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Book The Middle East After Iraq s Invasion of Kuwait

Download or read book The Middle East After Iraq s Invasion of Kuwait written by Robert Owen Freedman and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Freedman has collected an array of first-rate political analysts with differing perspectives and areas of expertise. . . . The result is a work of uniformly high quality . . . readable and up to date."--Jerrold D. Green, University of Arizona Center for Middle East Studies We may not live to see the end of the ripple effect of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and the ensuing Gulf War. Meanwhile, this collection is one of the first systematic attempts to investigate the implications of that invasion for the significant political actors, in the Middle East and beyond. From varied perspectives and fields of interest, well-respected political scientists focus on the military dynamics of the war and its political effects on the Persian Gulf, on the Arab-Israeli zone of conflict, and on the superpowers. Of particular interest to many readers will be the analysis of both U.S. military and diplomatic strategy during the war and U.S. efforts to convene the Arab-Israeli peace talks after the war; Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts to follow a "minimax" strategy under which he sought a minimum level of cooperation with the United States while retaining maximum influence in Iraq; the debate in Japan about whether to get involved in the Allied war effort; and the reasons for Palestinian support of Iraq during the war. Other subjects analyzed in the book include Saddam Hussein's postwar strategy for staying in power; Jordan's effort to walk a narrow tightrope between the Allies and Iraq; Syrian, Iranian, and Egyptian exploitation of the war to improve their regional positions; and the changes in Israel and Saudi Arabia precipitated by the war. Robert O. Freedman is Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Professor of Political Science and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Baltimore Hebrew University. He is the editor of Intifada: Its Impact on Israel, the Arab World, and the Superpowers (UPF, 1991) and a prolific author and frequent lecturer on the Middle East. Contents Preface Introduction Part I: The Military and Political Dynamics of the Gulf War The Persian Gulf War: A Political-Military Assessment, by Bard E. O'Neill and Ilana Kass Part II: The Policy of External Powers U.S. Policy toward the Middle East after Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait, by Robert E. Hunter Moscow and the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, by Robert O. Freedman Fire on the Other Side of the River: Japan and the Persian Gulf War, by Eugene Brown Part III: The Gulf Region Iraq after the Invasion of Kuwait, by Laurie Mylroie Iran from the August 1988 Cease-fire to the April 1992 Majlis Elections, by Shireen T. Hunter Saudi Arabia: Desert Storm and After, by F. Gregory Gause, III Part IV: The Eastern Mediterranean Israel, the Gulf War, and Its Aftermath, by Marvin Feuerwerger The Palestinians and the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, by Helena Cobban Syria since 1988: From Crisis to Opportunity, by Alasdair Drysdale Jordanian Policy from the Intifada to the Madrid Peace Conference, by Adam Garfinkle Unipolarity and Egyptian Hegemony in the Middle East, by Louis Cantori

Book Iraq since the Invasion

Download or read book Iraq since the Invasion written by Keiko Sakai and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-07-15 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the complex events and unexpected outcomes of military intervention by the United States and its allies in Iraq in 2003. Considering the long-term outcomes of the intervention, this volume examines economic collapse, societal disorder, and increased regional conflict in Iraq. The book assesses the means by which American strategists imposed a new political order, generalising corruption, sectarian preference, and ethnic cleansing, and stimulating mass population movements in and from Iraq. Mobilising a multidisciplinary perspective, the book explores the rise and fall of Iraq’s confessional leaders, the emergence of a popular movement for reform, and the demands of young radicals focused upon revolutionary change. The product of years of intensive research by Iraqis and international scholars, Iraq since the Invasion considers how an initiative designed to produce “regime change” favourable to the United States and its allies brought unprecedented influence for Iran—both in Iraq and the wider Gulf region. It analyses events in Kurdistan and the impacts of change on relations between Iraq and its neighbours. The book includes a wealth of detail on political, social, and cultural change, and on the experiences of Iraqis during long years of upheaval. It will be of value to researchers and students interested in international relations, development studies, and Middle East politics.

Book Iraq after America

Download or read book Iraq after America written by Joel Rayburn and published by Hoover Institution Press. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than a decade after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, most studies of the Iraq conflict focus on the twin questions of whether the United States should have entered Iraq in 2003 and whether it should have exited in 2011, but few have examined the new Iraqi state and society on its own merits. Iraq after America examines the government and the sectarian and secular factions that have emerged in Iraq since the U.S. invasion of 2003, presenting the interrelations among the various elements in the Iraqi political scene. The book traces the origins of key trends in recent Iraqi history to explain the political and social forces that produced them, particularly during the intense period of civil war between 2003 and 2009. Along the way, the author looks at some of the most significant players in the new Iraq, explaining how they have risen to prominence and what their aims are. The author identifies the three trends that dominate Iraq's post-U.S. political order: authoritarianism, sectarianism, and Islamist resistance, tracing their origins and showing how they have created a toxic political and social brew, preventing Iraq's political elite from resolving the fundamental roots of conflict that have wracked that country since 2003 and before. He concludes by examining some aspects of the U.S. legacy in Iraq, analyzing what it means for the United States and others that, after more than a decade of conflict, Iraq's communities—and its political class in particular—have not yet found a way to live together in peace.

Book The Iraq Effect

    Book Details:
  • Author : Frederic Wehrey
  • Publisher : Rand Corporation
  • Release : 2010-03-04
  • ISBN : 0833048066
  • Pages : 217 pages

Download or read book The Iraq Effect written by Frederic Wehrey and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2010-03-04 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regardless of its outcome, the Iraq War has had a transformative effect on the Middle East. To equip U.S. policymakers to better manage the war's long-term consequences, the authors analyzed its effects on the regional balance of power, local perceptions of U.S. credibility, the domestic stability of neighboring states, and trends in terrorism after conducting extensive interviews in the region and drawing from an array of local media sources.

Book To Start a War

Download or read book To Start a War written by Robert Draper and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-07-27 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Essential . . . one for the ages . . . a must read for all who care about presidential power.” —The Washington Post “Authoritative . . . The most comprehensive account yet of that smoldering wreck of foreign policy, one that haunts us today.” —LA Times One of BookPage's Best Books of 2020 To Start a War paints a vivid and indelible picture of a decision-making process that was fatally compromised by a combination of post-9/11 fear and paranoia, rank naïveté, craven groupthink, and a set of actors with idées fixes who gamed the process relentlessly. Everything was believed; nothing was true. Robert Draper’s fair-mindedness and deep understanding of the principal actors suffuse his account, as does a storytelling genius that is close to sorcery. There are no cheap shots here, which makes the ultimate conclusion all the more damning. In the spirit of Barbara W. Tuchman’s The Guns of August and Marc Bloch’s Strange Defeat, To Start A War will stand as the definitive account of a collective scurrying for evidence that would prove to be not just dubious but entirely false—evidence that was then used to justify a verdict that led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and a flood tide of chaos in the Middle East that shows no signs of ebbing.

Book Cobra II

    Book Details:
  • Author : Michael R. Gordon
  • Publisher : Vintage
  • Release : 2006-03-14
  • ISBN : 0375424245
  • Pages : 416 pages

Download or read book Cobra II written by Michael R. Gordon and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2006-03-14 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by the chief military correspondent of the New York Times and a prominent retired Marine general, this is the definitive account of the invasion of Iraq. A stunning work of investigative journalism, Cobra II describes in riveting detail how the American rush to Baghdad provided the opportunity for the virulent insurgency that followed. As Gordon and Trainor show, the brutal aftermath was not inevitable and was a surprise to the generals on both sides. Based on access to unseen documents and exclusive interviews with the men and women at the heart of the war, Cobra II provides firsthand accounts of the fighting on the ground and the high-level planning behind the scenes. Now with a new afterword that addresses what transpired after the fateful events of the summer of 2003, this is a peerless re-creation and analysis of the central event of our times.

Book The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait

Download or read book The Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait written by Hamdi Hassan and published by Pluto Press. This book was released on 1999-09-20 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To what extent has religion, identity and ‘otherness’ facilitated and accelerated armed conflict in the Middle East?

Book Wanting War

    Book Details:
  • Author : Jeffrey Record
  • Publisher : Potomac Books, Inc.
  • Release : 2010
  • ISBN : 1597975907
  • Pages : 280 pages

Download or read book Wanting War written by Jeffrey Record and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2010 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A complete explanation of the U.S. decision to go to war in 2003.

Book Why Did the United States Invade Iraq

Download or read book Why Did the United States Invade Iraq written by Jane K. Cramer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited volume presents the foremost scholarly thinking on why the US invaded Iraq in 2003, a pivotal event in both modern US foreign policy and international politics. In the years since the US invasion of Iraq it has become clear that the threat of weapons of mass destruction was not as urgent as the Bush administration presented it and that Saddam Hussein was not involved with either Al Qaeda or 9/11. Many consider the war a mistake and question why Iraq was invaded. A majority of Americans now believe that the public were deliberately misled by the Bush administration in order to bolster support for the war. Public doubt has been strengthened by the growing number of critical scholarly analyses and in-depth journalistic investigations about the invasion that suggest the administration was not candid about its reasons for wanting to take action against Iraq. This volume begins with a survey of private scholarly views about the war’s origins, then assesses the current state of debate by organising the best recent thinking by foreign policy and international relations experts on why the US invaded Iraq. The book covers a broad range of approaches to explaining Iraq – the role of the uncertainty of intelligence, cognitive biases, ideas, Israel, and oil, highlighting areas of both agreement and disagreement. This book will be of much interest to students of the Iraq War, US foreign and security policy, strategic studies, Middle Eastern politics and IR/Security Studies in general.

Book The Middle East After Iraq s Invasion of Kuwait

Download or read book The Middle East After Iraq s Invasion of Kuwait written by Robert Owen Freedman and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Freedman has collected an array of first-rate political analysts with differing perspectives and areas of expertise. . . . The result is a work of uniformly high quality . . . readable and up to date."--Jerrold D. Green, University of Arizona Center for Middle East Studies We may not live to see the end of the ripple effect of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and the ensuing Gulf War. Meanwhile, this collection is one of the first systematic attempts to investigate the implications of that invasion for the significant political actors, in the Middle East and beyond. From varied perspectives and fields of interest, well-respected political scientists focus on the military dynamics of the war and its political effects on the Persian Gulf, on the Arab-Israeli zone of conflict, and on the superpowers. Of particular interest to many readers will be the analysis of both U.S. military and diplomatic strategy during the war and U.S. efforts to convene the Arab-Israeli peace talks after the war; Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts to follow a "minimax" strategy under which he sought a minimum level of cooperation with the United States while retaining maximum influence in Iraq; the debate in Japan about whether to get involved in the Allied war effort; and the reasons for Palestinian support of Iraq during the war. Other subjects analyzed in the book include Saddam Hussein's postwar strategy for staying in power; Jordan's effort to walk a narrow tightrope between the Allies and Iraq; Syrian, Iranian, and Egyptian exploitation of the war to improve their regional positions; and the changes in Israel and Saudi Arabia precipitated by the war. Robert O. Freedman is Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Professor of Political Science and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Baltimore Hebrew University. He is the editor of Intifada: Its Impact on Israel, the Arab World, and the Superpowers (UPF, 1991) and a prolific author and frequent lecturer on the Middle East. Contents Preface Introduction Part I: The Military and Political Dynamics of the Gulf War The Persian Gulf War: A Political-Military Assessment, by Bard E. O'Neill and Ilana Kass Part II: The Policy of External Powers U.S. Policy toward the Middle East after Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait, by Robert E. Hunter Moscow and the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, by Robert O. Freedman Fire on the Other Side of the River: Japan and the Persian Gulf War, by Eugene Brown Part III: The Gulf Region Iraq after the Invasion of Kuwait, by Laurie Mylroie Iran from the August 1988 Cease-fire to the April 1992 Majlis Elections, by Shireen T. Hunter Saudi Arabia: Desert Storm and After, by F. Gregory Gause, III Part IV: The Eastern Mediterranean Israel, the Gulf War, and Its Aftermath, by Marvin Feuerwerger The Palestinians and the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, by Helena Cobban Syria since 1988: From Crisis to Opportunity, by Alasdair Drysdale Jordanian Policy from the Intifada to the Madrid Peace Conference, by Adam Garfinkle Unipolarity and Egyptian Hegemony in the Middle East, by Louis Cantori

Book Saddam s War of Words

Download or read book Saddam s War of Words written by Jerry M. Long and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2004-04-01 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a Western perspective, the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991 largely fulfilled the first President Bush's objective: "In, out, do it, do it right, get gone. That's the message." But in the Arab world, the causes and consequences of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and his subsequent defeat by a U.S.-led coalition were never so clear-cut. The potent blend of Islam and Arab nationalism that Saddam forged to justify the unjustifiable—his invasion of a Muslim state—gained remarkable support among both Muslims and Arabs and continued to resonate in the Middle East long after the fighting ended. Indeed, as this study argues in passing, it became a significant strand in the tangled web of ideologies and actions that led to the attacks of 9/11. This landmark book offers the first in-depth investigation of how Saddam Hussein used Islam and Arab nationalism to legitimate his invasion of Kuwait in the eyes of fellow Muslims and Arabs, while delegitimating the actions of the U.S.-led coalition and its Arab members. Jerry M. Long addresses three fundamental issues: how extensively and in what specific ways Iraq appealed to Islam during the Kuwait crisis; how elites, Islamists, and the elusive Arab "street," both in and out of the coalition, responded to that appeal and why they responded as they did; and the longer-term effects that resulted from Saddam's strategy.

Book Iraq after the Invasion

Download or read book Iraq after the Invasion written by Saad N. Jawad and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book states that one calamitous result of the invasion and occupation of Iraq (2003) was the dismantling of the state and the destruction of all the structures and processes of government. The invading powers, the USA and UK, were obsessed with the removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein, which they regarded a clear danger and a serious threat to their strategies designs and in the region. To justify their atrocity, they trumped up a number of falsehoods and charges, such as the issue of WMD. Before that and over a period of 13 years, they had imposed unprecedented, fierce and relentless sanctions on the country. These sanctions not only impoverished and aggrieved the people of Iraq, but also instilled and deeply etched a sense of pessimistic impassivity among many Iraqis in that they felt no longer cared whatever the future might hold for them. The regime’s totalitarian nature also helped in creating this attitude. To add insult to injury, the provisional US-installed administration passed many resolutions which have had catastrophic consequences, such as the total dissolution of the security and armed forces and the de-baathification law. The hurriedly contrived new constitution confounded the situation even further and negatively impacted the integrity of the state. Exploiting the inconclusiveness and ambiguities contained in it, the Iraqi Kurdish Region became a de facto independent entity. In time, the central government became weaker than the regions. The hardest hit in this chaotic state of affairs was national unity. The sectarian and ethnic quota-based policies followed by the occupying forces and the expatriate Iraqis who came along with them dealt successive blows to the laws and institutions of the land which further disintegrated the Iraqi state. Iraq now is in dire need of national reconciliation programme aimed at re-uniting the people and the country.

Book Iraq s Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs

Download or read book Iraq s Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Chilcot Report

    Book Details:
  • Author : Sir John Chilcot (chairman)
  • Publisher : Canbury Press
  • Release : 2016-08-16
  • ISBN : 099549780X
  • Pages : 220 pages

Download or read book Chilcot Report written by Sir John Chilcot (chairman) and published by Canbury Press. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All the key findings of the public inquiry into the handling of the 2003 Iraq war by the British government led by Tony Blair. Chaired by Sir John Chilcot, the Iraq Inquiry (known as the 'Chilcot Report') tackled: Saddam Hussein's threat to Britainthe legal advice for the invasionintelligence about weapons of mass destruction andplanning for a post-conflict Iraq. This 60,000-word executive summary was published in July 2016. Philippe Sands QC wrote in the London Review of Books: 'It offers a long and painful account of an episode that may come to be seen as marking the moment when the UK fell off its global perch, trust in government collapsed and the country turned inward and began to disintegrate.' Published under an Open Government Licence, this book aims to make better known the findings of the Iraq Inquiry, which took seven years to complete at a cost of £10 million. The text, headings, footnotes and any emphasis are exactly those of the original document. Contents Introduction Pre-conflict strategy and planning The UK decision to support US military action Why Iraq? Why now? The UK's relationship with the US Decision-making Advice on the legal basis for military action Weapons of mass destruction Planning for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq The post-conflict period Occupation Transition Planning for withdrawal Did the UK achieve its objectives in Iraq? Key findings Lessons Timeline of events REVIEWS The Iraq Inquiry, chaired by Sir John Chilcot and composed of five privy councillors, finally published its report on the morning of 6 July, seven years and 21 days after it was established by Gordon Brown with a remit to look at the run-up to the conflict, the conflict itself and the reconstruction, so that we can learn lessons. It offers a long and painful account of an episode that may come to be seen as marking the moment when the UK fell off its global perch, trust in government collapsed and the country turned inward and began to disintegrate. — Philippe Sands, London Review of Books A more productive way to think of the Chilcot report is as a tool to help us set agendas for renewed best efforts in creating more effective and accountable statecraft. Chilcot has confirmed that... we still do not have intelligent long-range planning by the armed forces in close and active cooperation with other government agencies, nor an adequate and integrated system for the collection and evaluation of intelligence information, nor do we have the highest possible quality and stature of personnel to lead us through these challenging times. — Derek B. Miller, The Guardian Although sceptics wondered how much more the very-long-awaited Report of the Iraq Inquiry by a committee chaired by Sir John Chilcot could tell us when it appeared at last in July, it proves to contain a wealth of evidence and acute criticism, the more weighty for its sober tone and for having the imprimatur of the official government publisher. In all, it is a further and devastating indictment not only of Tony Blair personally but of a whole apparatus of state and government, Cabinet, Parliament, armed forces, and, far from least, intelligence agencies. Among its conclusions the report says that there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein; that the British chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted; that military action was not a last resort... — Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The New York Review of Books Ideal for any student of politics, diplomacy, or conflict.

Book Iraq in the Twenty First Century

Download or read book Iraq in the Twenty First Century written by Tareq Y. Ismael and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-02-20 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much has been written about the events surrounding the 2003 Anglo-American invasion of Iraq and its aftermath, especially about the intentions, principles, plans and course of action of US policy, but much less attention has been given to the consequences of US policy on Iraqi political and social development. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of US policy on the social and political development of Iraq in the twenty-first century. It shows how not just the institutions of the state were destroyed in 2003, leaving the way open for sectarianism, but also the country’s cultural integrity, political coherence, and national-oriented economy. It outlines how Iraq has been economically impoverished, assessing the appalling situation which ordinary people, including women and children, have endured, not just as a result of the 2003 war, but also as a consequence of the 1991 war and the sanctions imposed in the following years. The book argues that the social, political, and cultural ruin that accompanied the Iraq war was an absolute catastrophe; that the policies which had such adverse effects were the foreseeable consequences of deliberate policy choices; and that those responsible continue to evade being made accountable.

Book Lessons Encountered

    Book Details:
  • Author : National Defense University
  • Publisher : Lulu.com
  • Release : 2015
  • ISBN : 9781329628496
  • Pages : 488 pages

Download or read book Lessons Encountered written by National Defense University and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2015 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume represents an early attempt at assessing the Long War, now in its 14th year. Forged in the fires of the 9/11 attacks, the war includes campaigns against al Qaeda, major conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and operations in the Horn of Africa, the Republic of the Philippines, and globally, in the air and on the sea. The authors herein treat only the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, the largest U.S. efforts. It is intended for future senior officers, their advisors, and other national security decisionmakers. By derivation, it is also a book for students in joint professional military education courses, which will qualify them to work in the field of strategy. While the book tends to focus on strategic decisions and developments of land wars among the people, it acknowledges that the status of the United States as a great power and the strength of its ground forces depend in large measure on the dominance of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force in their respective domains.

Book The Gulf War

    Book Details:
  • Author : Charles River Charles River Editors
  • Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
  • Release : 2018-02-11
  • ISBN : 9781985304932
  • Pages : 84 pages

Download or read book The Gulf War written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-11 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading It was one of the 20th century's most decisive wars, but also one of its most influential. In the wake of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, America led a coalition of dozens of nations that repelled the Iraqi attack and smashed Iraqi forces, much of which was captured on live television as global networks broadcast the images back home. On the now ironic date of September 11, 1990, President Bush addressed a joint session of Congress to explain why he was assembling a coalition of nations to intervene against Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Bush stated, "Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective -- a new world order -- can emerge...A new era, freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice and more secure in the quest for peace." As his son would later attempt over a decade later in another war against Iraq, President Bush sought to present the coalition of nearly 40 nations as indicative of multilateralism, even though it was dominated by American forces. At the time, the Soviet Union was less than a year away from collapsing, leaving the United States as the sole superpower. In fact, the "new world order" that Bill Clinton and future presidents stepped into was one that allowed for American unilateralism. Since World War II, the United States had protected the West during the Cold War, and President Kennedy had coined the term "Pax Americana" to describe his hope of peace for the world. 30 years later, American presidents now seemingly had the opportunity to use America's unchecked power to instill and preserve peace across the world. As events have proved, the attempt to forge Pax Americana would be much easier said than done, and American involvement in the Middle East has been directly tied to the First Gulf War. As Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda attacked American targets throughout the 1990s, and most notably on 9/11, the terrorist leader pointed to the stationing of American troops in Saudi Arabia in response to Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. Bin Laden was livid, not just because foreign boots were stampeding on what is popularly considered the holiest land in Islam but also because he had wanted to help defend the Saudi kingdom with his own group. By lashing out, bin Laden was caught up in the Saudi government's crackdown on dissidents and was ultimately forced into exile. Bin Laden took refuge in Sudan in 1992, and later in Afghanistan in 1996. Of course, the Gulf War also played a role in the more controversial invasion of Iraq, which began in 2003 and was again led by the United States. That invasion came about as a result of faulty intelligence and Iraq's skirting of United Nations weapons resolutions, as well as a biting sanctions regime meant to compel Iraq to comply, all of which were put in place after the First Gulf War. The resulting chaos in Iraq, from the bloody fighting to the rise of the Islamic State, can thus all be tied back to the conflict a generation earlier. On top of that, the stateless Kurds in Iraq continue to be important geopolitical players, whether it was their actions during and after the Gulf War, or their involvement in the Syrian Civil War, politics in Turkey, and more. The Gulf War: The History and Legacy of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm looks at the fighting and its aftermath. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the Gulf War like never before.