In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, a small oil-rich nation on the northwestern tip of the Persian Gulf. The ambitions of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein were to procure the wealth needed to pay off debts incurred during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and to acquire a large harbor on the gulf. Many in the West feared that Iraq’s actions imperiled world oil supplies, and American president George Bush dispatched U.S. troops to the gulf to preempt a possible Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia. Soon afterwards, the UN imposed economic sanctions on Iraq and authorized the use of force if Iraq did not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991. Iraq refused to comply, and starting on January 16, U.S. forces led more than a month of allied military assaults on Iraq.

Iraq surrendered in February 1991. However, sanctions...