Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, ordered the invasion and occupation of Kuwait with the apparent aim of acquiring that nation’s large oil reserves, canceling a large debt Iraq owed Kuwait, and expanding Iraqi power in the region.

Terms in this set (6) LINK: Iraq was frustrated with the actions of Kuwait and UAE and felt that the 2 countries were waging an economic war on purpose against Iraq. This angered them and fuelled their desire for revenge, hence resulting in the invasion.

August 2, 1990 – Au

1 ) Many westerners believed that Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait was largely motivated by its desire to take control over the latter’s vast oil reserves. The Iraqi government justified its invasion by claiming that Kuwait was a natural part of Iraq carved off as a result of British imperialism.

[T]he United States actively supported the Iraqi war effort by supplying the Iraqis with billions of dollars of credits, by providing U.S. military intelligence and advice to the Iraqis, and by closely monitoring third country arms sales to Iraq to make sure that Iraq had the military weaponry required.

Today, the United States and Iraq both consider themselves as strategic partners, given the American political and military involvement after the invasion of Iraq and their mutual, deep-rooted relationship that followed.

When Hussein attacked Kuwait he became a liability and so the first Gulf War was fought. Even then the Americans encouraged the Shia in southern Iraq to rise up against him. However when they did so the Saudis made it clear to the USA they would not tolerate further support.

In the 1980s, the US and Britain backed Saddam in the war against Iran, giving Iraq arms, money, satellite intelligence, and even chemical & bio-weapon precursors. As many as 90 US military advisors supported Iraqi forces and helped pick targets for Iraqi air and missile attacks.

president Saddam Hussein

In its war effort, Iran was supported by Syria and Libya, and received much of its weaponry from North Korea and China, as well as from covert arms transactions from the United States. Iraq enjoyed much wider support, both among Arab and Western nations: the Soviet Union was its largest supplier of arms.

Israel supported Iran during the war so that Iran could provide a counterweight to Iraq; to re-establish influence in Iran which Israel lost with the overthrow of the shah in 1979, and to create business for the Israeli weapons industry.

That Iran hasn’t invaded anyone or, indeed, started a war in more than two centuries has become a talking point for those advocating trust and outreach to Iran. Between 1804 and 1813, Iran and Russia fought a bloody conflict in the Caucasus which ended with the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan.

Operation Undeniable Victory was an Iranian victory; Iraqi forces were driven away from Shush, Dezful and Ahvaz. The Iranian armed forces destroyed 320–400 Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles in a costly success. In just the first day of the battle, the Iranians lost 196 tanks.

Mesopotamia

Iraq has been home to Christian communities for thousands of years. Indeed, the land of present-day Iraq was majority Christian before Islam became the dominant religion (around 634 C.E.).