General overview
Iraq leader Saddam Hussein invaded his oil rich southern neighbor Kuwait because of past tension and accusations that Kuwait was over-producing oil, disregarding OPEC, slant drilling into Iraq, and also because of a tremendous war debt owed to Kuwait. On August 2, 1990, Iraq pushed it's battle-hardened army into its southern neighbor's territory and within hours pushed through the weak Kuwait Defense Force and into Kuwait City to take control of the country. Iraq's Army quickly surrounded the country with troops to block outside intervention. The world responded imminently and demanded Saddam Hussein to withdraw all of his forces. The United States worked closely with Saudi Arabia, in fear that they might fall to Saddam if they were not aided properly. Saudi Arabia became open about the idea of foreign protection after satellite imagery of Iraqi divisions along the border were shown to their king, Fahd of Saudi Arabia. The UN Security passed 12 resolutions against Iraq which condemned the invasion of Kuwait , authorized an embargo, and declared that "all means necessary"("The War in the Gulf." American History) were allowed. A massive coalition was formed and U.S. Troops soon moved into Saudi Arabia, along with other forces, to secure the country from Iraqi aggression. First to occur was Desert Shield which sent troops to Saudi Arabia, second was an air campaign that focused to destroying Iraqi military installations and searching for and destroying SCUD Missiles,third was Desert Sabre in which a massive coalition consisting of 650,000 armed forces, varying from ground troops to fighter jets began offensive measures against Iraq. Starting with a series of tactical airstrikes to destroy Iraqi communications, command, and control centers, the campaign was very successful. Next, three massive thrust were made in which he sent the coalition units into Kuwait at first and then Iraq. The first two thrust were made into Kuwait after Schwarzkopf had managed to convince the Iraq Army that an invasion was coming from the sea. A few hours later, U.S. and British Forces rushed into Iraq, the British troops went towards Kuwait while the U.S.Troops went straight for Saddam's notorious Republican Guard, who put up very little fight. Iraq's Army crumbled after being under constant air attacks for many months and overwhelmed by the massive, well-equipped, coalition force. Within a hundred hours of the initial invasion Iraq had withdrawn after President Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28th 1991 and brought a close to Operation Desert Storm. During the Iraqi withdraw aggressive actions were taken to prevent the force from leaving Kuwait City, the air-force bombed 3 miles of highway for many hours using everything, from F-16's to B-52's. The highway became known as the Highway of Death because of the unclear amount of Iraqi Soldiers killed during their withdraw.“In the decade that followed the formal end of the Persian Gulf War, U.S. and British aircraft continued to patrol and enforce the no-fly zones set up by Iraq following the war. Frequently, Iraqi anti-air forces would turn on radar equipment and lock onto the aircraft, in apparent preparation for launching surface-to-air missiles. In dozens of separate incidents, the aircraft bombed and destroyed the ground installations when such threatening radar contact was detected.”(Persian Gulf War)
In depth overview
SADDAM HusseinBorn into a poor farm family and later on became a member of Iraq's Baath Party. He was imprisoned in 63' when his party lost political control and regained power in 68' and became president in 78'. He created new roles for himself such as prime minster and chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. He was known to use a massive network of secret police to protect his power. His goal was to make Iraq become the dominant country in the region and he did so by waging war with Iran through the 80's. The war ended in a stalemate and created large foreign debt, much of which from it's southern neighbor, Kuwait,
Iraq Invasion of KuwaitAugust 2, 1990, Iraq pushed it's battle-hardened army into its southern neighbor's territory. The force consisted of the "Republican Guard, Hammurabi and Medina Armor Divisions, and the Taklamakan Mechanized Division"("The War in the Gulf." American History) and was meet by very little resistance from Kuwaiti Defense Brigades. Iraqi troops quickly moved into the core of the country and sealed off the coast; by evening the country was under Iraqi control.
The Coalition members (Including non-military)The coalition consisted of countries from: "Afghanistan(rebels), Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kuwait, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. (Persian Gulf War)
They provided economic, political, and or military aid/contributions. Iraq's military forces locationsRepublican Guard:
Placed along the Iraq-Kuwait border as reserves in case of Coalition invasion. Iraqi Air force: Was grounded during war because of coalition air-superiority. Iraqi Army: Placed along Kuwait and Saudi border to create a wall between them and Saudi Arabia. Iraqi Navy: Did very little because it was out powered by the coalition forces Military Tatics“It was a traditional maneuvering military effort wrapped with modern technology. In one sense, the very rapid campaign could've been designed by a Caesar or a Napoleon. There were hundreds of thousands of soldiers, divided into three major divisions and three major prongs of invasion across an open desert land. Even a major traditional demonstration was made along the coast to simulate a false invasion. At the same time, modern technology really played the crucial difference. Saving a great many coalition lives and essentially what could've been a prolonged and bloodier war for at least the coalition turned out to be a very rapid 100-hour route of the world's fourth largest Army.”("Transcript: Technology and Warfare." American History.)
TechnologyGPS: Global Positioning System was utilized to aid in ground navigation; night maneuvering was not easier.
AWACS: A high-flying state of the art war plane used for in-air communication. It was used to coordinate flight paths and attacks of fighter planes and to identify enemy targets. The Pioneer: Unmanned Arial Vehicle or better known as a UAV; used to identify enemy positions during the war. Apache helicopter:Known as a 'workhorse', it was a fast moving ground-attack helicopter. Capable of firing laser-guided Hellfire anti-tank missiles that could penetrate the Armour of any Iraqi tank. Abrams tank: Tank that was armored with depleted uranium Armour which is twice the strength of steel and was capable of out outmaneuvering and firing any Iraqi tank. ("Transcript: Technology and Warfare." American History.) |
Why Kuwait?Iraq owed billions of dollars to Kuwait because of war debt caused by Iraq's war with Iran. Iraq wanted the debt to be forgiven because of their claim that they were fighting the war for self defense. They also claimed that Kuwait had been over producing oil and slant drilling, which means they were drilling at an angle into Iraq oil reserves(against the approval of OPEC). This mixed with other historical tensions with Iraq, dating back to their attempted invasion in the 60's that was blocked by Great Britain, lead to Iraq's invasion.
Worlds ResponseThe world responded imminently and demanded Saddam Hussein to withdraw all of his forces. The United States worked closely with Saudi Arabia, in fear that they might fall to Saddam if they were not aided properly. Saudi Arabia became open about the idea of foreign protection after satellite imagery of Iraqi divisions along the border were shown to their king, Fahd of Saudi Arabia. The UN Security passed 12 resolutions against Iraq which condemned the invasion of Kuwait , authorized an embargo, and declared that "all means necessary"("The War in the Gulf." American History) could be used and resulted in the formation of a coalition.
Desert ShieldFirst U.S. Military ground forces moved into Saudi Arabia, at first they lacked proper equipment to combat Iraqi forces. Next, a military coalition was created that consisted of forces from over thirty countries. U.S. Army General Schwarzkopf was put in charge of U.S. and British forces while the Saudi General, Khalid bin Sultan, was placed in charge of Saudi, Arab, French, and some other coalition forces. By late October there were enough coalition forces in Saudi Arabia to block an Iraqi invasion. soon an air campaign began to destroy Iraqi installations in Kuwait and Iraq.
Desert stormMassive coalition consisting of 650,000 armed forces, varying from ground troops to fighter jets began offensive measures against Iraq. Starting with a series of tactical airstrikes to destroy Iraqi communications, command, and control centers, the campaign was very successful. Next, three massive thrust were made in which he sent the coalition units into Kuwait at first and then Iraq. The first two thrust were made into Kuwait after Schwarzkopf had managed to convince the Iraq Army that an invasion was coming from the sea. A few hours later, U.S. and British Forces rushed into Iraq, the British troops went towards Kuwait while the U.S.Troops went straight for Saddam's notorious Republican Guard, who put up very little fight. Iraq's Army crumbled after being under constant air attacks for many months and overwhelmed by the massive, well-equipped, coalition force. Within a hundred hours of the initial invasion Iraq had withdrawn. Very few casualties were suffered by the coalition and over 80,000 Iraqi POWs were taken.
Iraqi Withdrawl“In two days, allied forces had surrounded the Iraqi troops. With no way out, tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers quickly surrendered. In addition to dealing with weeks of relentless air attacks, the Iraqi troops were hungry and tired. In many cases, they had been deserted by their commanding officers. Many Iraqi soldiers surrendered happily, knowing they would be given food and allowed to rest. With the surrender of the Iraqi forces, coalition troops were able to reclaim Kuwait’s capital city. Kuwaiti citizens, finally liberated from the Iraqi invaders, rejoiced at the arrival of allied troops.”(Murdico, Suzanne J. The Gulf War.)
During their withdraw many Iraqi Soldiers were killed trying to leave Kuwait City and were killed along the highway leaving the city by the coalition air-force. AftermathOn February 28, 1991, President Bush declared a cease-fire and brought to a close the Operation Desert Storm. Kuwait, a small nation in the south of Iraq, had been liberated, and Hussein's massive army was very rapidly fleeing back across the border and back to Baghdad. A couple of the positives that came out of it were that Kuwait was liberated and that the United States was able to use the United Nations to create coalition unity, particularly among Arab nations. ("Transcript: Aftermath." American History.)
“In the decade that followed the formal end of the Persian Gulf War, U.S. and British aircraft continued to patrol and enforce the no-fly zones set up by Iraq following the war. Frequently, Iraqi ground forces would turn on radar equipment and lock on the aircraft, in apparent preparation for launching surface-to-air missiles, In dozens of separate incident, the aircraft bombed and destroyed the ground installations when such threatening radar contact was detected.”(Persian Gulf War) |