Competence of the people before and after the warThe current civilization in most countries of the world has brought with it a number of challenges. The fact that most countries today operate as sovereign states implies that there will always be some cases where these countries strongly disagree on global issues affecting them (Abidi and Singh 12). Therefore, justified or not, there will always be wars and physical clashes between disagreeing sovereign states. When such wars occur, the affected countries usually turn their attention and resources to fighting the enemy in an effort to protect their sovereign pride. In doing so, they expose their citizens to post-war consequences that greatly affect their lives. This article presents a case study on how people's competence was affected by two major historical wars; the Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Gulf War (also known as the Persian Gulf War or Kuwait War) was a war involving military fighting between Iraq and US-led coalition forces United (Hutchinson 19). Dubbed Operation Desert Storm, the Gulf War lasted from August 2, 1990 to February 28, 1991. It was one of the deadliest wars of the decade, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians and 480 coalition forces. While the exact number of Iraqi casualties is unknown, it is estimated that nearly 35,000 Iraqi civilians lost their lives during the war. Likewise, according to the official report commissioned by the US Air Force, coalition forces killed over 12,000 Iraqi military personnel in air combat and another 10,000 in military engagements on the ground (Hutchinson 39). On the other hand, the Defense Alternatives study estimates… middle of the paper… traumatic brain injuries that completely changed their lives. Unable to carry on with their normal lives, they fell into depression and mood swings. Some soldiers were also reported to have developed chronic fatigue, sleep problems, and muscle and joint pain. The work cited Abidi, Azhar., and Singh, Raj. The Gulf crisis. New Delhi: Lancer Books, 1991. Print.Diamond, Michael. “What went wrong in Iraq?” Foreign Affairs 8.3 (2004): 34-56.Print.Hutchinson, Kevin. Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1995. Print.Kellner, Douglas. “Preemptive strikes and the war on Iraq: a critique of the unilateralism and militarism of the Bush administration.” New Political Science 26.3 (2004): 417-440.Print.Weiner, Robert. Live from Baghdad. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Print. Woodward, Burns. Bush at war. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002. Print.