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Chapter 2 A Long Road to Conflict in Iraq

F or most of Iraq’s existence as a nation, its leaders had believed that Kuwait should be part of Iraq. But in reality, the emirate of Kuwait predated the creation of Iraq. The tiny kingdom had been declared in 1756, while the country of Iraq was not created until 1919, at the peace conference in Paris that ended the First World War, and did not become independent until 1936. Iraq is located in a region known as Mesopotamia, where some of the world’s earliest civilizations flourished more than 6,500 years ago. Around 500 years

American warships escort Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf to protect them from attack by Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War. The war was waged from 1980 to 1988. It left Iraq deeply in debt, and dictator Saddam Hussein hoped to improve his country’s fortunes by seizing Kuwait in 1990.