On 13 January 2022, the United Nations confirmed that Iraq completed the war reparation of $52.4 billion for the illegal invasion of Kuwait on August 2nd, 1990. This reparation was imposed on Iraq for the several months of occupation and annexing Kuwait that included human rights violations and environmental destruction. 

The United Nations Security Council created the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) that was responsible for determining compensations based on the direct losses and damages during the occupation of Kuwait by Iraq. The UNCC received about 2.7 million claims with a total value of $352.5 billion. Nineteen panels of commissioners reviewed and approved 1.5 million of the claims, asserting a value of $52.4 billion that was paid to governments, international organizations, companies, and individuals. The compensation was drawn from export sales of Iraqi petroleum. The largest claim was $14.7 billion by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) for the destruction of oil wells by the Iraqi army, requiring billions of dollars and time to deplete the fires, causing air pollution and environmental losses. 

Kuwait is a small land that borders Iraq and was an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. Gaining independence after WWI, disputes between Kuwait and Iraq remained, but the countries grew close allies during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Kuwait and other Arab nations were crucial financial and military supporters during the eight-year conflict and by the end, Iraq had accumulated more than $80 billion in debt. Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi ruler at the time, hoped and expected Kuwait and the Emirates to forgive the debt as he believed that he had protected the Arabian Peninsula. Saddam Hussein was instigated when the Gulf states did not agree and expected to be repaid and simultaneously, there were accusations that Kuwait had stolen oil from the Iraqi territory. This led to the invasion of Kuwait, and the violation of the United Nations Charter, which both Iraq and Kuwait were signatories to. 

The war was a geopolitical threat to the Western nations as the invasion of Kuwait meant Iraq owned more oil reserves and some worried that this expansionist action by Saddam Hussein would lead to an imbalanced power in the Arab world. To end the war, the United States played a key role through military and financial backing in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. As Iraq surrendered after several months of occupation, the Iraqi troops set fire to more than 700 Kuwaiti oil fields, causing some of the worst damage as oxygen levels depleted, deserts blackened with the fire, drowning and burning wildlife — in addition to all the atrocities waged upon the Kuwaiti people. 

While the UN’s actions and sanctions were appropriate and set a substantial precedent for future wars, Iraqi civilians bore the majority of the brunt of post-war consequences. Instead of becoming a strategic power, Iraq emerged far weaker and isolated from its neighbours. The involvement of the U.S. coupled with disinformation that amplified the threat Iraq posed to the West led to the 2003 invasion that lasted for 11 years and ongoing consequences. While Iraq paid the reparations mandated, the nation’s economy was crippled as it faced regional pressure, terrorist uprising, resulting in thousands dying and living in poverty. 

What started as an invasion by Iraq invertedly led to the invasion of Iraq and as the retired army general, Subhi Tawfiq, mentions, “Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait was a dreadful day for both Gulf countries, but it was definitely the beginning of the end for Iraq.” As the United Nations and other member states congratulate Iraq on completing the reparations, it is upon these same nations to hold the powerful countries accountable and pay the reparations for intervening and destroying nations such as Iraq. It is the responsibility of the U.N. and the countries to assist Iraq to rebuild so that its people can live and thrive, as the civilians were the victims of Saddam Hussein’s actions and the war waged on them by several countries along with the U.S.