what if Israel had decided not to listen to America and attacked Iraq maybe with air strikes or missiles in response to Iraqi scud attacks during the gulf war?
Israel attacks Iraq during the gulf war
- Thread starter zeppelin247
- Start date
Zepplin,
My post yesterday contained a very similar ?
I think if the Israelis did not listen it would have stirred things up a lot!
Mind you S. Arabia regarded Iraq as a threat then as it certainly does Iran today, in part Sunni V Shia!
It has been reported in the European media that when and If Israel wishes to aerially assault Iran, Saudi air efences will be let down on that night to facilitate an easier Israeli root!
Israel has certainly told Sunni Gulf states watch their backs with respect to Iran, in a sense of the enemy of my enemy can also be my enemy too!
BTW I think a halocaust survivor was killed in one of those scud raids! How ironic is that?
My post yesterday contained a very similar ?
I think if the Israelis did not listen it would have stirred things up a lot!
Mind you S. Arabia regarded Iraq as a threat then as it certainly does Iran today, in part Sunni V Shia!
It has been reported in the European media that when and If Israel wishes to aerially assault Iran, Saudi air efences will be let down on that night to facilitate an easier Israeli root!
Israel has certainly told Sunni Gulf states watch their backs with respect to Iran, in a sense of the enemy of my enemy can also be my enemy too!
BTW I think a halocaust survivor was killed in one of those scud raids! How ironic is that?
US/Israel relations take a big hit when five hundred thousand US solders find themselves in a much more hostile neighborhood. Basically it would screw up the coalition when the Arab members began to pull out. That was the reason that Scuds were launched on Israel, in hopes that this would happen.
according to one of the books I have on the war... not that much. People in the gulf states were not impressed with Saddam's missile strikes at Israel, while he was still occupying Kuwait. In fact, they were generally unimpressed with all of his anti-Israeli rhetoric. Someone put it as 'You don't liberate Palestine by occupying Kuwait'. American military quietly approached the gulf state leaders about the issue, and they were mostly hoping that Israel would not strike back, but didn't really care if they did... particularly Saudi Arabia, the state on the front line of the war.
As Peabody-Martini said Saddam's whole goal was to goad Israel into reacting on the assumption that if they did attack Iraq then the Arab countries would of pulled out of the Allied coalition in support of him. And from what I've read in several reports if it had happened there's a very good chance of them withdrawing their support. The folks in charge were certainly nervous enough that they shifted a fair amount of resources over to scud hunting to try and keep Israel out of things.
The big question becomes do countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain or Oman just pull out their troops or do they stop the Allies from using their territory for logistics/to station troops and launch attacks from? IIRC the US government doctored the satellite images and told the Saudi government a couple of fibs to get them to believe that the Iraqi forces were much more threatening than they were when in reality they were a fair way from the border and digging in to defensive positions. If that were to come out at the same time as Israel launching direct attacks on Iraq then the wheels could really come off things.
The big question becomes do countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain or Oman just pull out their troops or do they stop the Allies from using their territory for logistics/to station troops and launch attacks from? IIRC the US government doctored the satellite images and told the Saudi government a couple of fibs to get them to believe that the Iraqi forces were much more threatening than they were when in reality they were a fair way from the border and digging in to defensive positions. If that were to come out at the same time as Israel launching direct attacks on Iraq then the wheels could really come off things.
True. However hadn't he built up a fair amount of credit by paying cash to the families of people that carried out suicide bombings or attacks on Israel if they died? I'm going on memeory for all of this so you could very well be correct.
Saddam didn't have any credit at all with the other Gulf states after he invaded Kuwait. It's notable that the missile strikes on Israel brought very little reaction in the Arab world; most of them were too annoyed at the Kuwaiti occupation to be distracted by such a blatant tactic. Saddam's attacks brought acclaim from only one group of people... Palestinian refugees in Kuwait. They thought he was a great hero, and were left high and dry when the Iraqis left...
Cook
Banned
Same thought. Kuwait was still occupied; the other Gulf States weren’t going to forget about that. During the invasion the Arab coalition members confined themselves to Kuwaiti territory, not taking part in the massive left hook through southern Iraq that encircled and cut off the Iraqi army.
There would be diplomatic protests by Jordan and Saudi, depending on what rout the Israeli jets flew but Jordan wouldn’t be siding with Iraq then, they’d had the opportunity earlier and opted not to.
Air strikes by Iraqi jets are not going to make the Scuds stop any sooner than Allied strikes and Special Forces operations were going to be able to shut them down. So as Ivan said, Israeli air traffic over Iraq is going to hinder the Coalition and slow down the outcome.
There would be diplomatic protests by Jordan and Saudi, depending on what rout the Israeli jets flew but Jordan wouldn’t be siding with Iraq then, they’d had the opportunity earlier and opted not to.
Air strikes by Iraqi jets are not going to make the Scuds stop any sooner than Allied strikes and Special Forces operations were going to be able to shut them down. So as Ivan said, Israeli air traffic over Iraq is going to hinder the Coalition and slow down the outcome.
Cook
Banned
Found it. You were right, it’s in DLB’s book; a contingency plan to allocate their ground forces an Area of Operations in the North West of the country to prevent accidental clashes with Coalition Forces in the event that the Israeli’s insisted on entering the war. It is clear that they’re talking about SF teams like the SAS and Rangers that were operation in the western desert already.
Do you have any proof to back this up? Its not that I don't believe you, I just want to believe you without a doubt. Because if this is true, this opens up many livly chat discussions and interesting TLs.
Nothing changes.
Kuwaitis-in-exile will keep quiet because they want their country back
Saudis would keep quiet because they'd fear Iraq as they did in 1990.
Egyptians said Israel has a right to self defence and they wouldn't oppose measured response (though "measured response" is not a phrase that exists in Israeli language)
Syrian position would be simialr to Egyptian
Small Gulf countries' position would be simillar to Saudi.
Kuwaitis-in-exile will keep quiet because they want their country back
Saudis would keep quiet because they'd fear Iraq as they did in 1990.
Egyptians said Israel has a right to self defence and they wouldn't oppose measured response (though "measured response" is not a phrase that exists in Israeli language)
Syrian position would be simialr to Egyptian
Small Gulf countries' position would be simillar to Saudi.