8.2.1        Iraq as a Threat to International Security

(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)

Iraq was a potential threat to its neighbours, as it had demonstrated by its invasions of Iran and Kuwait (7.3.1), but the first Gulf War in 1991 had probably diminished its appetite for further adventures of that type.  It was not overtly threatening any other country in 2003.

Iraq was known to have had chemical weapons, which had been developed for use against Iran in the 1980s, and it was thought to have a programme for the development of nuclear weapons.[1]

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