Introduction

Wars have been apart of this world almost as long as anything else has. Even in the Bible days there are records of wars. There are many reasons that states choose to go to war. Sometimes it is for the expansion of a nation or state, other times it is for financial gains, and it also could be for security or defense purposes. Whatever the case may be, wars have been apart of human life and will always be. There were no differences when it came to the Persian Gulf War. This war involved the United States, Iraq, and Kuwait. When trying to determine the purpose behind this war I chose to view it from a comparison of both the realist and liberalist views on the war.

The Case

The Persian Gulf War stemmed from tension over …show more content…

With Baghdad not having water or electricity, this not only affected soldiers, but also had a detrimental effect on civilians. Alberto Bin states, "United States forces dropped some 9,000 precision-guided bombs and 210,000 conventional bombs" (Bin, 235). Looking at the amount of each type of bomb dropped, one could easily conclude that a majority of the bombs were conventional and were not precision guided. With the slightest miscalculations, those conventional bombs could easily hit civilians. On February 13, U.S. stealth fighter bombs destroyed the Amiriya bomb shelter in Baghdad, killing 600 - 1000 civilians (Economist, 1991).
The United States war against the citizens of Iraq was brutal and inhumane. The United States intentionally deprived the Iraqi people of essential medicines, portable water, food and other necessities. The United States wanted to break the will of the Iraqi people, they attempted to destroy their economic capability, to deprive them of essential human needs and services, and to reduce their numbers and weaken their health. To accomplish these cruel tasks, the U.S. imposed and enforced embargoes preventing the shipment of medicines, infant milk formula, water purifiers, and food and other supplies that were needed. The U.S. government froze Iraq's funds and influenced other nations to do so also, resulting in the lack of Iraq's ability to purchase needed medicines, food, and other supplies. The U.S. also prevented a number of