Abstract

In August 1992 the George H.W. Bush administration-led ‘Permanent Three’ (P3) coalition of the United States, Britain, and France announced the creation of a no-fly zone over southern Iraq, south of the 32^nd parallel north. Operation Southern Watch (OSW), as the zone was called, prevented Iraqi aircraft from flying over the region in question, was justified on humanitarian grounds by President Bush and his coalition partners, and was a key moment in the emergence of the no-fly zone as a foreign policy tool. Yet while no-fly zones have gone on to become a frequently controversial presence in recent debates over U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, historians have yet to properly excavate their origins in Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War. Using extensive archival sources from both the United States and Britain, this article thus seeks to shed light on a key moment in the history of no-fly zones. It argues that ultimately the creation of OSW was not spurred by a humanitarian crisis, as the Bush administration claimed, but by the gradual erosion of George H.W. Bush’s “clean” Gulf War victory, and by his worsening political standing at home in the United States.

摘要

1992年8月，由乔治·H·W·布什（George HW Bush）政府领导的美国，英国和法国的“永久三人”（P3）联盟宣布在伊拉克南部第32^军以南建立禁飞区。平行北。被称为该地区的南方监视行动（OSW）阻止了伊拉克的飞机在上述地区上空飞行，这是布什总统及其盟友出于人道主义理由辩解的，这是禁飞行动出现的关键时刻区域作为外交政策工具。然而，尽管在最近有关美国对中东外交政策的辩论中，禁飞区变得经常引起争议，但历史学家尚未在1991年海湾战争后适当发掘其在伊拉克的起源。因此，本文使用来自美国和英国的大量档案资料，试图阐明禁飞区历史上的关键时刻。它辩称，布什政府声称，最终开放职业安全与卫生的产生并没有受到人道主义危机的刺激，