Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Iraq was an oil-rich country with a dictatorship trying to steer an autonomous course, which brought it into confrontation with the US as the Cold War ended. During the Cold War, Iraq's geopolitical and strategic significance had brought Saddam Hussein gains. Holding together a state divided between ethnic and sectarian identities of the Iraqi Sunnis, Shi'ias, and Kurds , Hussein opted for a brutal dictatorship, but received support from both the US and USSR. The importance of Iraq increased rapidly after the Shah's collapse in Iran in 1978, with the US desperate to balance Soviet interests in the region. Second, a regional conflict of interest existed between Iran and Iraq. The Shi'i Islamic rebellion in Iran emboldened the local Shi'i community to challenge the Sunni Ba'ath rule. Fearful of Iranian support for Shi'i and Kurdish groups as well as ambitious for a regional leadership role, Hussein went in for a war against Iran to mobilize domestic support and garner military help from abroad. The war with Iran was a careful gamble, and Saddam was able to achieve some goals, though at an enormous cost. Saddam's grandiose plans of weaponization, including weapons of chemical warfare, were realized with the full knowledge and connivance of the US and Moscow. Moreover, the war apparently united Iraq in the face of a bellicose neighbor. The Kurds as the only exception paid a terrible ... log in or subscribe to read full text