George Bush
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B-June 12, 1934
WWII veteran
Congressman
CIA director
VP under Reagan
Father to the 43rd President
“There is new ground to be broken and new action
to be taken."
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"a kinder and gentler nation."
The Berlin Wall falls
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November 9, 1989
Opened the doors to travel between the two Germanys
Chaos
Pecked away at the wall
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Saddam Hussein
The first time
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Maintained power through ruthless purges
Iraq beset by internal strife
– North the Kurds yearned for independence
– South, the Shi'ites looked to Iran
1980’s
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War with Iran
Stalemate
BUT…
Military was an awesome force
Caused Saudi Arabia concern.
Things ain’t so good in Iraq
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Price of keeping military was exorbitant.
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Borrowed heavily from its oil producing neighbors
Debt coupled with continued investments brought on a 40
percent inflation rate and a stagnant standard of living.
So use your own oil
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Iraq had to do the same
Iraq suspected the Kuwaiti's were drilling diagonally from their
side of the border to tap Iraqi oil reserves
They did.
But it wasn’t enough to pay off investors
1990
– Kuwait and other oil states began to lower oil prices and
increase production beyond agreed upon levels
It was getting more and more difficult to keep his power.
Boom boom,
Crunch, crunch
Iraq invades Kuwait
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At 1:00 a.m. on August 2, the elite Republican Guard rolled into
Kuwait.
There was little or no resistance
Reached the capital, Kuwait City, in four hours
Frontal assault was supported by an airborne special forces
division attack directly on Kuwait City itself
Saddam proclaimed his annexation of Kuwait.
What just happened?
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King Fahad of Saudi Arabia recognized his situation as dire and
immediately requested aid from his most powerful friend and
ally, the United States.
Gulf War
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Between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations mandated by the
United Nations and led by the US.
Desert Shield is born
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Bush deployed U.S. ground and air forces to Saudi territory.
U.S. Navy ships were also deployed to the region.
The operation to defend Saudi Arabia
The US was a little concerned
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Saudi Arabia contained an additional 20 percent
Now Saddam controlled over 20 percent of the world's oil
reserves.
Saddam is a pig
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Atrocities on the Kuwaiti people
Developed weapons of mass destruction and could have cared
less who was hurt by such weapons.
Even the UN thought so
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Condemned Iraq and requested immediate withdrawal of troops
from Kuwait.
Saddam disregarded them
‘Stormin” Norman to the rescue!
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Command of US forces and of all the forces in the region
Other nations had come to help Saudi Arabia
Britain, France, Egypt, Syria even the UAE sent contingents
Desert Shield changes to
Desert Storm
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Meant to defend Saudi Arabia, but…
January of 1991 President Bush, advised by Collin Powell and
the Joint Chiefs of Staff determined to go on the offensive and
take the war to the Iraqis in Kuwait
Let’s use our planes
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Air campaign against Iraq was launched January16, 1991
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– Day after the UN deadline for evacuation
Thorough and devastating
Weapons of choice
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Tomahawk Missile
– 20-foot-long weapon costing $1.3 million
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AH-64A Apache is specifically designed for the attack role
Hard to kill
E-3 Sentry is the most sophisticated airborne command
AWAC
F-117A Stealth fighter
Wobbly goblin
“Smart” Missiles?
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"Of the 85,000 tons of bombs used in the Gulf War, only 8,000
tons (less than 10 percent) were PGMs, yet they accounted for
75 percent of the damage.“
Less civilian deaths
Impressed the Pentagon
Big Ugly Fat Fellow (BUFF)
the B-52
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can carry up to 60,000 pounds of bombs, or a mixture of bombs and airlaunched cruise missiles (ALCM) in internal bays and on underwing
pylons.
So why did we send in the troops?
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Arguments
– Air power had taken Kuwait
– If you're going to hold on to a region, you have to have troops
there
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They did it fast too!
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Read
Highway of Death
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By late February 1991, Saddam was out of Kuwait
But, he was left in charge of Iraq.
TV War
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$61.1 billion
Able to watch live pictures of missiles hitting their targets and
fighters taking off from aircraft carriers.
UN sanctions
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Literally crippled the Iraqi economy
Oil for Food program
United Nations Special Commission
– performing arms inspections
– Iraq never fully cooperated
The Poor Civilians
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Years after the war electricity production was less than a quarter
its pre-war level.
Destruction of water treatment facilities caused sewage to flow
directly into the Tigris River, from which civilians drew drinking
water, resulting in widespread disease.
What about Russia?
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Mikhail Gorbachev is still in control
Relaxes some of the censorship regulations
The Soviet Union is cracking up!
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Many states of the Soviet Union voiced their intense hatred of
Russia.
War broke out
Coup broke out to take over his government
Coup was put down but Gorbachev could not hold the
government together
Soviet Union ceased to exist
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Reformist President Mikhail Gorbachev, whom Bush had
supported, resigned.
December, 1991
Commonwealth of Independent States
Economy
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Bush had his hands full sorting out the savings and loans
disaster!
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Read about this.
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Broke his promise to the American people
Thank goodness!
Had to raise taxes after the national deficit reached $200 billion
dollars
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American with Disabilities Act
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Prevented discrimination against people with physical handicaps
Election of 1992
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R- George Bush
D- Bill Clinton
Independent –Ross Perot