The Three Gulf Wars and What They Have Meant for Stability in the Middle East

Usually when the subject of the Gulf War comes up, Americans tend to think in terms of the two wars overseen by the two Presidents Bush. But any understanding of the current situation in the Middle East demands that we keep in mind there have actually been three wars involving Iraq in which the United States was heavily involved, although as far we know in only the last two were US troops actually in the region doing battle. Nonetheless, US foreign and economic policy has stood behind all three Gulf Wars like a puppet master conducting a Punch and Judy extravaganza.

Although not typically framed in the terms of a Gulf War, the first war involving Iraq that the US had an active interest in was the the long, drawn-out war between Iraq and Iran that fell quickly upon the return to Islamic fundamentalism in the latter country when the Shah-led government backed by the US collapsed in the face of overwhelming religious devotion to the policies of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Although playing Monday morning quarterback can lead to headaches like you wouldn’t believe, one can’t help but entertain the possibilities of today’s geopolitical situation in the Middle East had the US either never supported the despotic Shah, or at the very had not stubbornly decided to back that losing pony right up to the very end.