and insecurity that Iraq emphasized in the period leading up to the invasion. However, both authors confirm that the regime actually did see a conspiracy taking shape against it. Memoirs can always be questioned as to their reliability as primary sources, but in these cases the private information contained in them corresponds with what the public record shows about Iraqi perceptions.

The major English-language sources on the Gulf War are discussed in the notes to the case. The best general account of the Gulf War, including diplomatic and military fronts, American, Iraqi and other parties' participation, is Lawrence Freeman and Efraim Karsh's The Gulf Conflict, 1990-91 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993). The most interesting account of Arab politics during the war is Mohammed Heikal's Illusion of Triumph: An Arab View of the Gulf War (London: HarperCollins, 1993). Heikal was the close confidante of Gamal Abdul Nasser, president of Egypt from 1954–1970, and was editor of al-Ahram, Egypt's major newspaper. His access to the upper levels of the governing elite of the Arab world is unequaled.