US+in+the+Middle+East

 By: Tim Costa THE COLD WAR: THE U.S. IN THE MIDDLE EAST

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Eisenhower Doctrine On January 5th, 1957 president Eisenhower announced his new policy for the middle east which would be more proactive. This was in response to the growing tensions specifically in Egypt, when Egyptian leader Gamal Nasser seized control of the Suez Canal. Nasser did this after the U.S. refused to support plans to construct Aswan Dam on the Nile river in 1956. In reply to the seizure of the Suez Canal, French,British, and Israeli troops attacked Egypt. In order to keep Communists disinterested in the region, Eisenhower called for authorization for military and economic cooperation in friendly countries in the area. Eisenhower wanted to use U.S. troops to secure the countries and stop the spread of communism. This was just another way the U.S. used containment to combat communism.

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Saddam Hussein Invades Kuwait

On August 2nd 1990, Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces invaded the bordering country of Kuwait and soon held 20% of the world's oil reserves. In response, the United Nations banned trade with Iraq and on August 9th America took action. on August 9th, operation Desert Shield began and U.S. forces raced to defend Saudi Arabia before Iraq could attack. The U.N. gave Saddam Hussein until January 15th, 1991 to withdraw, but he refused and the next day, U.S. and British aircraft were deployed and engaged in air attacks against Iraqi forces in and around Baghdad. This was known as operation Desert Storm and on February 24th, ground forces moved in. 100 hours later, Kuwait was liberated, however there were many more weeks of bombing to drive out remaining Iraqi forces.On February 28th, President George Bush ordered a cease fire and on April 3rd, the U.N. passed Resolution 687 which formally ended the conflict. 

Significance
 * The conflict in the middle east during the cold war had a very big impact on American relations in the Middle East now as well as to American oil interests.
 * The Eisenhower Doctrine completely changed the U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and helped nations to work together proactively to solve problems and force economic cooperation.
 * Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm showed the Soviets the severity of an American response in a massive air and ground attack.
 * The American response to Saddam Hussein's invasion helped to build good relations with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
 * Future enemies like Saddam Hussein were exposed.



Impact


 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Iraqi forces used one of the first SCUD missiles to try to bring Israel and Saudi Arabia into the war.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">Iraqi forces were forced out of Kuwait and Saddam Hussein was stopped before he could invade Saudi Arabia or any other Arab countries into the war.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">The Eisenhower Doctrine helped to improve foreign relations of middle eastern countries with the U.S.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">The Soviets realized the potential of waging war against the U.S. either in the air or on the ground.

<span style="background-color: #0000ff; color: #ff0000; display: block; font-size: 200%; text-align: left;">Works Cited unknown,. "Eisenhower proposes new Middle East policy." // history.com //. This Day in History, n.d. Web. 8 May 2012. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/eisenhower-proposes-new-middle-east-policy>.

unknown,. "Iraq invades Kuwait." // history.com //. This Day in History, n.d. Web. 8 May 2012. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/eisenhower-proposes-new-middle-east-policy>.