The Gulf War: A Critical Essay

Abstract

This essay, written by the famous Chinese military theoretician, Sun Tzu, proposes a thesis that ought to provoke considerable discussion among theoreticians in training at the National War College. Sun Tzu's thesis is that President Bush's handling of the Gulf crisis was a failure leading up to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. It resulted from his reluctance, based on uncertain intelligence, to employ national power to deter Saddam Hussein's aggression. Nevertheless, Sun Tzu holds that the decision to use force to oppose Saddam and the ensuing military operation was a great success, employing Sun Tzu's principles. However, the final determination of the success of the Coalition's actions is uncertain, and is dependent on continued stability in the region.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1992
Accession Number
ADA437162

Entities

People

  • Sun Tzu

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Command And Control
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Doctrine
  • Economic Sanctions
  • Information Operations
  • Joint Military Activities
  • Logistics Support
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Students
  • Training
  • United Nations
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Strategic Security Studies