About Us

Tour

FAQ

Signup

Login

Welcome to our New Political Community - Take a Quick Tour of our Features including our Discussion Forums custom designed for U.S. politics. SIGN UP today to join in the discussion.

Issues > Wars & Conflicts > 1991 Persian Gulf War > Forum > Thread

Add Political Issue Content

Displaying all 2 Forum Posts for the Thread:

Oil Spills as War Tactics in the Gulf War

You must be logged in to reply to a post.

2010-06-03 09:55 PM

LLBarry
Beverly, MA
Posts: 299

While today's oil spill seems tremondous, it is not the biggest...it is not even the second biggest! In 1991, in the Gulf War the Iraqi forces dumped an estimated 6-8 million barrels of oil from tankers into the Persian Gulf ON PURPOSE to set it on fire and keep the US forces out! Some say even more.
See http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978273725

Would you ever approve of an oil spill on purpose to stop and attacks and save lives?

2010-06-06 09:19 AM

Schmidt
Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 854

Deliberately creating an oil spill and attempting to burn it along with lighting the Kuwait oil wells on fire are forms of scorched earth practices. I don't think "saving lives" of his troops entered into Saddam Hussein's thinking. It was a vindictive irrational move to create economic hardship on the Kuwaitis.

Scorched earth practices "involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area" and have been a part of history for over 2,000 years. The United States is one of the few countries that have signed the Article 54 of Protocol I of the 1977 Geneva Conventions as follows:

It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove, or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies, and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive.

The practice is not only morally wrong, but also legally wrong for the United States. Furthermore, it would be a political disaster for Americans to engage in the practice, although one might question what we did to Fallujah during Operation Phanton Fury was a borderline scorched earth practice. "Of the roughly 50,000 buildings in Fallujah, between 7,000 and 10,000 were estimated to have been destroyed in the offensive and from half to two-thirds of the remaining buildings had notable damage." Furthermore, some 200,000 residents have been internally displaced from their homes.

Displaying all 2 Forum Posts for the Thread:

Oil Spills as War Tactics in the Gulf War

You must be logged in to reply to a post.

About Us

FAQ

Advertise

Links

Login

Sign Up

Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy

OBAMA ACCOMPLISHMENTS - REPUBLICAN DIVORCES - REPUBLICAN INFIDELITY & AFFAIRS - REPUBLICAN SCANDALS & CONTROVERSIES