Bowen: Trump has called for an Iran uprising but the lessons from Iraq in 1991 loom large

Bowen: Trump’s Call for an Iran Uprising Echoes Past Mistakes

Three decades after a pivotal moment in military history, the echoes of a past decision still resonate. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush delivered a speech that would haunt him for years, and now, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are making similar appeals to the people of Iran. The parallels are striking, yet the stakes remain high.

At the heart of the 1991 Gulf War was a speech at a Patriot missile factory in Massachusetts, a symbol of American technological prowess. The speech, given during the early stages of Operation Desert Storm, promised a new era of conflict resolution. Bush urged Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait, emphasizing that the Iraqi military and people could “take matters into their own hands” to end the war. The crowd of workers cheered, but the true test of this strategy was yet to come.

“There’s another way for the bloodshed to stop… and that is for the Iraqi military and the Iraqi people to take matters into their own hands and force Saddam Hussein, the dictator, to step aside…”

As the U.S. and its allies launched aerial attacks on Iraqi cities, the ground war loomed just days away. Meanwhile, in Baghdad, the author was documenting the unfolding conflict, witnessing the fallout of a bombing that claimed over 400 civilian lives in Amiriyah. The attack was initially labeled a command center by American and British forces, but the scene—children, women, and the elderly, with the shelter still smoldering—told a different story.

Though Bush’s speech was met with enthusiasm, its impact was profound. Following Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait, a ceasefire allowed Saddam to remain in power. The Shia population in the south and Kurds in the north, emboldened by the perceived U.S. endorsement, began revolting. Yet, the coalition forces hesitated, leaving the regime to retaliate with brutal force. Helicopters, spared from destruction, became tools of oppression, leading to thousands of deaths among the rebels.

At the time, the author was in the Kurdish north, where the cold and chaos of war had taken hold. Families brought the remains of their children, wrapped in blankets, from the mountain slopes, where exposure and disease had claimed lives. It wasn’t until months later that the U.S. and its allies launched a humanitarian mission to rescue the Kurds, a belated response to the suffering.

Meanwhile, the Shia rebels in the south faced a harsher fate. The consequences of that initial conflict rippled outward, setting the stage for future wars. The no-fly zones, permanent military bases, and the rise of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda were all linked to the aftermath of the Gulf War. In 2003, the second Bush administration removed Saddam Hussein, a move that Iran benefited from, but it also emboldened the Islamic Republic’s regional ambitions.

Today, the third Gulf War aims to roll back Iran’s growing influence. The bombing campaign is intended to cripple its military and nuclear capabilities, a concern Israel has highlighted. Yet, history warns that without direct support, the people of Iran may face a fate eerily similar to their 1991 counterparts. The question remains: will the lessons of the past be heeded, or will another uprising be left to fight alone?