Done by Darryl Lam, Aziel, Charlene, Hao Xian and Kashyap

Iraq had all along considered Kuwait to be part of Iraq. Before the British granted them Independence both of the countries belonged to the Ottoman Empire, they felt that the British were wrong to grant independence to Kuwait. Their attempted means to take Kuwait under their wings were constantly being repudiated by the British and several Arab countries. As such, Iraq has always expected Kuwait to give in to its demands. Kuwaiti's refusal to give in to Iraq resulted in shock and anger. Kuwait refused to be cowed into giving up Bubiyan and Warbah Island, this angered Iraq. As these islands were important for the economy of Iraq, Iraq decided to attack Kuwait in order to gain these strategic locations. The historical enmity coupled with the slant drilling incident and refusal by Kuwait to lease Warbah and Bubiyan Island upset the Iraqis. As a result, Iraq was even more aggressive In trying to force Kuwait to give in to their demands. The result was the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. Thus, we can see that Iraq was responsible for the war.

The Economic War by Kuwait through the overproduction of oil by Kuwait made Kuwait responsible. Before the start of the Iran-Iraq war of 1980 to 1988, Iraq was a relatively prosperous country with about US$35 billion in reserves. Iraq suffered tremendously during the war with Iran. Besides the heavy loss of lives, Iraq's economy was in ruins. Iraq owed about US$80 billion in debts to its neighbours and other countries that had supplied it with food and war equipment. The reconstruction of the war-torn country also required a massive US$230 billion. Iraq, thus, had to find ways to pay off this massive debt as well as to rebuild the country. Iraq had hoped to pay off its debt by earning more revenue from the sale of oil However, oil prices were falling due to over-production by some countries. OPEC had put quotas on the amount of oil that its member countries could produce to prevent a further decline in oil prices. Kuwait and the UAE, however, ignored the quota set and produced oil well about their assigned limits. This caused oil prices to fall from US$18 to US$7 per barrel at one point. Iraq lost a lot of revenue due to the fall in oil prices. Iraq lost US$1 billion from oil sales each time the price of oil fell by one US dollar. Iraq felt that the action of Kuwait and the UAE was equivalent to waging an economic war on Iraq as 90% of its income came from the sale of oil This worsened the relationship as Iraq saw Kuwait's refusal as an attack on its interest and hence Iraq decided to launch an attack on Kuwait.

Iraq had been eyeing Kuwait since the 1960s. While Kuwait did lower the price of oil. Iraq made use of this and use this as an excuse to attack Kuwait, as it had been targeting places such as Warbah and Bubiyan Island as well. The economic war by Kuwait was the right excuse that Iraq used to attack Kuwait as it has been waiting for Kuwait to slip and make mistakes. Thus, Iraq was responsible for the war.