The gulf war (1990-1991)
Saddam Hussein
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The Smart Bomb
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Throughout the years of human existence, danger has appeared in many forms. Natural disasters, diseases, shootings, starvation, and violence are only some of the major causes of death in the world. Of all of the tragedies that have occurred, one of the most horrible is war. This is because it is induced and carried out by men and they have control over the situation. Men have no control over natural disasters, so it is not a fault of the human race. However, war was instigated by people and can be controlled. Modern warfare is actually much worse than that of medieval or ancient warfare. The use of chemical substances and nuclear weapons makes war even more barbaric because these methods of warfare are more painful and destructive than ancient warfare. The Persian Gulf War, which was from 1990 to 1991, consisted of modern warfare that included the use of smart bombs to drive the enemy out of allied territory. This war which occurred in the middle east, although short and easy, marked the beginning of modern warfare as we know it today.
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What was the Gulf War?
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Previous to the Gulf War, the Middle East encountered multiple conflicts, which in turn brought countries in the region to hate each other. Iraq and Iran had been in a war which wasted away many troops and brought a feeling of contention between opposing countries in the Middle East. Iraq displayed a true character of hostility in the Middle East after the Iraq-Iran war and Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, established true power over his country. After this conflict, Hussein convinced the Iraqi populous that his ways were beneficial. As Saddam Hussein became an absolute figure of power in Iraq, his ambitions pointed toward yet another attack on a Middle Eastern country-Kuwait. His ambitions were centralized around the power of industry, especially because the Middle East had a vast plethora of oil. Kuwait was one of the most oil-rich countries at the time. Therefore, Hussein 's ambitions led him to attack this small, yet important country.
Although there was much tension in the Middle East because of this war, the conflict was short-lived. In less than a year, the conflict was over due to better strategy in favor of the U.N. coalition. There was an approximate 8,000 to 10,000 dead Iraqi forces, whereas there was a sum total of only 300 coalition deaths. The main importance of this war was the introduction of technology and "modern war". This was one of the first times that smart bombs were used on a large-scale conflict. This war began a new age of conflict, that is, technological conflict.