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Arab issues
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The Peninsula Shield Force[1][2] (or Peninsula Shield[1][2]) (Arabic: دِرْعُ الجَزيرَة) is the military side of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (aka the Gulf Cooperation Council or GCC). It is intended to deter, and respond to, military aggression against any of the GCC member countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
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In 1984 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) decided to create a joint military force of 10,000 soldiers divided into two brigades, called the Peninsula Shield Force, based in Saudi Arabia near the Kuwaiti and Iraqi borders.[1] The PSF is composed of infantry, armor, artillery, and combat support elements from each of the GCC countries. In 1992, the Peninsula Shield Force was headed by a Saudi Arabian, based near King Khalid Military City at Hafar al Batin, and had one infantry brigade of 5,000 men from all the GCC member states.[1] As of late 2006, the Peninsula Shield Force had 7,000 personnel and functioned as a joint intervention force to defend the joint border of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. In November 2006, the GCC Joint Defense Council considered a Saudi proposal to expand the capabilities of the Shield and to establish a joint command and control system.
In December 2007, Kuwait's National Security Council chief Shaikh Ahmed Fahad Al Ahmed Al Sabah announced that the GCC plans to create a replacement for the Peninsula Shield Force. He stated that "the GCC options would always be unified just as they were when leaders declared the establishment of a common market at the Doha Summit."[2]
As of March 2011[update], the Peninsula Shield Force is commanded by Major General Mutlaq Bin Salem al-Azima and has about 40,000 troops[3] and continues to have its permanent base at King Khalid Military City near Hafar al Batin.[3]
According to Peninsula Shield Force commander al-Azima, any intervention by the force must include participation from all GCC member states.[3]
Peninsula Shield Force did not react militarily to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, exposing the forces deficiencies.[4] It was deemed so ineffective during that build-up, that the General Khalid bin Sultan was forced to disband it and return its elements to their respective national units.[5]
The force was used in 2003 prior to the invasion of Iraq in late March.[3]
On 14 March 2011, Peninsula Shield forces, requested by the Bahraini government, entered Bahrain via the causeway from Saudi Arabia. Forces were from Saudia Arabia and the UAE. This was the first GCC deployment in relation to an internal threat.[6] In late March, Peninsula Shield Force commander al-Azima stated that the role of the force in Bahrain is to "secure Bahrain's vital and strategically important military infrastructure from any foreign interference" and to protect Bahraini borders while Bahrain security forces are "preoccupied with [Bahraini] internal security".[3] He denied that the force caused any Bahraini citizen to "suffer so much as a scratch", and said that the force entered Bahrain "to bring goodness, peace, and love".[3]
The 2011 Bahraini intervention involves about 10 percent of the Peninsula Shield Forces. Every military unit present in Bahrain includes soldiers from all six GCC member states.[3]
Frequent Saudi Arabian street protests in and near Qatif in mid to late March, originally calling for political prisoners to be released, extended to opposition to the Peninsula Shield Force's presence in Bahrain.[7][8][9][10]
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