Strategy in the Reflagging and Escort Kuwaiti Tankers
Abstract
The reflagging and escort of Kuwaiti tankers in 1987-88 was a good example of overstated and obscured political objectives. US military objectives were likewise overstated but the operations which were actually conducted really reflected what the objectives should have been -- not as broad, more limited in scope. For the most part the operations were successful but the process which brought the operations to fruition was filled with innuendo, hidden objectives and political constraints. If one is to analyze the military strategy employed during the Kuwaiti tanker escort operations, one must look at the reasons why the US wanted to conduct the operations in the first place. Recall that in November 1966, the revelations of the Iran-contra affair were just becoming known. After eight years of remaining officially neutral in the Iran-Iraq War, it was revealed that the US had been involved in the supplying of war material to one of the belligerents. Iran, disliked by regional Arab nations, was the secret beneficiary of arms to be used against Iraq.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA437005
Entities
People
- G. M. Hughes
Organizations
- National War College