Effects of the Persian Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War took place between the years 1990 to early 1991. When we talk of the Persian Gulf War, Iraq's attack on Kuwait, followed by United States elimination of the Iraqi presence in Kuwait - both are included in it. This war, just like any other war, had huge repercussions on the environment, the economies of the countries involved as well as on the people, both commoners as well as the war veterans. Given below are the causes and effects of the Persian Gulf War.

Causes

As everyone knows that the entire world depends on the Arab nations for its oil needs. The scenario was no different in the year 1990. Kuwait, UAE and Iraq were the main suppliers of oil to the world. There were two main reasons why Iraq invaded Kuwait. The foremost being that Iraq was under huge economic debt due to the long Iran-Iraq war, which lasted from 1980 to 1988. It owed a lot of money to various countries, including Kuwait. To pay off the debt, it depended largely on the revenues it attained from selling oil. This is where the second reason behind the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait arose. Iraq felt that Kuwait was overproducing oil and due to this, oil prices were not able to stabilize. During the year 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the official reason that was given was that Kuwait was overproducing oil purposely so that Iraq is unable to withhold its economic ground.

In early 1991, United States and many other countries felt that UAE would be Iraq's next target. There was a fear that if Iraq invaded both Kuwait and UAE, the world's oil supply would be blocked. It was also believed that Iraq had developed chemical weapons and thus, could be a threat to the entire world. So, in order to prevent such a situation from arising, United States finally attacked Iraqi forces and eliminated its presence from Kuwait, in just a couple of days, by launching operation desert storm.

Effects

People
The Gulf War caused a lot of physical and emotional distress to the war veterans. The soldiers who participated in the Gulf War, display some unique characteristics, which are commonly referred to as "Gulf War illness". Chronic fatigue, moodiness, depression, sleeping problems, muscle and joint pains - these are some of the symptoms of the "Gulf illness" which according to researches, approximately 2,63,000 soldiers have displayed till date.

The war had a huge impact on the common people too. Thousands of people were killed, thousands were injured and many were taken as war prisoners. Women were raped in the midst of the war and had to bear many atrocities.

Environment
During the war, approximately eleven million barrels of oil was released into the Arabian gulf. It is estimated that as many as eighty ships carrying oil and weapons were sunk into the Arabian gulf. This disturbed the entire ecosystem, destroying marine life to a large extent. Migratory birds were killed and many marine turtles lost their lives or developed lesions. The land where the war took place, became infertile, as the desert vegetation was trampled upon by heavy artillery. Due to accumulation of solid wastes, groundwater contamination took place on a large scale.

The atmosphere was the worst affected. There was huge air pollution caused by the fire and smoke, produced by explosives and chemical weapons. Moreover, when Iraqis were evicted from Kuwait, they burned approximately six hundred oil wells. The pollution caused due to this barbarous act has left a huge impact on the environment and weather of the entire planet.

Economy
As for the economic effects, Iraq was the major sufferer. It not only suffered losses in military equipment but in its infrastructure as well, which will take years and billions of dollars to rebuild. Similarly, both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia suffered some infrastructural losses, running into billions. The major economic effect of the Gulf War was on perhaps cleaning up the oil slicks, which cost a whooping $ 700 million to clean. However, due to the rising oil prices and a positive growth of the oil industry, post the Persian Gulf War, Kuwait was able to make up for many of its economic losses.

As can be seen, the Gulf War adversely affected people, environment and economies of all the nations involved. Its aftermath can still be felt in various countries. Even after twenty years, the countries that were directly involved are still trying to recover from the losses caused by the Persian Gulf War.