The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 699 Calculation and Ambition

On December 1989, 12, the military launched an invasion of Panama in order to dissuade Congress from cutting defense budgets.

In addition to control of the Panama Canal, a very important reason is to prevent the defense budget from being cut.

Everyone knows that only when facing war and American interests are threatened will Congress approve more military spending.

Unfortunately, the Panamanian Defense Forces were too weak and the war only lasted a few days.

Even though Noriega commanded the Panamanian army to put up a tenacious resistance against the U.S. military at the beginning, Panama lost its organized resistance capability in just eight hours from the outbreak of the war.

Fifteen hours after the war began, the US military had taken control of most of the military camps in Panama.

Finally, on the evening of January 1990, 1, Noriega surrendered to the US military and the war ended.

The entire war took only 15 days, but the cost was as high as billions of dollars, and the US military dispatched 2.7 combat troops.

As a result, the army was very excited and regained its confidence, especially the new recruits, who were clamoring for support. However, they were met with ridicule from the Soviet camp internationally.

The gentlemen in Congress couldn't stand it any more. Not only did it not work, but it also led to huge cuts in military spending.

Now, they are planning a conspiracy against Iraq.

Iraq is undoubtedly a very suitable opponent. Iraq is listed as the world's third largest military power. Moreover, Saddam is ambitious and has criticized and opposed the United States many times. At the same time, it also affects the interests of the United States in the Gulf region.

This is a stumbling block!

If all goes well, not only can the morale and confidence of the army be restored, but Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia can also be brought under control. Moreover, at the most critical moment, half of the military expenditure can be paid by Arab countries.

Adding to the NATO allies, as well as Japan and South Korea, the United States actually does not need to spend much on military spending.

This does not affect the interests of the military-industrial complex and allows these defense suppliers to make a lot of money.

It is for this reason that the United States has repeatedly told Saddam that it does not care about these matters.

This is to make Iraq feel worry-free and have the support of the United States so that it dares to go to war.

As long as Iraq starts a war, whether it is against Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, can the United States sit idly by?
impossible!
The US military has enough reasons to organize a coalition force to attack Iraq.

And it was impossible for the Soviet Union to completely break off relations with the United States over such an incident.

After all, the Soviet Union was a country that cared about its reputation.

This is in line with the national interest of the United States!
As for the fact that Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have very good relations and are as close as brothers, this situation is definitely not what the United States wants to see.

If this is the case, how can the United States exert influence on the Arab world?
At this time in the Middle East, because Iraq raised the territorial dispute over Kuwait and believed that Kuwait should return to Iraq and become a province, in this way the glory of the ancient Babylonian Empire could be restored and a Babylonian Empire could be rebuilt. Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait communicated and negotiated, but from the beginning, they were strongly opposed by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The differences between the two sides are very large.

Iraq is already very powerful and has the most powerful army in the Arab world, with the largest number of troops, the best equipment, and the strongest combat effectiveness.

After fighting with the Persians for ten years, they still had the upper hand on the battlefield between Iran and Iraq, instead of being defeated by the Persians.

For military powers, they may look down on the performance of both sides in the Iran-Iraq War, but for other countries, Persia is not just any cat or dog, but the lion of the Middle East!
In the past, Persia was the most powerful country in the entire Middle East, with the strongest army, navy, and air force in the Middle East.

Therefore, other countries are very wary of Iraq. Once Iraq takes over Kuwait, there will be no dispute over the leader of the Arab world, and countries such as Saudi Arabia will have to worry about whether Iraq will attack them and annex them.

This situation made Saddam furious and extremely angry.

He told his men in frustration: "War, only war, can achieve territorial integrity! Only force can realize our great ideals!"

In his opinion, Kuwait was originally a part of Iraq, and negotiations were held to avoid war, and Iraq had not completed its war preparations.

It would be best if we could take Kuwait without going to war.

But it has now been shown that this path of negotiation is impossible.

Subsequently, Saddam ordered an armored division to be transferred to the border with Kuwait.

In order to intimidate Kuwait, they rushed to the Kuwaiti border without any concealment.

Kuwait received the news first and was extremely nervous.

Faced with such a crisis situation, King Emir Jaber immediately convened an emergency national defense meeting.

The Kuwaiti military official was helpless and under great pressure. He told the king directly during the meeting: "Your Majesty, our military strength is simply not comparable to Iraq's. Iraq has 1.2 million regular troops and has fought a ten-year war with Persia. It can be said that it has experienced many battles. All our armed forces combined are only a little over 20,000. Even if we mobilize them, it will take time. Even if we mobilize all our people, we cannot resist Iraq."

Kuwait has a land area of ​​only 1.78 square kilometers and a population of less than two million.

The Iraqi regular army has 1.2 million people. The army is armed to the teeth and has thousands of tanks and armored vehicles, not to mention a large number of artillery, missiles, and a large number of fighter jets.

Not to mention, the Iraqi army has been baptized by war, while the Kuwaiti army has never been through war.

With high welfare all year round and the fact that one can live a good life even without working, few people in Kuwait are willing to join the army.

And this is because Kuwait has the best military treatment in the world!
As for training, the Kuwaiti army has little training.

An army with little training and little combat experience is actually not much better than ordinary people.

There is such a huge gap in quantity and quality that there is no way to fight.

Amir Bill looked at Prince Fahd and knew the pressure he was under. He said, "Prince, the Iraqis are trying to scare us. If a war really breaks out, they will refuse to negotiate and directly lead their troops to invade. We really don't have the ability to resist, but we have Saudi Arabia behind us. Now we must respond strongly and tell the Iraqis that Kuwait is not afraid of war!"

Prince Fahd gave a wry smile.

Even if they mobilized all their armed forces to the border, it would have no deterrent effect on Iraq, but would make the situation even more tense.

As for Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia’s army is not small now, but Saudi Arabia’s army has never been strong!

The treatment of Saudi Arabia’s military is no worse than that of Kuwait, and its training is not much better than that of Kuwait.

The only bright spot is Saudi Arabia's air force and its navy, which is considered the most powerful in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

But if a war breaks out, to be honest, Prince Fahd is not optimistic about Saudi Arabia.

(End of this chapter)