Why is the Gulf War referred to as "The 1st Gulf War?"

[Rockholm]

I was thinking about this after seeing Farenheit 9/11 Saturday night. So the "1st Gulf War" was in 1991-1992 (or whenever) but now when I hear the media mention it, I am now really wondering exactly whenis the 2nd Gulf War is supposed to start? Seems like this administration is angling for it right now.

[shoelace414]

1. January 2001

[Pillowbiter]

2. Well, technically...

there hasn't been an actual war declared under directiives of the constitution since WWII, so there was never a Gulf War I, it was "Operation Desert Storm".

PB

[hlthe2b]

3. "When is the 2nd Gulf War supposed to start?"

Misnomer, I guess, since Iraq is not a Persian Gulf Nation, but since the current Iraqi War is ultimately a bid to control the Persian Gulf oil flow (as well as directly control those oil fields in Iraq) and is essentially an extension of Bush I's Gulf War, referring to this current disaster as Gulf War II makes some sense, I guess.

[chookie]

4. The weirdest thing is...

The media called Poppy's war "The First Gulf War" at least from Jan 2001, if not in the months preceeding, obviously WAY in advance of even Sept 11 not to mention Chimp's actual war.

It was as though it was a "given" that Jr was going to invade Iraq.
No one in the media seemed to consider it strange that Popp's War was called "The First Gulf War."

Insiders have revealed that Iraq was on the agenda from Jan 2001. It was not hard to guess that it was Jr's plan along, given that his tutors in foreign policy as he prepared for the presidency (starting in 1998) were Wolfowitz and Perle.

Call it what you will -- perhaps a popular assumption, or a diffuse cultural assumption, or a psychological "softening" up of the American people via the media as regards the "inevitability of a Chimp war -- but the notion of a "Second Gulf War" was widespread in popular consciousness as soon as it was inevitable that Jr would seize the presidency.

[hatrack]

5. Odd - I always thought 1981-1988 as the "First Gulf War"

You know, the 500,000-odd dead of the Iran-Iraq War. That would make this Gulf War III - The Vengeance, I guess.