Special Publications

HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION: ASSISTING THE IRAQI KURDS IN OPERATION PROVIDE COMFORT, 1991

Gordon W. Rudd

Special Publications
CMH Pub 70-78-1, Paper
2004, 2006; 280 pages, chart, tables, maps, figures, illustrations, bibliography, abbreviations/acronyms, index

GPO S/N: 008-029-00395-3

Humanitarian Intervention is an operational study of the U.S.-led relief effort PROVIDE COMFORT, hastily organized in the spring of 1991 in response to the international outcry to stop the suffering and dying of the Iraqi Kurds who had been brutally suppressed in the aftermath of DESERT STORM and had fled across a mountainous border into Turkey. Gordon W. Rudd documents and describes this challenging operation involving joint and multinational forces. His study validates the capacity of military forces, well trained for war, not only to adapt quickly for humanitarian relief missions without specialized preparation but also to work alongside civilian relief agencies attempting to assist the refugees, requiring significant cooperation between the two groups. Today the potential of the new round of military-led peace operations to reduce turmoil and conflict-and, in effect, contribute to shaping the international environment-is significant, and soldiers now deployed in distant lands amidst unfamiliar people in the service of their nation will find Rudd's instructive perspective and record of the Army's experience invaluable.

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