Contemporary Issues in the Persian Gulf I
American Military University
Following my discharge from active duty in 1995, I was particularly concerned about the status of the ceasefire agreement between the U.N. and Iraq and how that may be affected by the year-old Clinton Administration. With a new wife and an eight year-old stepson to care for, I was not especially enthusiastic about the possibility of a new armed conflict and being recalled from inactive reserve status for service inside of Iraq in order to enforce the ceasefire agreement or to dismantle Hussein’s weapons programs.
While the Clinton Administration’s Department of Defense was bombing sites in Iraq in order to enforce no-fly zones, I was busy with my new position on the Navy Team as an associate analyst for the 1995 round of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. It is still hard to believe that in the midst of what I would consider a continuation of the previous air war and a continued heavy presence in the Persian Gulf, we were also closing and restructuring bases all over the continental United States and the South Pacific. I say this not to as an expression of disapproval, but merely one of observation at the myriad missions and tasks occurring simultaneously across the DoD.
Over the next several years, as my individual ready reserve time was rapidly expiring, American and British bombers accelerated their targeting of Iraqi anti-aircraft positions, to include a retaliatory attack against Iraq for a foiled assassination attempt against former President Bush. To make matters worse, Hussein’s continued attempts to block the U.N. inspection teams from accomplishing their mission further contributed to the atmosphere of uneasiness that encompassed the nation’s capital, setting the groundwork for the current conflict in Iraq.