8A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WAR
THURSDAY,APRIL3,2003
Iraqi,U.S. relations: from friends in'80s to foes in'90s Road to latest feud dates back decades
By Nicole Roché
nroche@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
As constant war updates flood newspapers and television, viewers are inundated with images of bombings and bloodied bodies.
Josh Robison, Wichita senior said he had stopped paying attention to every piece of breaking news even news he helped report.
Robison works as a production assistant for Channel 6, and is continuously surrounded by war updates. Over time he has become desensitized, he said.
"I would say most people like to pretend they care about the war," Robison said. "But it's so far removed from my day-to-day life."
Robison said he didn't know much about the background of the war with Iraq, which may be one reason he had become so complacent.
War coverage can be confusing for students who know little about the history between the United States and Iraq.
What follows is the early history of Saddam Hussein's rise to power and the United States' struggle to bring him back down. The information is a summary of a timeline featured on pbs.org. Saddam Surfaces as Leader (1937- 1979)
Hussein was born in 1937.
In the 1950s, Hussein joined the Ba'ath Party, an underground Arab nationalist party that planned to assassinate Iraqi leader General Abdel Karim Kassem. Hussein was wounded in a 1959 assassination attempt but managed to flee to Cairo.
In 1963, Kassem was assassinated by the Ba'ath Party. Hussein returned to Baghdad as a Ba'ath interrogator and torturer but was jailed when his party was overthrown.
In 1968, the Ba'ath Party again seized power in Iraq under Hussein's cousin Ahmad Hassan Al Bakr. Hussein became Bakr's right-hand man, but Hussein had his eyes on the presidency.
Hussein staged a palace coup in 1979, and Bakr resigned for health reasons. Hussein assumed the presidency. Iran/Irag War and U.S. assistance
Iran/Iraq War and U.S. assistance (1980-1988)
In 1980, Saddam sent 200.000 troops to attack Iran.
■ Ronald Reagan became president in 1981 and endorsed a policy stating that neither country would emerge from the war with
additional power.
Fearing Iraq might lose the war, the United States helped Iraq gain information about the Iranian fronts in 1982.
In 1986, Reagan agreed to sell arms to Iran in exchange for the release of U.S. hostages held by terrorists in Lebanon. Hussein found out about the deal, known as the Iran-Contra scandal, and vowed never to trust the United States again.
Iraq attacked the town of Halabja, Iraq, in 1988, killing 5,000 Kurds. The United States condemned Iraq's use of chemical warfare. A cease-fire was declared in 1988.
In 1990, Iraq was billions of dollars in debt and officials were angry with its Arab neighbors about the low price of oil, its primary source of cash. In July, Iraq amassed 100,000 troops at the Kuwaiti border.
The Gulf War (1991)
President George Bush warned Hussein that he would not allow Iraq to be a bully. Hussein refused to remove his troops by Jan. 15, the U.N. deadline, and Bush declared war.
The air war lasted six weeks, ending on Feb.28,1991.
- After the cease-fire, Bush encouraged Iraqis to rise against their leader. Shia Muslims in the
south took up arms against Hussein. U.S. troops were ordered not to intervene, and tens of thousands of Shia Muslims were killed. In the north, Kurdish forces also tried to rebel, but were decimated.
In April 1991, the United Nations passed Resolution 687. It allowed Saddam to stay in power but ordered him to destroy his weapons and allow inspections of all weapons facilities. Iraqi deception over weapons of mass destruction began shortly thereafter. The Aftermath (1993-1998)
In 1993, President Bill Clinton ordered a bombing on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in response to a recent assassination attempt on former President Bush while he was visiting Kuwait.
In 1995, Hussein Kamel, Hussein's son-in-law, told U.N. officials where the weapons of mass destruction had been hidden. Inspectors discovered Russian-built fermenters used to produce anthrax and substances used to grow biological toxins. Kamel accepted Hussein's invitation for a safe return nine months later, but after crossing the Iraq border, Kamel and his brother were captured and killed.
In 1998, Saddam ends cooperation with inspectors and accuses the United Nations of
espionage. President Clinton ordered Operation Desert Fox, a four-day bombardment of key Iraqi military installations. Rumblings of War (2001-2003)
The World Trade Center and Pentagon are attacked by Al Qaeda. President George W. Bush announced on Sept. 11, 2001, that the U.S. would "make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."
Bush's State of the Union speech addressed the "axis of evil" that included Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Bush said the United States would act pre-emptively to deal with such nations.
In November 2002, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1441, which threatened "serious consequences" if Iraq did not offer unrestricted access to U.N. weapons inspectors. After four years, the United Nations resumed weapons inspections in Iraq.
Hussein repeatedly refused to meet U.N. deadlines for destruction of long-range missiles. Bush declared war on March 17 after Hussein and his sons refused to leave Iraq within a 48-hour deadline.
— Edited by Ryan Wood
Donovan Atkinson/Kansan
WAR WITH IRAQ
1) Baghdad — Iraqi capital and stronghold
2) Osirak — Location of Israeli bombing that destroyed nuclear reactor during Iran-Iraq war
3) Halabja — Hussein attacked this town with chemical weapons during Iran/Iraq war, killing 5,000 Kurds
4) Kuwaiti border — Hussein amasses 100,000 troops to invade Kuwait in 1990
5) Cairo — Where Hussein fled after failed assassination attempt on Kassem
6) Kurdish Forces and 7) Shia Muslims — Both headed toward Baghdad after cease fire in Gulf War
Brandon Baker/Kansan
As people gather during a war debate sponsored by Students for Peace, a man who wouldn't give his name speaks of the good the United States is doing with Operation Iraqi Freedom. Both sides of the war debate were represented yesterday at Wescoe Beach.
Students argue ethics, justification for war
By Nicole Roché
nroche@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Students who are familiar with the war's history cannot seem to agree on whether a war with Iraq has been warranted.
Members of Students For Peace hosted a debate yesterday on Wesco Beach. Several students gathered to speak or listen to the informal, open mic debate
Amanda Flott, Omaha junior, who helped organize the debate, said there's a laundry list of reasons why the United States went to war. None of these reasons, she said, were noble causes.
"It's not about humanitarian intervention." Flott said. "It's about the U.S. trying to achieve world domination."
Ethan Nuss, Salina freshman.
War is the only way to get rid of Saddam Hussein, said Jenni Sweeton, Overland Park senior
"It appears to me that he's a cruel dictator that needs to be taken out of power," Sweeton said.
said President Bush was using the war as "a weapon of mass distraction" that would make people forget the nation's drooping economy.
Dallas Rakestraw, Wichita senior, said whether war was justified was not important. Regardless, he said. America's troops should be supported.
"Saddam's lied to the United Nations, and he's lied to the United States," Rakestraw said. "Finally, America is calling him into check."
- Edited by Ryan Wood
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