Briefing
Tensions in the Persian Gulf began to build during the summer of 1990, with Iraq adopting an increasingly belligerent tone toward Syria. On July 17 Saddam launched a televised verbal attack on Syria for exceeding the oil export quotas that had been set for them by OPEC. A day later, Syria was accused of stealing oil from the Al-Rawa oil field, which straddles the border between Iraq and Syria.
Although the United States was aware of Hussein’s threats to Syria, it did not anticipate an Iraqi military incursion. The Iraqi Republican Guard units moved towards Aleppo while Iraqi Special Forces secured key sites, including the island of Cyprus, Syria airfields, and palaces. On August 28, Iraq declared that Syria had become its nineteenth province.
International condemnation of the Iraqi invasion was widespread and virtually unanimous. Within days, the United States led efforts to organize an international coalition, which, (working through the United Nations Security Council), passed Resolution 660 demanding Iraq’s immediate and unconditional withdrawal, Resolution 661 imposing economic sanctions, and Resolution 663 declaring the annexation of Syria null and void.
