The Gulf War was a war by the U.N coalition force led by the United States against Iraq from August 2nd, 1990 - February 28th, 1991. This was codenamed Operation Desert Storm by the United States Military and was waged in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.¹
Iraqi troops began invading Kuwait on August 2nd, 1990. They were immediately met with economic sanctions from the United Nation’s Security Council and United States forces in Saudi Arabia.¹
The tumultuous relationship between Iraq and the United States can find its roots with Iraq being an ally of the Soviet Union in the Cold War. This, along with many other associations Iraq had that the United States did not approve of, led to Iraq’s inclusion on the United States’ list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.¹
On November 29th, the United Nations set January 15th, 1991 as the deadline for peaceful withdrawal. When Saddam Hussein refused, Operation Desert Storm was launched on January 18th.¹
The great majority of the Coalition’s forces were from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Egypt.¹
The Coalition began with a massive air war to destroy Iraq’s military and civil infrastructure.¹ Iraq responded with Scud missiles launched to Israel and Saudi Arabia. On February 34th, the Coalition forces invaded Kuwait and Southern Iraq and defeated the Iraqis, liberating Kuwait. United States President George H. W. Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28th.¹
Even though this was an obvious victory for the coalition, Iraq and Kuwait suffered huge amounts of damage and their President Saddam Hussein was never removed from power.
This section of BrainMass also has questions and content regarding the Second Persian Gulf War.
Reference:
1. http://www.military.com/Resources/HistorySubmittedFileView?file=history_gulfwar.htm
© BrainMass Inc. brainmass.com April 25, 2024, 1:42 pm ad1c9bdddf