Review Saddam’s War

Bulloch, John and Morris, Harvey, Saddam’s War, Faber and Faber, 1991

 

Saddam’s War is a very short and thorough overview of the causes of the Gulf War. It was written by John Bulloch and Harvey Morris who worked for the Independent newspaper in London as a journalist and an editor. It provides a good introduction for anyone interested in the conflict.

 

Bulloch and Morris are very economical writers weaving in a large amount of history to provide background to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. That includes a history of Iraq, Saddam’s life and rise to power, an overview of the Baath Party and the origins of Kuwait. Their work in the newspaper business probably helped them cover such a large amount of information in a short amount of pages rather than getting bogged down in the details. Not only that but the history is largely on point.

 

The book breaks down the range of reasons why Saddam decided to take Kuwait. That included Iraq’s huge debt to its neighbor that came from it financing Baghdad during the Iran-Iraq War. Iraq was also in economic distress after the war having to support a huge military while its revenues were declining due to overproduction of oil by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Iraq called this economic warfare by the Gulf states. Saddam also saw the end of the Cold War leading to a unipolar world where the U.S. would be the only superpower and might block his ambitions to be the leader of the Persian Gulf and Arab world so he felt like he had to act sooner rather than later.

 

Just as important the two authors bring up how the U.S. and many in Western Europe ignored Saddam’s increasing threats against Kuwait because they were intent upon expanding relations with Baghdad especially on the economic front. Washington and London for example had increased trade with Iraq during its war with Iran and wanted to see that grow. U.S. officials said again and again that they wanted good relations with Saddam even after he threatened a WMD attack upon Israel and said that Jerusalem and the West were plotting against him. It wasn’t hard for Saddam to take this as support for his invasion.

 

Finally, the book gives context to why various countries and groups were for or against Iraq. The PLO for instance sided with Iraq because it had become a major benefactor and many Palestinians supported Saddam. Egypt on the other hand had been an ally of Saddam but its workers in Iraq had not only been mistreated but attacked and killed by Iraqi soldiers after the Iran-Iraq War. President Mubarak was also hoping for economic aid from the West for siding with it.

 

There are other books that cover the same material as Saddam’s War but spend a lot more time on it. If you want a brief history of the Gulf War than this should be first on your reading list. It really does a good job covering a large amount of material in just 200 pages.

 

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