Book description
In 1988 Iraq was the region's dominant military power and ambitious
to become leader of the Arab world. Saddam Hussein's war-experienced
army were known to have used biological and chemical weapons in the
past, and when 260,000 troops and 2,000 tanks crossed into Kuwait they
met with little resistance. Yet Iraq's defeat at the hands of the
coalition forces was the most devastatingly efficient in military history.
It was the first war fought over a resource: oil. The UK committed
43,000 troops to this new 'high tech' war, and initially expected high
casualties. Yet on the Iraqi side, uncounted thousands of soldiers
were killed, many poorly trained conscripts. Returning coalition
soldiers have since found themselves dogged by health problems, likely
caused by the new technologies that proved so effective in battle.
Iraqi power was diminished, but Saddam Hussein was allowed to remain
in power, laying the scene for the protracted suffering of the Iraq
invasion over a decade later.
Hugh McManners' original interviews for Gulf War One provide
a compelling picture and explode many myths of how this war was
carried out, and why. From military planners and politicians to
ordinary soldiers and Gulf War Syndrome sufferers, both those serving
and those caught up in the war tell its history in their own words.
Hugh McManners was a captain in 148 Commando Forward Observation
Battery, serving with the Special Boat Squadron during the Falklands
War. He joined the British Army in 1972 and in 1975 was sponsored by
them to read Geography at Oxford University. He subsequently spent
thirteen years with 3 Commando Brigade before attending Staff College,
working in the MoD and leaving the army in 1989. He is the author of
Forgotten Voices of the Falklands
,
Falklands Commando
and
The Scars of War
.
