Iraq invades Kuwait 1990
At about 2 a.m. local time, Iraqi forces invade Kuwait, Iraq’s
tiny, oil-rich neighbor. Kuwait’s defense forces were rapidly
overwhelmed, and those that were not destroyed retreated to Saudi
Arabia. The emir of Kuwait, his family, and other government leaders
fled to Saudi Arabia, and within hours Kuwait City had been captured and
the Iraqis had established a provincial government. By annexing Kuwait,
Iraq gained control of 20 percent of the world’s oil reserves and, for
the first time, a substantial coastline on the Persian Gulf. The same
day, the United Nations Security Council unanimously denounced the
invasion and demanded Iraq’s immediate withdrawal from Kuwait. On August
6, the Security Council imposed a worldwide ban on trade with Iraq.
On August 9, Operation Desert Shield, the American defense of Saudi
Arabia, began as U.S. forces raced to the Persian Gulf. Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein, meanwhile, built up his occupying army in Kuwait to
about 300,000 troops. On November 29, the U.N. Security Council passed a
resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq if it failed to
withdraw by January 15, 1991. Hussein refused to withdraw his forces
from Kuwait, which he had established as a province of Iraq, and some
700,000 allied troops, primarily American, gathered in the Middle East
to enforce the deadline.
At 4:30 p.m. EST on January 16, 1991, Operation Desert Storm, the
massive U.S.-led offensive against Iraq, began as the first fighter
aircraft were launched from Saudi Arabia and off U.S. and British
aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf. All evening, aircraft from the
U.S.-led military coalition pounded targets in and around Baghdad as the
world watched the events transpire on television footage transmitted
live via satellite from Iraq. Operation Desert Storm was conducted by an
international coalition under the supreme command of U.S. General
Norman Schwarzkopf and featured forces from 32 nations, including
Britain, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
During the next six weeks, the allied force engaged in an intensive
air war against Iraq’s military and civil infrastructure and encountered
little effective resistance from the Iraqi air force or air defenses.
Iraqi ground forces were helpless during this stage of the war, and
Hussein’s only significant retaliatory measure was the launching of SCUD
missile attacks against Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saddam hoped that the
missile attacks would provoke Israel to enter the conflict, thus
dissolving Arab support of the war. At the request of the United States,
however, Israel remained out of the war.
On February 24, a massive coalition ground offensive began, and
Iraq’s outdated and poorly supplied armed forces were rapidly
overwhelmed. By the end of the day, the Iraqi army had effectively
folded, 10,000 of its troops were held as prisoners, and a U.S. air base
had been established deep inside Iraq. After less than four days,
Kuwait was liberated, and the majority of Iraq’s armed forces had either
surrendered, retreated to Iraq, or been destroyed.
On February 28, U.S. President George Bush declared a cease-fire, and
on April 3 the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 687, specifying
conditions for a formal end to the conflict. According to the
resolution, Bush’s cease-fire would become official, some sanctions
would be lifted, but the ban on Iraqi oil sales would continue until
Iraq destroyed its weapons of mass destruction under U.N. supervision.
On April 6, Iraq accepted the resolution, and on April 11 the Security
Council declared it in effect. During the next decade, Saddam Hussein
frequently violated the terms of the peace agreement, prompting further
allied air strikes and continuing U.N. sanctions.
In the Persian Gulf War, 148 American soldiers were killed and 457
wounded. The other allied nations suffered about 100 deaths combined
during Operation Desert Storm. There are no official figures for the
number of Iraqi casualties, but it is believed that at least 25,000
soldiers were killed and more than 75,000 were wounded, making it one of
the most one-sided military conflicts in history. It is estimated that
100,000 Iraqi civilians died from wounds or from lack of adequate water,
food, and medical supplies directly attributable to the Persian Gulf
War. In the ensuing years, more than one million Iraqi civilians have
died as a result of the subsequent U.N. sanctions.
(More Events on This Day in History)
-
American Revolution
- 1776 Delegates sign Declaration of Independence
-
Automotive
- 1987 Michael Andretti races to fast finish at Marlboro 500
-
Civil War
- 1865 CSS Shenandoah learns the war is over
-
Cold War
- 1945 Potsdam Conference concludes
-
Crime
- 1942 Man murdered near L.A. reservoir
-
Disaster
- 1985 Sudden thunderstorm causes plane crash
-
General Interest
- 1923 Harding dies before scandals break
- 1934 Hitler becomes fuhrer
- 1939 Einstein urges U.S. atomic action
-
Hollywood
- 1939 Freddy Krueger creator Wes Craven born
-
Literary
- 1869 George Eliot begins Middlemarch
-
Music
- 1983 Legendary Motown bassist James Jamerson dies
-
Old West
- 1876 Wild Bill Hickok is murdered
-
Presidential
- 1943 Japanese forces attack PT boat with Kennedy on board
-
Sports
- 1992 Jackie Joyner-Kersee wins gold in heptathlon, again
-
Vietnam War
- 1964 North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack U.S. destroyer
- 1971 Nixon administration acknowledges secret army in Laos
-
World War I
- 1917 Mutiny breaks out on German battleship
-
World War II
- 1934 President of the Weimar Republic Hindenburg dies
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