From late August to early December 1990, Iraq held hundreds of Western and Japanese civilians at strategic sites as “human shields” against the Gulf War coalition. While there is a consensus that these foreign nationals would have influenced the coalition’s offensive had they not been released before the onset of hostilities, their impact remains poorly understood. This note draws on newly available archival records, among other sources, to throw new light on this old question. The record shows that leaders were reconciled with the prospect of hostage casualties and the expected political fallout. Military necessity and limited intelligence about the hostages’ whereabouts precluded avoiding every shielded target. At the same time, public opinion was divided on the hostage problem, especially in the United States. In response, leaders planned to take special precautionary measures and mount a rescue operation in Kuwait City. These measures, overall, appeared to exceed those employed for other targets, and exposed coalition forces to additional risks. US decision-makers may also have been motivated by the belief that proceeding undeterred could discourage others from resorting to the same stratagem in the future. The findings advance research on the Gulf War and the problem of human shields in war.

中文翻译：

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人体盾牌和海湾战争

1990年8月下旬至12月初，伊拉克在战略要地扣押了数百名西方和日本平民，作为对抗海湾战争联军的“人肉盾牌”。尽管人们一致认为，如果这些外国人在敌对行动爆发之前没有被释放，他们将会影响联军的攻势，但他们的影响仍然知之甚少。本说明利用了新近获得的档案记录以及其他来源，为这个老问题提供了新的线索。记录显示，领导人对人质伤亡的前景和预期的政治后果表示满意。出于军事需要，加上有关人质行踪的情报有限，无法避开每一个受保护的目标。与此同时，公众对人质问题的看法存在分歧，尤其是在美国。作为回应，领导人计划采取特别预防措施，并在科威特城开展救援行动。总体而言，这些措施似乎超过了针对其他目标所采取的措施，并使联军面临额外的风险。美国决策者的动机也可能是这样一种信念：不畏惧地继续前进可能会阻止其他国家在未来采取同样的策略。这些发现推进了对海湾战争和战争中人体盾牌问题的研究。