Facing defeat in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered his retreating troops to intentionally spill oil from terminals and tankers of the Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti coasts. The result, 460 million gallons of oil spilled, was the worst oil spill in history. Iraqi troops also set fire to almost seven hundred oil wells. In the 2003 Iraq War, Iraqis again set fire to a number of oil wells. Today, various Arab governments are concerned that their facilities could be- come terrorist targets. So despite international agreements prohibiting environmental damage during armed conflict, deliberate oil spills and fires have become weapons imposing vast environmental damage and economic trauma.

One consequence of the 1991 oil spills and fires was an in- crease in the price of oil, which eventually led to a worldwide recession. Continuing political turmoil in the Middle East throughout the 1990s...