It's Your Ship

Two significant military operations are alluded to frequently in the book. The first is Operation Desert Storm, which took place from January 17 to February 28, 1991. Abrashoff had been a combat systems officer aboard the USS England at the time. This military action was a response to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s invasion of neighboring Kuwait. Hussein had sought to occupy Kuwait and gain hold of that nation’s oil industry, which would have increased Iraq’s standing in the world oil market. The invasion also threatened neighboring Saudi Arabia, a nation that had a far more amicable relationship with the West, and the United States in particular, than did Iraq. Ironically, Iraq had been supplied with military equipment, artillery, and other resources in a war with Iran that had recently come to a close. After Hussein invaded Kuwait, a massive military response, led by the United States was conducted. Initially, the operation was termed “Operation Desert Shield,” and more than 500,000 American troops were deployed to Saudi Arabia to provide that country military protection. This then became Operation Desert Storm, which lasted only a month and led to the liberation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army (Collins, Shannon. “Desert Storm: A Look Back.” US Department of Defense, 11 Jan. 2019).

The second notable military event referred to in the book is the 1997-1998 Gulf Crisis. This conflict also involved Saddam Hussein, but unlike Operation Desert Storm, was not a response to a direct military assault conducted by Iraq. Instead, this was a mission meant to deter Saddam Hussein from pursuing weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons. Writing for the Middle East Review of International Affairs, Laurie Mylroie explains, “The crisis precipitated by Iraq’s October 29 decision to expel American members of the UN Special Commission [UNSCOM] working there brought to public attention the very serious danger posed by Iraq’s continued possession of large stockpiles of biological and chemical agents” (Mylroie, Laurie. “Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction and the 1997 Gulf Crisis.” Middle East Review of International Affairs, January 1998). As a result of the cease-fire treaty following Hussein’s invasion and subsequent retreat from Kuwait, these weapons were forbidden. Also, the cease fire required UN inspections of their weapons of mass destruction programs. Saddam Hussein did not want the US inspectors to be part of the UN Special Commission. Therefore, he violated the terms of the cease fire. In response, the United States increased its military presence in the region, a threatening move meant to persuade Hussein to re-enter the ceasefire agreement that had ended the previous Gulf war. The UN intervened further and eventually was able to broker a deal with Hussein. However, this was once again broken, and the United States eventually conducted a series of missile attacks on facilities that were suspected of manufacturing chemical weapons. The Benfold had been part of the military build-up in the Persian Gulf. At one point, as the missile strikes commenced, the Benfold had been waiting for the approval to launch Tomahawk missiles into Iraq, but this order never came, as political leaders once again sought to negotiate a deal with Hussein in which the United States would be allowed to inspect their weapons manufacturing facilities.