Understanding the Persian Gulf Vocab
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37 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Arab | A linguistic group of 256 million that many experts believe originated in the Hijaz region in what is now Saudi Arabia. The Arabs have spread across northern Africa and the Middle East. The Iraqis (except the Kuds) are Arabs. |
| Arab League | Formally called the League of Arab States, includes Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. The Arab League was formed with British encouragement, as a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the Middle East. The League exists to this day, but its mission now focuses more on issues that affect the collective Arab states. |
| Ayatollah R. Khomeini | A supreme religious leader of the Shiite group, and leader of Iran from 1979 to his death in 1989. The last decade of his life was filled with turmoil, notable the hostage crisis at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the Iran-Iraq War. |
| Baghdad | Capital city of Iraq. As heart of the Arab Empire, it was second only to Constantinople in terms of size and grandeur in 1000 C.E. |
| Basra | City in southern Iraq, heart of Shiite territory. |
| Ba'th | The Arab Bath Socialist Resurrection Party. Formed by two Syrian university students, and formally founded on April 7, 1947. The Bath Party tenets include adherence to socialism (including state ownership of the key segments of the economy). The Bath political parties are in power in Syria and Iraq. |
| Caliph | leader after Muhammad's death, also a spiritual leader |
| Euphrates | One of two main rivers in ancient Mesopotamia (now modern Iraq, and eastern Turkey) |
| al-Faw | A peninsula on the Iraqi Persian Gulf coast, where the offshore oil terminals are located. Scene of heavy fighting during the Iran-Iraq War. |
| Iran | Now the Islamic Republic of Iran, it borders Iraq to the east. Iran's population is mostly Persian, with Kurd and Arab minorities. The majority of the Iranians are Shiite Muslims (the only Shiite-dominated Muslim country in the world). Persian Iran is the ancient enemy of Arab Iraq. |
| Iraq | Republic of Iraq. Country created in 1923, by a European convention, from the Ottoman provinces of Baghdad and Basra. The Iraqi people are mostly Arabs, with a Kurd minority. |
| Islam | Religion founded by the prophet Muhammad. Islam translates as "submission." |
| Jarmo | The area where the first indications of human settlement are found in Iraq, including pottery and domesticated animals. |
| Al-Khawarizmi | He was the leading Arab mathematician of the Golden Age who lived in Baghdad. He developed some of the key concepts of what would eventually be known as algebra, and he presented the new concept of zero to the West. |
| Kurds | Nationality of 25 million people. The Kurds are NOT Arab, Turkic or Persian, yet their traditional homelands are located in Iraq, Turkey and Iran. The Kurds have waged an ongoing rebellion for autonomy in these three countries, with limited success. Saddam Hussein has waged extensive military campaigns against the Kurds in Iraq, including gas attacks in 1988. After the Persian Gulf War, under the protection of a U.S. and UK maintained no-fly zone, the Kurds enjoy relative autonomy and prosperity in northern Iraq. The prospects for an independent Kurdistan are minimal, given the refusal of Turkey, Iran and Iraq to grant independence to their Kurdish minorities. |
| Kuwait | Kingdom on the southern border of Iraq. Occupied by Iraq in 1990. Kuwait was founded on June 19, 1961. KUWAIT IS ONE OF THE RICHEST OIL PRODUCING NATIONS IN THE WORLD. |
| Mother of all Battles | Saddam Hussein's name for the 100-hour ground war during Operation Desert Storm. Saddam portrays the battle as an Iraqi victory. |
| Muslim | one who practices Islam |
| No-fly zones | The United States, Britain, and France unilaterally established two no-fly zones in Iraq. The Northern no-fly zone was established in April 1991 to protect the Kurds. The Southern no-fly zone was established in August 1992 to protect the Shiite rebels. |
| OPEC | Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. These oil-rich countries control a significant portion of the world's oil. Iraq is a member of OPEC. |
| Operation Desert Shield | Military build-up of Arab-Western coalition troops in Saudi Arabia in 1990 and early 1991. |
| Operation Desert Storm | Military operations that started on January 16, 1991, with a bombing campaign, followed by a ground invasion of February 23 and 24, 1991. The ground war lasted 100 hours and resulted in a spectacularly one-sided military victory for the Coalition. |
| Persians | Ethnic group that settled in what is now Iran. The Persians were rivals for control of Mesopotamia with the Greeks, and later the Arabs. |
| Republican Guard | Iraqi troops, recruited from the Sunni ruling elites who were personally loyal to Saddam Hussein. The Republican Guard is considered the elite fighting force in the Iraqi army. |
| Revolutionary Command Council | Otherwise called the RCC, the council is the real decision making authority in Iraq. The RCC consists of 8 to 10 members, and is directed by a chairman; it used to be Saddam Hussein. Interesting Fact: The chairman of the RC is also the president of Iraq, the supreme commander of the military, general secretary of the Ba'th Party, and the prime minister. |
| Saddam Hussein | Ba'thist leader of Iraq from 1979 to his arrest. Considered to be a descendent of Mohammad. |
| Sanctions | United Nation imposed set of restrictions on imports into Iraq. The sanctions were intended to limit Iraq's ability to re-arm, and develop weapons of mass destruction. The shortages of food and medicine caused by the sanctions has resulted in the death of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and became a PR (public relations) nightmare for the United States. The United States has pushed to redefine the broad sanctions to a more narrow, more strictly enforced "smart sanctions" that will focus only on military items. Redefining the focus allows the following: unlimited imports of food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies. |
| Saudi Arabia | Oil-rich kingdom bordering Iraq to the south. The Saudi ruling family is considered the protector and custodian of Mecca and Medina, the holiest sites in Islam. |
| SCUD | Soviet-made, medium-range ballistic missiles that Saddam Hussein launched at Israel and Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War. |
| Shiite | A Muslim sect - other than the Sunni. Roughly 5 percent of all Muslims worldwide. The Shiites make up 60 percent of Iraq's population and almost all of Iran's population. |
| Sunni | The vast majority (95 percent) of Muslims worldwide. In Iraq, the Sunni are the minority. |
| Terrorism | The practice of waging war on civilian populations by nonmilitary forces. |
| Tigris | One of the two main rivers in Mesopotamia (now modern Iraq). |
| Turkey | A Muslim country, bordering Iraq on the north. Turkey is a critical U.S. ally in the region. The people of Turkey are Muslim, but they are NOT Arab. Like Iraq and Iran, the Turks also have a Kurd minority within their borders. |
| UNMOVIC | The United Nations Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission that was created as a replacement to UNSCOM. The Iraqis have refused to allow UNMOVIC inspectors into the country. |
| UNSCOM | The United Nations Special Commission on Inspections, created at the end of the Persian Gulf War, to identify and destroy Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. |
| Weapons of Mass Destruction | Chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. These weapons are capable of destroying enormous numbers of people and vast areas, hence the name. Saddam Hussein has used weapons of mass destruction on the Iranian army during the Iran-Iraq War, and on the Kurds in 1988. |
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