View source for Gulf War

{{Short description|1990–1991 conflict in the Middle East}}
{{About|the conflict against Iraq in 1990–1991|other conflicts with the same name|Gulf War (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect-multi|2|Desert Storm|Umm al-Ma'arik}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{very long|date=September 2025|words=18,000}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Gulf War
| image             = {{Multiple image
| perrow  = 1/2/2
| total_width = 300
| border=infobox
| image1= 
USAF F-16A F-15C F-15E Desert Storm edit2.jpg
| image2= Tank in Desert Storm.JPEG
| image3= British_gulf_war_(cropped).jpg
| image4= Demolished vehicles line Highway 80 on 18 Apr 1991.jpg
| image6= Gulf war target cam.jpg
| footer_align = 
| footer = 
}} '''From top to bottom, left to right''':{{flatlist|
* U.S. Air Force [[McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle|F-15Es]], [[General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16s]], and an [[McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle|F-15C]] flying over [[Kuwaiti oil fires|burning Kuwaiti oil wells]]
* a U.S. Army [[M1 Abrams]] laying down a smokescreen
* British troops from the [[Staffordshire Regiment]] practicing casualty evacuation
* wrecked and abandoned vehicles on the [[Highway of Death]]
* camera view from a [[Lockheed AC-130]]
}}
| date              = [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait|2 August 1990]]{{snd}}[[Gulf War air campaign|17 January 1991]]<br/>(''Operation Desert Shield'')<br/>[[Gulf War air campaign|17 January]]{{snd}}[[Liberation of Kuwait|28 February 1991]]<br/>(''Operation Desert Storm'')<br/>({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=08|day1=02|year=1990|month2=02|day2=28|year2=1991}})
| place             = {{flatlist|
* [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]]
* [[Kuwait]]
* [[Saudi Arabia]]
* [[Persian Gulf]]
* [[Israel]]
* [[Arabian Peninsula]]
* [[Middle East]]
}}
| result            = [[Coalition of Gulf War|Coalition]] victory
| territory         = * Complete collapse of the [[Republic of Kuwait]] and the [[Kuwait Governorate]]
* Loss of Iraqi ''de facto'' control of Kuwait
* [[Kuwaiti Government in exile]] resumes self-governance over all Kuwaiti sovereign territory as the [[Kuwait|State of Kuwait]]
* Establishment of a [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 689|demilitarized zone]] and construction of a [[border barrier|separation barrier]] along the [[Iraq–Kuwait border]]
| combatant1        = {{plainlist|
* {{Flag|United States}}
* {{nowrap|{{Flag|United Kingdom}}}}
* {{Flag|France|1974}}
* {{Flag|Saudi Arabia}}
* {{Flag|Egypt}}
* {{Flagdeco|Kuwait}} [[Kuwaiti Government in exile|Exiled State of Kuwait]]
}}<!-- COUNTRIES THAT DID NOT DEPLOY ANY MILITARY UNITS SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED. --><!-- DO NOT ADD ISRAEL. --><!-- DESCENDING SORTED BY THE NUMBER OF MILITARY PERSONNEL OF EACH COUNTRY Source are references listed in the "Coalition of the Gulf War" article in Wikipedia-->
----
{{Collapsible list
| title = {{flagicon|UN}} [[Coalition of the Gulf War|Coalition]]{{nobold|:}}
| {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Afghan interim government-in-exile (1988–1992).svg}} [[Afghan mujahideen|Afghan Interim Government In Exile]]<ref name="Refugees">{{Cite web |author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |title=Refworld {{!}} Afghanistan: The Forgotten War: Human Rights Abuses and Violations of the Laws of War Since the Soviet Withdrawal |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/45c9a5d12.html |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Refworld }}</ref><ref name="apps.dtic.mil">{{cite web |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a234743.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412060905/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a234743.pdf |archive-date=12 April 2019 |website=apps.dtic.mil |access-date=2018-12-18 |title=Desert Shield And Desert Storm: A Chronology And Troop List for the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf Crisis}}</ref>
| {{Flag|Argentina}}
| {{Flag|Australia}}
| {{Flag|Bahrain}}
| {{Flag|Bangladesh}}
| {{Flag|Belgium}}
| {{Flag|Canada}}
| {{Flagdeco|Czechoslovakia}} [[Czech and Slovak Federative Republic|Czechoslovakia]]
| {{Flag|Denmark}}
| {{Flag|Germany}}
| {{Flag|Greece}}
| {{Flag|Honduras|1949}}
| {{Flag|Hungary}}
| {{Flag|Italy}}
| {{Flag|Japan|1947}}
| {{Flag|Luxembourg}}
| {{Flag|Morocco}}
| {{Flag|Netherlands}}
| {{Flag|New Zealand}}
| {{Flag|Niger}}
| {{Flag|Norway}}
| {{Flag|Oman|1970}}
| {{Flag|Pakistan}}
| {{Flag|Philippines|1936}}
| {{Flag|Poland}}
| {{Flag|Portugal}}
| {{Flag|Qatar}}
| {{Flag|Romania}}
| {{Flag|Senegal}}
| {{Flag|Sierra Leone}}
| {{Flag|Singapore}}
| {{Flag|South Korea|1984}}
| {{Flag|Spain}}
| {{Flag|Sweden}}
| {{Flag|Syria|1980}}
| {{Flag|Turkey}}
| {{nowrap|{{Flag|United Arab Emirates}}}}}}
| combatant2        = {{Flagcountry|Iraq|1991}}<br>{{Flagdeco|Kuwait}} [[Republic of Kuwait]]<br>{{Flagdeco|Ba'athist Iraq}} [[Kuwaiti Governorate]]
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagdeco|United States}} [[George H. W. Bush]]
* {{flagdeco|United States}} [[Dick Cheney]]
* {{flagdeco|United States}} [[Colin Powell]]
* {{flagdeco|United States}} [[Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.|Norman Schwarzkopf]]
* {{flagdeco|United States}} [[Chuck Horner]]
* {{flagdeco|United States}} [[John J. Yeosock]]
* {{flagdeco|United States}} [[Walter E. Boomer]]
* {{flagdeco|United States}} [[Stanley R. Arthur]]
* {{flagdeco|United Kingdom}} [[Margaret Thatcher]]
* {{flagdeco|United Kingdom}} [[John Major]]
* {{flagdeco|France|1974}} [[François Mitterrand]]
* {{flagdeco|Saudi Arabia}} [[Fahd of Saudi Arabia|King Fahd]]
* {{flagdeco|Saudi Arabia}} [[Khalid bin Sultan Al Saud|Khalid bin Sultan]]<ref>''Persian Gulf War, the Sandhurst-trained Prince<br/>Khaled bin Sultan al-Saud was co-commander with General Norman Schwarzkopf'' [http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2002/msg01184.html www.casi.org.uk/discuss] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195039/http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2002/msg01184.html |date=3 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>''General Khaled was Co-Commander, with US General Norman Schwarzkopf, of the allied coalition that liberated Kuwait'' [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FEATURE+Gulf+War+commander+signs+publishing+agreement+with...-a016226901 www.thefreelibrary.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430043714/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FEATURE+Gulf+War+commander+signs+publishing+agreement+with...-a016226901 |date=30 April 2011 }}</ref>
* {{flagdeco|Egypt}} [[Hosni Mubarak]]
* {{flagdeco|Kuwait}} [[Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah|Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad]]
}}
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagdeco|Iraq|1991}} [[Saddam Hussein]]
* {{flagdeco|Iraq|1991}} [[Tariq Aziz]]
* {{flagdeco|Iraq|1991}} [[Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri]]
* {{flagdeco|Iraq|1991}} [[Iyad Futayyih]]
* {{flagdeco|Iraq|1991}} [[Hussein Kamel al-Majid]]
* {{flagdeco|Iraq|1991}} [[Abid Hamid Mahmud]]
* {{flagdeco|Iraq|1991}} [[Muzahim Saab Hassan]]
* {{flagdeco|Iraq|1991}} [[Salah Aboud Mahmoud]]
* {{flagdeco|Kuwait|}} [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]]
* {{flagdeco|Kuwait|}} [[Alaa Hussein Ali]]
}}
| strength1         = Over 950,000 soldiers<br />3,113 tanks<br />1,800 aircraft<br />2,200 artillery systems
| strength2         = 1,000,000+ soldiers (~600,000 in Kuwait)<br />5,500 tanks<br />700+ aircraft<br />3,000 artillery systems<ref name="Knights-2005">{{cite book |author=Knights, Michael |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FDJmjUUR9CUC&pg=PA20 20] |title=Cradle of Conflict: Iraq and the Birth of Modern U.S. Military Power |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-59114-444-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/cradleofconflict00knig/page/20 }}</ref>
| casualties1       = '''Total:<br />13,488'''<hr>
'''Coalition:'''<br/>292 killed (147 killed by enemy action, 145 non-hostile deaths)<br/>776 wounded<ref name="ca.encarta.msn.com">{{cite web|title=Persian Gulf War |publisher=MSN Encarta |url=http://ca.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761551555_2/Arabian_Gulf_War.html |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5kwqMXGNZ?url=http://ca.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761551555_2/Persian_Gulf_War.html |archive-date=1 November 2009 }}</ref> (467 wounded in action)<br/>31 tanks destroyed/disabled<ref>18 M1 Abrams, 11 M60, 2 AMX-30</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.checkpoint-online.ch/CheckPoint/Histoire/His0010-CombatTawakalna.html|title=Guerre du Golfe: le dernier combat de la division Tawakalna|first=Ludovic Monnerat |last=CheckPoint}}</ref><ref>Scales, Brig. Gen. Robert H.: ''Certain Victory''. Brassey's, 1994, p. 279.</ref><ref>Halberstadt 1991. p. 35</ref><br/><ref>Atkinson, Rick. ''Crusade, The untold story of the Persian Gulf War''. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993. pp. 332–3</ref><ref>Captain Todd A. Buchs, B. Co. Commander, ''Knights in the Desert''. Publisher/Editor Unknown. p. 111.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tanks.net/tank-history/tanks-during-the-first-gulf-war.html|title=Tanks During the First Gulf War{{snd}}Tank History|first=Marcia|last=Malory|access-date=5 July 2016|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220002/http://www.tanks.net/tank-history/tanks-during-the-first-gulf-war.html}}</ref><ref>M60 vs T-62 Cold War Combatants 1956–92 by Lon Nordeen & David Isby</ref><br/>28 Bradley IFVs destroyed/damaged<br/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabh.htm|title=TAB H{{snd}}Friendly-fire Incidents|access-date=5 July 2016|archive-date=1 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601053948/http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabh.htm}}</ref><ref>[http://www.gao.gov/products/NSIAD-92-94 NSIAD-92-94, "Operation Desert Storm: Early Performance Assessment of Bradley and Abrams".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221225558/http://www.gao.gov/products/NSIAD-92-94 |date=21 February 2014 }} US General Accounting Office, 10 January 1992. Quote: "According to information provided by the Army's Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, 20 Bradleys were destroyed during the Gulf war. Another 12 Bradleys were damaged, but four of these were quickly repaired. Friendly fire accounted for 17 of the destroyed Bradleys and three of the damaged ones</ref><br/>1 M113 APC destroyed<br/>2 British Warrior APCs destroyed<br/>1 artillery piece destroyed<br/>75 aircraft destroyed{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}<br/>'''Kuwait:'''<br/>420 killed<br/>
12,000 captured<br/>
≈200 tanks destroyed/captured<br/>
850+ other armored vehicles destroyed/captured<br/>
57 aircraft lost<br/>
8 aircraft captured (Mirage F1s)<br/>
17 ships sunk, 6 captured<ref name="airCombatInformationGroup"/>
| casualties2       = '''Total:<br />175,000–300,000+'''<hr>
'''Iraqi:'''<br/>20,000–50,000 killed{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=455}}<ref name=appendix>{{cite web|title=Appendix – Iraqi Death Toll {{!}} The Gulf War {{!}} FRONTLINE |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/appendix/death.html|access-date=2021-07-24|website=www.pbs.org}}</ref><br/>75,000+ wounded<ref name="ca.encarta.msn.com"/> <!-- The source means "casualties" as killed, comparing these new estimates with the old ones of 10,000–100,000 killed; for all losses it uses "losses". --><br/>80,000–175,000 captured{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=455}}<ref name="google1990">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oNSwBAAAQBAJ&dq=gulf+war+175%2C000+pows&pg=PT204 |title=The Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm 1990–1991 |isbn=978-1-4738-3730-0 |access-date=22 April 2022 |archive-date=5 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205102940/https://books.google.it/books?id=oNSwBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT204&lpg=PT204&dq=gulf+war+175,000+pows&source=bl&ots=b459KDbkKn&sig=ACfU3U3WjDztYFB8TFHeon0hnUwpxAkJIA&hl=it&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi1nP7Myqj3AhXeR_EDHSOHA00Q6AF6BAgFEAM#v=onepage&q=gulf%20war%20175%2C000%20pows&f=false |url-status=live |last1=Tucker-Jones |first1=Anthony |date=31 May 2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword }}</ref><ref name="google1991">{{Cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1991/IRAQ391.htm |title=Human Rights Watch |access-date=22 April 2022 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422211557/https://www.hrw.org/reports/1991/IRAQ391.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><br/>3,300 tanks destroyed{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=455}}<br/>2,100 APCs destroyed{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=455}}<br/>2,200 artillery pieces destroyed{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=455}}<br/>110 aircraft destroyed{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}<br/>137 aircraft flown to Iran to escape destruction<ref>{{Cite web |title=Appendix A: Chronology – February 1991 |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/us-navy-in-desert-shield-desert-storm/february-1991.html |access-date=2024-02-04 |website=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=10 August 2007 |title=Iraq air force wants Iran to give back its planes |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSCOL544157/ |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><br/>19 ships sunk, 6 damaged{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
| casualties3       = '''Kuwaiti civilian losses:'''<br/>Over 1,000 killed<ref name=useofterrorkuwait>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050124091425/http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/3.html |archive-date=24 January 2005|url=http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/3.html |title=The Use of Terror during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait|access-date=22 June 2010 |publisher=The Jewish Agency for Israel}}</ref><br/>600 [[missing people]]<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Red Cross |title=Kuwait: missing people: a step in the right direction |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jmjf.htm |access-date=5 March 2014 |archive-date=7 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307210107/https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jmjf.htm }}</ref><br/>'''Iraqi civilian losses:'''<br/>3,664 killed directly<ref name=Wagesofwar>{{cite web |url=http://www.comw.org/pda/0310rm8ap2.html#1.%20Iraqi%20civilian%20fatalities%20in%20the%201991%20Gulf |title=The Wages of War: Iraqi Combatant and Noncombatant Fatalities in the 2003 Conflict|access-date=9 May 2009 |publisher=Project on Defense Alternatives}}</ref><br/>'''Total Iraqi losses (including [[1991 Iraqi uprisings]]):'''<br/>142,500–206,000 deaths (according to [[Medact]]){{Efn|Including 100–120,000 military deaths, 3–15,000 civilian deaths during the war, 4–6,000 civilian deaths up to April 1991, and 35–65,000 civilian deaths from the [[1991 Iraqi uprisings|Iraqi uprisings]] after the end of the Gulf War.}}<ref name="Collateral damage" /><br/>'''Other civilian losses:'''<br/>75 killed in [[Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel|Israel]] and Saudi Arabia, 309 injured
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Persian Gulf Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Gulf War}}
| partof            = the [[Arab Cold War]]
}}
{{Ba'athism sidebar}}
{{Saddam Hussein series}}
{{George H. W. Bush series}}

<section begin="lede" />The '''Gulf War''' was an armed conflict between [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] and a [[Coalition of the Gulf War|42-country coalition]] led by the [[United States]]. The coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: '''Operation Desert Shield''', which marked the military buildup from August 1990 to January 1991; and '''Operation Desert Storm''', which began with the [[Gulf War air campaign|aerial bombing campaign against Iraq]] on 17 January 1991 and came to a close with the American-led [[Liberation of Kuwait campaign|liberation of Kuwait]] on 28 February 1991.

On 2 August 1990, Iraq, governed by [[Saddam Hussein]], [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait|invaded]] neighboring [[State of Kuwait|Kuwait]] and fully occupied the country within two days. The invasion was primarily over disputes regarding Kuwait's alleged [[Directional drilling|slant drilling]] in Iraq's [[Rumaila oil field]], as well as to cancel Iraq's large debt to Kuwait from the recently ended [[Iran–Iraq War]]. After Iraq briefly occupied Kuwait under a rump puppet government known as the [[Republic of Kuwait]], it split Kuwait's sovereign territory into the [[Saddamiyat al-Mitla' District]] in the north, which was absorbed into Iraq's existing [[Basra Governorate]], and the [[Kuwait Governorate]] in the south, which became Iraq's 19th governorate.  

The invasion of Kuwait was met with immediate international condemnation, including the adoption of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 660|UN Security Council Resolution 660]], which demanded Iraq's immediate withdrawal from Kuwait, and the imposition of comprehensive [[international sanctions against Iraq]] with the adoption of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 661|UN Security Council Resolution 661]]. British prime minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] and US president [[George H. W. Bush]] deployed troops and equipment into [[Saudi Arabia]] and urged other countries to send their own forces. Many countries joined the American-led coalition forming the largest military alliance since [[World War II]]. The bulk of the coalition's military power was from the United States, with Saudi Arabia, the [[United Kingdom]], and [[Egypt]] as the largest lead-up contributors, in that order. 

[[United Nations Security Council Resolution 678]], adopted on 29 November 1990, gave Iraq an ultimatum, expiring on 15 January 1991, to implement Resolution 660 and withdraw from Kuwait, with member-states empowered to use "all necessary means" to force Iraq's compliance. Initial efforts to dislodge the Iraqis from Kuwait began with aerial and naval bombardment of Iraq on 17 January, which continued for five weeks. As the Iraqi military struggled against the coalition attacks, [[1991 Iraqi missile attacks against Israel|Iraq fired missiles at Israel]] to provoke an Israeli military response, with the expectation that such a response would lead to the withdrawal of several Muslim-majority countries from the coalition. The provocation was unsuccessful; Israel did not retaliate and Iraq continued to remain at odds with most Muslim-majority countries. [[Iraqi ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia|Iraqi missile barrages against coalition targets in Saudi Arabia]] were also largely unsuccessful, and on 24 February 1991, the coalition launched a major ground assault into Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. The offensive was a decisive victory for the coalition, who liberated Kuwait and promptly began to advance past the [[Iraq–Kuwait border]] into Iraqi territory. A hundred hours after the beginning of the ground campaign, the coalition ceased its advance into Iraq and declared a ceasefire. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and areas straddling the [[Iraq–Saudi Arabia border]].

The conflict marked the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the American network [[CNN]]. It has also earned the nickname ''Video Game War'', after the daily broadcast of images from cameras onboard American military aircraft during Operation Desert Storm. The Gulf War has also gained fame for some of the largest tank battles in [[Military history of the United States|American military history]]: the [[Battle of Medina Ridge]], the [[Battle of Norfolk]], and the [[Battle of 73 Easting]].

The conflict's environmental impact included Iraqi forces [[Kuwaiti oil fires|causing over six hundred oil well fires]] and the [[Gulf War oil spill|largest oil spill in history until that point]]. US bombing and post-war demolition of [[Iraqi chemical weapons program|Iraqi chemical weapons facilities]] were concluded to be the primary cause of [[Gulf War syndrome]], experienced by over 40% of US veterans.<ref name="g581">{{cite journal |last1=Cruz-Hernandez |first1=Angela |last2=Roney |first2=Andrew |last3=Goswami |first3=Dinesh G. |last4=Tewari-Singh |first4=Neera |last5=Brown |first5=Jared M. |date=2022-11-17 |title=A review of chemical warfare agents linked to respiratory and neurological effects experienced in Gulf War Illness |journal=Inhalation Toxicology |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=34 |issue=13–14 |pages=412–432 |doi=10.1080/08958378.2022.2147257 |pmid=36394251 |issn=0895-8378 |doi-access=free|pmc=9832991 |bibcode=2022InhTx..34..412C }}</ref><section end="lede" />
{{TOC limit|3}}

==Names==
The war is also known under other names, such as the '''Second Gulf War''' (not to be confused with the 2003 [[Iraq War]], also referred to as such<ref>{{Cite web |title=Research: Second Gulf War |url=https://veteranmuseum.net/research-second-gulf-war/ |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=Veterans Museum at Balboa Park |language=en-US}}</ref>), '''Persian Gulf War''', '''Kuwait War''', or '''Iraq War'''<ref name=FrontlineCron>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/cron/ |title=Frontline Chronology |access-date=20 March 2007|publisher=Public Broadcasting Service}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |work=CNN |date=16 January 2001 |title=Tenth anniversary of the Gulf War: A look back |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/01/16/gulf.anniversary/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022115600/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/01/16/gulf.anniversary/index.html |archive-date=2007-10-22 |access-date=6 June 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cfr.org">{{cite web |author=Kenneth Estes |url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/13865/isn.html |title=ISN: The Second Gulf War (1990–1991){{snd}}Council on Foreign Relations |publisher=Cfr.org |access-date=18 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102171502/http://www.cfr.org/publication/13865/isn.html |archive-date=2 January 2011 }}</ref><ref group=lower-alpha name=numbering/> before the term "Iraq War" became identified with the 2003 Iraq War (also known in the US as "[[Operation Iraqi Freedom]]").<ref>[http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL34387.pdf Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategies, Approaches, Results, and Issues for Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205184417/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL34387.pdf |date=5 December 2017 }}. (PDF). Retrieved on 2014-05-24.</ref> The war was named {{Transliteration|ar|Umm al-Ma'arik}} ("mother of all battles") by Iraqi officials.<ref>{{cite web |date=5 November 1991 |title=A 1991 Dossier on the Role of the Iraqi Air Force in the Gulf War |url=https://conflictrecords.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/sh-aadf-d-000-396_tf.pdf |id=SH-AADF-D-000-396}}</ref> After the [[US invasion of Iraq]] in 2003, the Gulf War of 1990–1991 is often known as the "'''First Iraq War'''".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stoker |first=Donald |title=Purpose and Power |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-009-25727-5 |location=Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8EA, UK |pages=537–559 |chapter=16: The Gulf War, or First Iraq War, 1990-1991 |lccn=2022040999}}</ref>

The following names have been used to describe the conflict itself:
''Gulf War'' and ''Persian Gulf War'' are the most common terms for the conflict used within [[Western world|western countries]], though it may also be called the ''First Gulf War'' (to distinguish it from the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] and the subsequent Iraq War). Some authors have called it the ''Second Gulf War'' to distinguish it from the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref>''Iraq and the Second Gulf War: State Building and Regime Security'', Mohammad-Mahmoud Mohamedou, 1997</ref> ''[[Liberation of Kuwait campaign|Liberation of Kuwait]]'' ({{langx|ar|تحرير الكويت}}) (''taḥrīr al-kuwayt'') is the term used by Kuwait and most of the coalition's Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the [[United Arab Emirates]]. Terms in other languages include {{langx|fr|la Guerre du Golfe}} and {{lang|fr|Guerre du Koweït}} (''War of Kuwait''); {{langx|de|Golfkrieg}} (''Gulf War'') and {{lang|de|Zweiter Golfkrieg}} (''Second Gulf War'').<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/event/Persian-Gulf-War Persian Gulf War جنگ خلیج فارس] Retrieved 19 July 2025</ref>

===Operational names===
Most of the coalition states used various names for their operations and the war's operational phases. These are sometimes incorrectly used as the conflict's overall name, especially the US ''Desert Storm'':
* ''Operation Desert Shield'' was the US operational name for the US buildup of forces and Saudi Arabia's defense from 2 August 1990 to 16 January 1991<ref>{{cite web |title=The Gulf War 1990-1991 (Operation Desert Shield/ Desert Storm) |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/art/exhibits/conflicts-and-operations/the-gulf-war-1990-1991--operation-desert-shield--desert-storm-.html |website=www.history.navy.mil |access-date=21 July 2025}}</ref>
* ''Operation Desert Storm'' was the US name of the [[AirLand Battle|airland conflict]] from 17 January 1991 through 28 February 1991<ref>{{cite web|title=Operation DESERT STORM|website=U.S. Army Center of Military History|url=https://www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/desert-storm/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113180117/https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/desert-storm/index.html|archive-date=13 January 2021|access-date=20 November 2024}}</ref>
** ''Operation Desert Sabre'' (early name ''Operation Desert Sword'') was the US name for the air and land offensive against the Iraqi Army in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations (the "100-hour war") from 24 to 28 February 1991, in itself, part of ''Operation Desert Storm''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ferguson |first1=John |title=20 years ago today: We look back at Operation Desert Sabre which marked the beginning of the end for Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/20-years-ago-today-we-look-1095779 |work=Daily Record |date=23 February 2011 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Operation Desert Farewell]] was the name given to the return of US units and equipment to the US in 1991 after Kuwait's liberation, sometimes referred to as ''Operation Desert Calm''
* [[Operativo Alfil]] was the Argentine name for Argentine military activities
* [[Opération Daguet]] was the French name for French military activities in the conflict
* [[Operation Friction]] was the name of the Canadian operations<ref>{{Cite web |last=Defence |first=National |date=2018-12-11 |title=Gulf War – FRICTION |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/past-operations/middle-east/friction.html |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=www.canada.ca}}</ref>
* [[Operation Granby]] was the British name for British military activities during the operations and conflict<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gulf War – Op Granby {{!}} Royal Signals Museum |url=https://www.royalsignalsmuseum.co.uk/gulf-war-op-granby/ |access-date=2023-11-21 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* [[Operazione Locusta]] (Italian for [[Locust]]) was the Italian name for the operations and conflict

===Campaign names===
The US divided the conflict into three major campaigns:
* ''Defense of Saudi Arabian country'' for the period 2 August 1990, through 16 January 1991{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}
* ''Liberation and Defense of Kuwait'' for the period 17 January 1991, through 11 April 1991{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}
* ''Southwest Asia Cease-Fire'' for the period 12 April 1991, through 30 November 1995, including [[Operation Provide Comfort]]{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

==Background==
{{See also|Rationale for the Gulf War|Iraq–Kuwait relations|Iraq–United States relations}}

Throughout the [[Cold War]], Iraq had been an ally of the [[Soviet Union]], and there was a history of friction between Iraq and the United States.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Elaine Sciolino|last=Sciolino|first=Elaine|title=The Outlaw State: Saddam Hussein's Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Sons]]|year=1991|isbn=978-0-471-54299-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/outlawstate00elai/page/160 160]}}</ref> The US was concerned with Iraq's position on Israeli–[[Palestinians|Palestinian]] politics. The US also disliked Iraqi support for [[Palestinian fedayeen|Palestinian militant]] groups, which led to Iraq's inclusion on the developing US list of [[State Sponsors of Terrorism (U.S. list)|State Sponsors of Terrorism]] in December 1979.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Elaine Sciolino|last=Sciolino|first=Elaine|title=The Outlaw State: Saddam Hussein's Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Sons]]|year=1991|isbn=978-0-471-54299-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/outlawstate00elai/page/161 161]-[https://archive.org/details/outlawstate00elai/page/162 162]}}</ref>

[[File:Saddam rumsfeld.jpg|thumb|left|[[Donald Rumsfeld]], US special envoy to the Middle East, meets [[Saddam Hussein]] on 19–20 December 1983.]]
The US remained officially neutral after Iraq's invasion of Iran in 1980, which became the Iran–Iraq War, although it provided resources, political support, and some "non-military" aircraft to Iraq.<ref name="stork">{{cite journal |title=Background to the Crisis: Why War? |first1=Joe |last1=Stork|first2=Ann M. |last2=Lesch |journal=Middle East Report |issue=167, November–December 1990 |pages=11–18 |publisher=Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP)|jstor=3012998|year=1990 |doi=10.2307/3012998 | issn = 0899-2851 }} {{subscription required}}</ref> In March 1982, Iran began a successful [[counteroffensive]] ([[Operation Undeniable Victory]]), and the US [[United States support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war|increased its support for Iraq]] to prevent Iran from forcing a surrender. In a US bid to open full diplomatic relations with Iraq, the country was removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Elaine Sciolino|last=Sciolino|first=Elaine|title=The Outlaw State: Saddam Hussein's Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Sons]]|year=1991 |isbn=978-0-471-54299-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/outlawstate00elai/page/163 163]}}</ref> Ostensibly, this was because of improvement in the regime's record, although former US Assistant Defense Secretary Noel Koch later stated: "No one had any doubts about [the Iraqis'] continued involvement in [[State-sponsored terrorism|terrorism]]&nbsp;... The real reason was to help them succeed in the war against Iran."<ref name="Borer">{{cite web |url=http://www.army.mil/professionalWriting/volumes/volume1/july_2003/7_03_2v2.html |title=Inverse Engagement: Lessons from U.S.-Iraq Relations, 1982–1990 |access-date=12 October 2006 |author=Douglas A. Borer |year=2003 |work=U.S. Army Professional Writing Collection |publisher=US Army |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011195656/http://www.army.mil/professionalwriting/volumes/volume1/july_2003/7_03_2v2.html |archive-date=11 October 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-link=Elaine Sciolino|last=Sciolino|first=Elaine|title=The Outlaw State: Saddam Hussein's Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|John Wiley & Sons]]|year=1991 |isbn=978-0-471-54299-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/outlawstate00elai/page/164 164]}}</ref>

With Iraq's newfound success in the war, and the Iranian rebuff of a peace offer in July, [[International aid to combatants in the Iran–Iraq War|arms sales to Iraq]] reached a record spike in 1982. When Iraqi President [[Saddam Hussein]] expelled [[Abu Nidal]] to Syria at the US's request in November 1983, the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Reagan administration]] sent [[Donald Rumsfeld]] to meet Saddam as a special envoy and to cultivate ties. By the time the [[Iran–Iraq War#1987–88: Towards a ceasefire|ceasefire with Iran]] was signed in August 1988, Iraq was heavily debt-ridden and tensions within society were rising.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=333}} Most of its [[Government debt|debt]] was owed to [[Saudi Arabia]] and Kuwait.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|pp=341–342}} Iraq's debts to Kuwait amounted to $14&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite news |title=On this day in 1990: The world decides to stop Saddam Hussein's forces marauding around Kuwait |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/30/day-world-decided-stop-saddam-husseins-forces-marauding-around/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/30/day-world-decided-stop-saddam-husseins-forces-marauding-around/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=30 November 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Iraq pressured both nations to forgive the debts, but they refused.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|pp=341–342}}<ref name="airCombatInformationGroup2">{{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Tom |author-link1=Tom Cooper (author) |last2=Sadik |first2=Ahmad |date=6 August 2007 |title=Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait; 1990 |url=http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=1 |url-status=live |journal=Air Combat Information Group Journal |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130706142817/http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=47 |archive-date=6 July 2013 |access-date=27 October 2016}}</ref>

The Iraq–Kuwait border dispute involved Iraqi claims to Kuwaiti territory.<ref name="stork" /> Kuwait had been a part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]'s [[Basra Vilayet|province of Basra]], something that Iraq claimed made Kuwait rightful Iraqi territory.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|pp=343–344}} Kuwait's ruling dynasty, the [[House of Sabah|al-Sabah family]], had concluded a [[protectorate]] agreement in 1899 that assigned responsibility for Kuwait's foreign affairs to the United Kingdom. The UK drew the border between Kuwait and Iraq in 1922, making Iraq almost entirely landlocked.<ref name="stork" /> Kuwait rejected Iraqi attempts to secure further provisions in the region.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|pp=343–344}}

Iraq also accused Kuwait of exceeding its [[OPEC]] quotas for oil production.<ref name="OPEC2">"OPEC pressures Kuwait to moderate quota demand", ''New Straits Times'', 7 June 1989</ref> In order for the cartel to maintain its desired price of $18 per barrel, discipline was required. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait were consistently overproducing; the latter at least in part to repair losses caused by Iranian attacks in the Iran–Iraq War and to pay for the losses of an economic scandal. The result was a slump in the oil price{{snd}}as low as {{convert|10|$/oilbbl|$/m3}}{{snd}}with a resulting loss of $7&nbsp;billion a year to Iraq, equal to its 1989 [[balance of payments]] deficit.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|pp=339–340}} Resulting revenues struggled to support the government's basic costs, let alone repair Iraq's damaged infrastructure. [[Jordan]] and Iraq both looked for more discipline, with little success.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=341}} The Iraqi government described it as a form of economic warfare,{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=341}} which it claimed was aggravated by Kuwait [[Directional drilling|slant-drilling]] across the border into Iraq's [[Rumaila oil field]].<ref>Cleveland, William L. ''A History of the Modern Middle East. 2nd Ed'' pg. 464</ref> According to oil workers in the area, Iraq's slant drilling claim was fabricated, as "oil flows easily from the Rumaila field without any need for these techniques."<ref name=hayes>{{cite news|last=Hayes |first=Thomas C.|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=3 September 1990|title=Confrontation in the Gulf; The Oilfield Lying Below the Iraq-Kuwait Dispute|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/03/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-the-oilfield-lying-below-the-iraq-kuwait-dispute.html|quote=Oil formations frequently run beneath political boundaries, whether they involve unfriendly leaseholders in West Texas or neighboring Arab states, and procedures have existed for years to settle disputes that arise. Typically, participants in the same field share both production costs and revenues, using a formula that sets percentages of ownership. But Iraq refused to negotiate with Kuwait on such an agreement. So Kuwait produced oil from Rumaila without any agreement, and then adopted a policy of producing far more oil than it was allowed under the quota system of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.&nbsp;... But during the [Iran–Iraq War] Iraq mined its giant share of the Rumaila field to keep it from falling into Iranian hands, Western political experts say. Kuwait stepped up its total oil production, capturing some of Iraq's customers and pumping millions of barrels from the Rumaila field.&nbsp;... Some Iraqi officials have accused Kuwait in the past of using advanced drilling techniques developed by American oilfield specialists to siphon oil from the Rumaila field, a charge that American drillers deny, noting that the oil flows easily from the Rumaila field without any need for these techniques.&nbsp;... W. C. Goins, senior vice president of OGE Drilling Inc., a Houston company that provided oilfield supervisors and workers for Kuwait in the same area, said he was 'positive' all of the wells his employees drilled and operated ran vertically down to the Rumaila pay zone. 'That field crosses the border in north Kuwait,' he added. 'Iraqis were drilling on one side, and Kuwaitis on the other side.'}}</ref> At the same time, Saddam looked for closer ties with those Arab states that had supported Iraq in the war. This move was supported by the US, who believed that Iraqi ties with pro-Western Gulf states would help bring and maintain Iraq inside the US' sphere of influence.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=334}}

In 1989, it appeared that [[Iraq–Saudi Arabia relations|Saudi–Iraqi relations]], strong during the war, would be maintained. A [[1989 Iraqi–Saudi Treaty of Nonaggression|pact of non-interference and non-aggression]] was signed between the countries, followed by a Kuwaiti-Iraqi deal for Iraq to supply Kuwait with water for drinking and irrigation, although a request for Kuwait to lease Iraq [[Umm Qasr]] was rejected.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=334}} Saudi-backed development projects were hampered by Iraq's large debts, even with the [[demobilization]] of 200,000 soldiers. Iraq also looked to increase arms production so as to become an exporter, although the success of these projects was also restrained by Iraq's obligations; in Iraq, resentment to OPEC's controls mounted.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=335}}

Iraq's relations with its Arab neighbors, particularly Egypt, were degraded by mounting violence in Iraq against expatriate groups, who were well-employed during the war, by unemployed Iraqis, among them demobilized soldiers. These events drew little notice outside the Arab world because of fast-moving events directly related to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. However, the US did begin to condemn Iraq's human rights record, including the well-known use of torture.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=336}} The UK also condemned the execution of [[Farzad Bazoft]], a journalist working for the British newspaper ''[[The Observer]]''.<ref name="stork" /> Following Saddam's declaration that "binary chemical weapons" would be used on Israel if it used military force against Iraq, Washington halted part of its funding.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|pp=337–338}} A UN mission to the [[Israeli-occupied territories]], where riots had resulted in Palestinian deaths, was [[United Nations Security Council veto power|vetoed]] by the US, making Iraq deeply skeptical of US foreign policy aims in the region, combined with the reliance of the US on Middle Eastern energy reserves.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=338}}

[[File:Ku-map.gif|thumb|left|Map of Kuwait]]
In early July 1990, Iraq complained about Kuwait's behavior, such as not respecting their quota, and openly threatened to take military action. On the 23rd, the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] reported that Iraq had moved 30,000 troops to the Iraq-Kuwait border, and the US naval fleet in the [[Persian Gulf]] was placed on alert. Saddam believed an anti-Iraq conspiracy was developing{{snd}}Kuwait had begun talks with Iran, and Iraq's rival Syria had arranged a visit to Egypt.{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=343}} On 15 July 1990, Saddam's government laid out its combined objections to the [[Arab League]], including that policy moves were costing Iraq $1&nbsp;billion a year, that Kuwait was still using the Rumaila oil field, and that loans made by the UAE and Kuwait could not be considered debts to its "Arab brothers".{{sfnp|Simons|2004|p=343}} He threatened force against Kuwait and the UAE, saying: "The policies of some Arab rulers are American&nbsp;... They are inspired by America to undermine Arab interests and security."<ref>Yousseff M. Ibrahim, [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/18/business/iraq-threatens-emirates-and-kuwait-on-oil-glut.html "Iraq Threatens Emirates And Kuwait on Oil Glut"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630060909/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/18/business/iraq-threatens-emirates-and-kuwait-on-oil-glut.html |date=30 June 2017 }} ''New York Times'', 18 July 1990</ref> The US sent [[aerial refuelling]] planes and combat ships to the Persian Gulf in response to these threats.<ref>Michael R. Gordon, [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/25/world/us-deploys-air-and-sea-forces-after-iraq-threatens-2-neighbors.html "U.S. Deploys Air and Sea Forces After Iraq Threatens 2 Neighbors"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630054533/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/25/world/us-deploys-air-and-sea-forces-after-iraq-threatens-2-neighbors.html |date=30 June 2017 }} ''New York Times'', 25 July 1990</ref> Discussions in [[Jeddah]], Saudi Arabia, mediated on the Arab League's behalf by Egyptian President [[Hosni Mubarak]], were held on 31 July and led Mubarak to believe that a peaceful course could be established.{{sfnp|Finlan|2003|pp=25–26}}

During Saddam Hussein's 2003–2004 interrogation following his capture he claimed that in addition to economic disputes, an insulting exchange between the Kuwaiti [[emir]] [[Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah|Al Sabah]] and the Iraqi foreign minister – during which the emir stated his intention to turn "every Iraqi woman into a $10 prostitute" by bankrupting the country – was a decisive factor in triggering the Iraqi invasion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/interrogator-shares-saddams-confessions/4/|title=Interrogator Shares Saddam's Confessions |website=cbsnews.com|date=24 January 2008}}</ref>

On the 25th, Saddam met with [[April Glaspie]], the [[United States Ambassador to Iraq|US Ambassador to Iraq]], in Baghdad. The Iraqi leader attacked American policy with regards to Kuwait and the UAE:
{{blockquote|So what can it mean when America says it will now protect its friends? It can only mean prejudice against Iraq. This stance plus maneuvers and statements which have been made has encouraged the UAE and Kuwait to disregard Iraqi rights&nbsp;... If you use pressure, we will deploy pressure and force. We know that you can harm us although we do not threaten you. But we too can harm you. Everyone can cause harm according to their ability and their size. We cannot come all the way to you in the United States, but individual Arabs may reach you&nbsp;... We do not place America among the enemies. We place it where we want our friends to be and we try to be friends. But repeated American statements last year made it apparent that America did not regard us as friends.<ref name="nytimes.com">[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/23/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-excerpts-from-iraqi-document-on-meeting-with-us-envoy.html "CONFRONTATION IN THE GULF; Excerpts From Iraqi Document on Meeting With U.S. Envoy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111062914/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/23/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-excerpts-from-iraqi-document-on-meeting-with-us-envoy.html |date=11 January 2017 }} ''New York Times'', 23 September 1990</ref>}}

Glaspie replied:
{{blockquote|I know you need funds. We understand that and our opinion is that you should have the opportunity to rebuild your country. But we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait&nbsp;... Frankly, we can only see that you have deployed massive troops in the south. Normally that would not be any of our business. But when this happens in the context of what you said on your national day, then when we read the details in the two letters of the Foreign Minister, then when we see the Iraqi point of view that the measures taken by the UAE and Kuwait is, in the final analysis, parallel to military aggression against Iraq, then it would be reasonable for me to be concerned.<ref name="nytimes.com" />}}

Saddam stated that he would attempt last-ditch negotiations with the Kuwaitis but Iraq "would not accept death."<ref name="nytimes.com" />

According to Glaspie's own account, she stated in reference to the precise border between Kuwait and Iraq, "...&nbsp;that she had served in Kuwait 20 years before; 'then, as now, we took no position on these Arab affairs'."{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} Glaspie similarly believed that war was not imminent.{{sfnp|Finlan|2003|pp=25–26}}

Saddam's foreign minister [[Tariq Aziz]] later told [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' in 1996 that the Iraqi leadership was under "no illusion" about America's likely response to the Iraqi invasion: "She [Glaspie] didn't tell us anything strange. She didn't tell us in the sense that we concluded that the Americans will not retaliate. That was nonsense you see. It was nonsense to think that the Americans would not attack us."<ref>"The Gulf War", PBS ''Frontline''. January 9, 1996.</ref> Then in a second 2000 interview with the same television program, Aziz said:<blockquote>There were no mixed signals. We should not forget that the whole period before August 2 witnessed a negative American policy towards Iraq. So it would be quite foolish to think that, if we go to Kuwait, then America would like that. Because the American tendency&nbsp;... was to untie Iraq. So how could we imagine that such a step was going to be appreciated by the Americans? It looks foolish, you see, this is fiction. About the meeting with April Glaspie—it was a routine meeting...She didn't say anything extraordinary beyond what any professional diplomat would say without previous instructions from his government...what she said were routine, classical comments on what the president was asking her to convey to President Bush. He wanted her to carry a message to George Bush—not to receive a message through her from Washington.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/interviews/aziz.html "The survival of Saddam"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808105053/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/interviews/aziz.html|date=2017-08-08}}, PBS ''Frontline''. January 25, 2000.</ref></blockquote> On 26 July 1990, only a few days before the Iraqi invasion, OPEC officials said that Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates had agreed to a proposal to limit their oil output to {{convert|1.5|e6oilbbl|m3}} per day, "down from the nearly 2 million barrels a day they had each been pumping," thus potentially settling differences over oil policy between Kuwait and Iraq.<ref name=NY>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/26/world/iraq-said-to-prevail-in-oil-dispute-with-kuwait-and-arab-emirates.html?pagewanted=1|work=The New York Times|first=Youssef M.|last=Ibrahim|title=Iraq Said to Prevail in Oil Dispute With Kuwait and Arab Emirates|date=26 July 1990}}</ref>

==Invasion of Kuwait==
[[File:Iraqi T-72 tanks.jpg|thumb|[[Lion of Babylon (tank)|Lion of Babylon]] main battle tanks, common Iraqi battle tank used in the Gulf War by the [[Iraqi Armed Forces|Iraqi Army]].]]
{{Main|Iraqi invasion of Kuwait|Timeline of the Gulf War (1990–1991)}}

The result of the Jeddah talks was an Iraqi demand for $10&nbsp;billion<ref name="AFPS Timeline" /> to cover the lost revenues from Rumaila; Kuwait offered $500&nbsp;million.<ref name="AFPS Timeline" /> The Iraqi response was to immediately order an invasion,{{sfnp|Finlan|2003|p=26}} which started on 2 August 1990<ref name="s21423">{{cite news |last1=Abulhasan |first1=Mohammad A. |date=2 August 1990 |title=Letter dated 2 August 1990 from the Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council |work=S/21423 |publisher=United Nations OFFICIAL DOCUMENT SYSTEM |url=https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N90/178/84/img/N9017884.pdf?OpenElement |access-date=7 March 2023 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307153614/https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N90/178/84/img/N9017884.pdf?OpenElement }}</ref> with the bombing of Kuwait's capital, [[Kuwait City]].

Before the invasion, the [[Military of Kuwait|Kuwaiti military]] was believed to have numbered 16,000 men, arranged into three armored, one mechanized infantry and one under-strength artillery brigade.<ref name="loccs">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kw0058) |title=Kuwait: Organization and Mission of the Forces |publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies |access-date=14 April 2012}}</ref> The pre-war strength of the [[Kuwait Air Force]] was around 2,200 Kuwaiti personnel, with 80 fixed-wing aircraft and 40 helicopters.<ref name="loccs" /> In spite of Iraqi {{linktext|sabre-rattling}}, Kuwait did not mobilize its force; the army had been stood-down on 19 July,{{sfnp|Finlan|2003|p=25}} and during the Iraqi invasion many Kuwaiti military personnel were on leave.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

By 1988, at the end of the Iran–Iraq war, the Iraqi Army was the world's fourth largest army, consisting of 955,000 standing soldiers and 650,000 paramilitary forces in the Popular Army. According to John Childs and André Corvisier, a low estimate shows the Iraqi Army capable of fielding 4,500 tanks, 484 combat aircraft and 232 combat helicopters.<ref name="MilSize">{{cite book |author1=Childs, John |author2=Corvisier, André |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nEQ7FUAdmc8C&pg=PA403 403] |title=A Dictionary of Military History and the Art of War |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-631-16848-5}}</ref> According to Michael Knights, a high estimate shows the Iraqi Army capable of fielding one million troops and 850,000 reservists, 5,500 tanks, 3,000 artillery pieces, 700 combat aircraft and helicopters; it held 53 divisions, 20 special-forces brigades, and several regional militias, and had a strong air defense.<ref name="Knights-2005"/>

[[File:Kuwaiti main battle tanks.JPEG|thumb|left|Kuwaiti Armed Forces [[M-84]] [[main battle tank]]s]]
Iraqi commandos infiltrated the Kuwaiti border first to prepare for the major units, which began the attack at midnight. The Iraqi attack had two prongs, with the primary attack force driving south straight for Kuwait City down the main highway, and a supporting attack force entering Kuwait farther west, but then turning and driving east, cutting off Kuwait City from the country's southern half. The commander of a Kuwaiti armored battalion, 35th Armoured [[Brigade]], deployed them against the Iraqi attack and conducted a robust defense at the [[Battle of the Bridges]] near [[Al Jahra]], west of Kuwait City.<ref>{{cite web|author=Dan Vaught |url=http://users.lighthouse.net/danvaught/eyewitness01.html |title=Eyewitness, Col. Fred Hart 1 |publisher=Users.lighthouse.net |access-date=1 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818141800/http://users.lighthouse.net/danvaught/eyewitness01.html |archive-date=18 August 2009 }}</ref>

Kuwaiti aircraft [[scrambling (military)|scrambled]] to meet the invading force, but approximately 20% were lost or captured. A few combat sorties were flown against Iraqi ground forces.<ref name="airCombatInformationGroup">{{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Tom |last2=Sadik |first2=Ahmad |title=Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait; 1990 |date=16 September 2003 |journal=Air Combat Information Group |url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_213.shtml |access-date=17 April 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006231817/http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_213.shtml |archive-date=6 October 2014 }}</ref>

The main Iraqi thrust into Kuwait City was conducted by [[commando]]s deployed by helicopters and boats to attack the city from the sea, while other divisions seized the airports and two [[airbase]]s. The Iraqis [[Battle of Dasman Palace|attacked the Dasman Palace]], the Royal Residence of [[List of emirs of Kuwait|Kuwait's Emir]], [[Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah]], which was defended by the Emiri Guard supported with [[M-84]] tanks. In the process, the Iraqis killed [[Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah]], the Emir's youngest brother.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Within 12 hours, most resistance had ended within Kuwait, and the royal family had fled, allowing Iraq to control most of Kuwait.{{sfnp|Finlan|2003|p=26}} After two days of intense combat, most of the Kuwaiti military were either overrun by the [[Iraqi Republican Guard]], or had escaped to Saudi Arabia. The Emir and key ministers fled south along the highway for refuge in Saudi Arabia. Iraqi ground forces consolidated their control of Kuwait City, then headed south and redeployed along the Saudi border. After the decisive Iraqi victory, Saddam initially installed a puppet regime known as the "[[Republic of Kuwait|Provisional Government of Free Kuwait]]" before installing his cousin [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]] as Kuwait's governor on 8 August.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

[[File:Iraqi Model 214ST SuperTransport helicopter, 1991.JPEG|thumb|An [[Iraqi Air Force]] [[Bell 214ST]] [[Military transport aircraft|transport helicopter]], after being captured by a US Marine Corps unit at the start of the ground phase of Operation Desert Storm]]
After the invasion, the Iraqi military looted over $1 billion in banknotes from Kuwait's Central Bank.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/09/07/Iraqis-loot-Kuwaits-central-bank-of-gold-cash/4632652680000/|title=Iraqis loot Kuwait's central bank of gold, cash|website=UPI}}</ref> At the same time, Saddam Hussein made the Kuwaiti dinar equal to the Iraqi dinar, thereby lowering the Kuwaiti currency to one-twelfth of its original value. In response, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah ruled the banknotes as invalid and refused to reimburse stolen notes, which became worthless because of a UN embargo. After the conflict ended, many of the stolen banknotes made their way back into circulation. The stolen banknotes are a collectible for [[numismatist]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pmgnotes.com/news/article/6160/The-Stolen-Dinars-of-Kuwait/#fn1|title=The Stolen Dinars of Kuwait – PMG|website=www.pmgnotes.com}}</ref>

===Kuwaiti resistance movement===
Kuwaitis founded a local armed resistance movement following the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.<ref name=sh>{{cite web|url=http://www.netanya.ac.il/ResearchCen/StrategicDialogue/AcademicPub/Documents/IRAN%20STUDY%20book-full.pdf|title=Iran, Israel and the Shi'ite Crescent|work=S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue|pages=14–15|access-date=5 March 2014|archive-date=6 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106055548/http://www.netanya.ac.il/ResearchCen/StrategicDialogue/AcademicPub/Documents/IRAN%20STUDY%20book-full.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/1022103 |title=Saddam's Security Apparatus During the Invasion of Kuwait and the Kuwaiti Resistance |journal=The Journal of Intelligence History |date=Winter 2003 |pages=74–75|last1=Al-Marashi |first1=Ibrahim |volume=3 |issue=2 |doi=10.1080/16161262.2003.10555087 |s2cid=157844796 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/730/1/Taqi10.pdf |title=Two ethnicities, three generations: Phonological variation and change in Kuwait |work=Newcastle University |year=2010 |access-date=5 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019130212/https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/730/1/Taqi10.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2013 }}</ref> The {{ill|Kuwaiti Resistance|lt=Kuwaiti resistance's|ar|المقاومة الكويتية}} casualty rate far exceeded that of the coalition military forces and Western hostages.<ref name=resist/> The resistance predominantly consisted of ordinary citizens who lacked any form of training and supervision.<ref name=resist>{{cite journal |url=http://www.meforum.org/238/the-kuwaiti-resistance |title=The Kuwaiti Resistance |journal=[[Middle East Forum]] |date=March 1995|last1=Levins |first1=John M. }}</ref>

==Run-up to the war==
===Diplomatic means===
A key element of US political, military and energy economic planning occurred in 1984. The Iran–Iraq war had been going on for five years and both had sustained casualties into the hundreds of thousands. Within President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s [[National Security Council (United States)|National Security Council]] concern was growing war could spread beyond the two belligerents. A National Security Planning Group meeting was formed, chaired by then Vice President [[George H. W. Bush]], to review US options. It was determined that the conflict would likely spread into Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, but the US had little capability to defend the region. A prolonged war in the region would induce much higher oil prices and threaten the recovery of the world economy, which was just beginning to gain momentum. In May 1984, President Reagan was briefed on the project conclusions by [[William Flynn Martin]] who had served as the head of the NSC staff that organized the study. The declassified presentation can be seen here:<ref>{{cite web|title=Presentation on Gulf Oil Disruption|date=22 May 1984 |url=http://www.wpainc.com/Archive/Reagan%20Administration/WFM%20Papers%20from%20Reagan%20Archives/Iran-Iraq/Presentation%20on%20Gulf%20Oil%20Disruption%205-22-84.pdf|website=wpainc.com|access-date=17 January 2017|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041513/http://www.wpainc.com/Archive/Reagan%20Administration/WFM%20Papers%20from%20Reagan%20Archives/Iran-Iraq/Presentation%20on%20Gulf%20Oil%20Disruption%205-22-84.pdf }}</ref> The conclusions were: first, oil stocks needed to be increased among members of the [[International Energy Agency]] and, if necessary, released early if the oil market was disrupted; second, the US needed to strengthen the security of friendly Arab states in the region; and third, an embargo should be placed on sales of military equipment to Iran and Iraq. The plan was approved by Reagan and affirmed by the [[G7]] leaders headed by the UK's Prime Minister, [[Margaret Thatcher]], in the [[10th G7 summit]], held in London in June. The plan was implemented and became the basis for US preparedness to respond to the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in 1991.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

[[File:Bush troops.jpg|thumb|President Bush visiting American troops in Saudi Arabia on Thanksgiving Day, 1990]]
Within hours of the invasion, Kuwait and US delegations requested a meeting of the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]], which passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 660|Resolution 660]], condemning the invasion and demanding a withdrawal of Iraqi troops.{{sfnp|Finlan|2003|p=29}}<ref name="s21425">{{cite news |date=2 August 1990 |title=DRAFT RESOLUTION /CANADA, COLOMBIA, CÔTE D'IVOIRE, ETHIOPIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, MALAYSIA, UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND AND UNITED STATES OF AMERICA |work=S/21425 |publisher=United Nations OFFICIAL DOCUMENT SYSTEM |url=https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N90/178/72/img/N9017872.pdf?OpenElement |access-date=7 March 2023 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307153615/https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N90/178/72/img/N9017872.pdf?OpenElement }}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=Is it page 29 or 13?|date=February 2023}}<ref name=UN>{{cite journal|title=Report of the Security Council: 16 June 1990{{snd}}15 June 1991|journal=Report of the Security Council|date=1993 |publisher=United Nations|location=New York|issn=0082-8238|page=30|type=digital document}}</ref> On 3 August 1990, the Arab League passed a resolution, which called for a solution from within the league, and warned against outside intervention. Iraq and Libya were the only Arab League states that opposed the resolution for Iraq to withdraw; the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO){{efn| Since 1988 the PLO had assumed, for Arab League purposes, the seat for the [[State of Palestine]].}} opposed it as well.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Myths & Facts{{snd}}The Gulf Wars |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf12.html |encyclopedia=Jewish Virtual Library |access-date=13 May 2011}}</ref> Yemen and Jordan{{snd}}a Western ally which bordered Iraq and relied on the country for economic support<ref name="lkjomzvc">{{cite journal |title=The 1991 Gulf War And Jordan's Economy |author1=Ziad Swaidan |author2=Mihai Nica |url=http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2002/issue2/jv6n2a7.html |archive-date=2002-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020804061624/http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2002/issue2/jv6n2a7.html |journal=Middle East Review of International Affairs |volume=6 |issue=2 |date=June 2002}}</ref>{{snd}}opposed military intervention from non-Arab states.<ref>{{cite journal |first=David A |last=Deese |title=Persian Gulf War, Desert Storm{{snd}}War with Iraqi |journal=The History Professor |publisher=Concord Learning Systems |url=http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/misc/desertstorm.html |archive-date=2005-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050114141303/http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/misc/desertstorm.html}}</ref> Separately, Sudan, also an Arab League member, aligned itself with Saddam.<ref name="lkjomzvc"/>

On 6 August, [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 661|Resolution 661]] placed [[economic sanctions]] on Iraq.<ref name=UN2>{{cite journal|title=Report of the Security Council: 16 June 1990{{snd}}15 June 1991|journal=Report of the Security Council|date=1993|publisher=United Nations|location=New York|issn=0082-8238|pages=33–35}}</ref>{{sfnp|Finlan|2003|p=29}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0661.htm |title=Resolution 661 (1990) |publisher=United Nations |access-date=13 April 2012}}</ref> [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 665|Resolution 665]]<ref name=UN/> followed soon after, which authorized a [[naval blockade]] to enforce the sanctions. It said the "use of measures commensurate to the specific circumstances as may be necessary&nbsp;... to halt all inward and outward maritime shipping in order to inspect and verify their cargoes and destinations and to ensure strict implementation of resolution 661."<ref name=UN3>{{cite journal|title=Report of the Security Council: 16 June 1990{{snd}}15 June 1991|journal=Report of the Security Council|date=1993|publisher=United Nations|location=New York|issn=0082-8238|pages=52–53}}</ref><ref>Lori Fisler Damrosch, ''International Law, Cases and Materials'', West Group, 2001</ref>

The US administration had at first been indecisive with an "undertone ... of resignation to the invasion and even adaptation to it as a fait accompli" until the UK's prime minister Thatcher<ref name="margaretthatcher.org">{{cite web |title=George Bush (Sr) Library – Margaret Thatcher Foundation |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/archive/us-bush.asp |website=www.margaretthatcher.org}}</ref> played a powerful role{{additional citation needed|date=June 2025}}, reminding the President that appeasement in the 1930s had led to war, that Saddam would have the whole Gulf at his mercy along with 65% of the world's oil supply, and famously urging Bush "not to go wobbly".<ref name="margaretthatcher.org"/> Once persuaded, US officials insisted on Iraqi pullout, without any linkage to other Middle Eastern problems, accepting the British view that any concession would strengthen Iraqi influence.<ref name="hard line">{{cite news |last=Friedman |first=Thomas L. |title=Confrontation in the Gulf: Behind Bush's Hard Line; Washington Considers a Clear Iraqi Defeat To Be Necessary to Bolster Its Arab Allies |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York |pages=A1 |date=22 August 1990 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/22/world/confrontation-gulf-behind-bush-s-hard-line-washington-considers-clear-iraqi.html |access-date=16 September 2010 |author-link=Thomas Friedman}}</ref>

[[File:Weapons training at Abu Hydra Range during Operation Desert Shield DM-ST-91-12003.jpg|thumb|Weapons training at Abu Hydra Range, 1990]]
On 12 August 1990, Saddam "propose[d] that all cases of occupation, and those cases that have been portrayed as occupation, in the region, be resolved simultaneously". He called for Israel to withdraw from occupied territories in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon, Syria to withdraw from Lebanon, and "mutual withdrawals by Iraq and Iran and arrangement for the situation in Kuwait." He called for a replacement of US troops, that mobilized in Saudi Arabia, with "an Arab force", as long as that force did not involve Egypt. He requested an "immediate freeze of all boycott and siege decisions" and a normalization of relations with Iraq.<ref>{{cite news |title=Confrontation in the Gulf; Proposals by Iraqi President: Excerpts From His Address |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York |pages=A8 |date=13 August 1990 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/13/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-proposals-by-iraqi-president-excerpts-from-his-address.html |access-date=17 October 2010}}</ref> Bush was strongly opposed to any "linkage" between Iraq's occupation of Kuwait and the Palestinian issue.<ref name=sam />

{{anchor|Stuart Lockwood}}On 23 August, Saddam appeared on state television with Western hostages to whom he had refused exit visas. In the video, he asks a British boy, Stuart Lockwood, whether he is getting his milk, and goes on to say, through his interpreter, "We hope your presence as guests here will not be for too long. Your presence here, and in other places, is meant to prevent the scourge of war."<ref name="BBCOTD">BBC News. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/23/newsid_2512000/2512289.stm 1990: Outrage at Iraqi TV hostage show] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201022736/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/23/newsid_2512000/2512289.stm |date=1 February 2008 }}". Retrieved 2 September 2007.</ref>

Another Iraqi proposal communicated was delivered to US [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]] [[Brent Scowcroft]] by an unidentified Iraqi official. The official communicated that Iraq would "withdraw from Kuwait and allow foreigners to leave" provided the UN lifted sanctions, allowed "guaranteed access to the Persian Gulf through the Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan and Warbah", and allowed Iraq to "gain full control of the Rumaila oil field that extends slightly into Kuwaiti territory". The proposal also "include[d] offers to negotiate an oil agreement with the United States 'satisfactory to both nations' national security interests,' develop a joint plan 'to alleviate Iraq's economical and financial problems' and 'jointly work on the stability of the gulf.'"<ref name="Secret Offer">{{cite news |last=Royce |first=Knut |title=MIDDLE EAST CRISIS Secret Offer Iraq Sent Pullout Deal to U.S |newspaper=[[Newsday]] |location=New York |date=29 August 1990 |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/38969813/MIDDLE-EAST-CRISIS-Secret-Offer-Iraq-Sent-Pullout-Deal-to-U-S-ALL-EDITIONS |access-date=17 October 2010}}</ref>

On 29 November 1990, the Security Council passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 678|Resolution 678]], which gave Iraq until 15 January 1991 to withdraw from Kuwait, and empowered states to use "all necessary means" to force Iraq out of Kuwait after the deadline.
[[File:Stinger Crew Operation Desert Shield.jpg|thumb|US Army soldiers from the [[11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (United States)|11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade]] during the Gulf War]]
In December 1990, Iraq made a proposal to withdraw from Kuwait provided foreign troops left the region and that an agreement was reached regarding the Palestinian problem and the dismantlement of Israel's and Iraq's [[weapons of mass destruction]]. The White House rejected the proposal.<ref>{{cite news |last=Royce |first=Knut |title=Iraq Offers Deal to Quit Kuwait U.S. rejects it, but stays 'interested' |newspaper=[[Newsday]] Washington Bureau |date=3 January 1991|location=Long Island, N.Y |page=5 |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/38969954/Iraq-Offers-Deal-to-Quit-Kuwait-U-S-rejects-it-but-stays-interested-NASSAU-AND-SUFFOLK-Edition |access-date=24 October 2010}}</ref> The PLO's [[Yasser Arafat]] expressed that neither he nor Saddam insisted that solving the Israel–Palestine issues should be a precondition to solving the issues in Kuwait, though he did acknowledge a "strong link" between these problems.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tyler |first=Patrick E. |title=CONFRONTATION IN THE GULF; Arafat Eases Stand on Kuwait-Palestine Link |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York |date=3 January 1991 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/03/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-arafat-eases-stand-on-kuwait-palestine-link.html |access-date=17 October 2010}}</ref>

The US and UK stuck to their position there would be no negotiations until Iraq withdrew, and should not grant Iraq concessions, lest they give the impression Iraq benefited from its military campaign.<ref name="hard line" /> When US Secretary of State [[James Baker]] met with [[Tariq Aziz]] in Geneva, for last minute peace talks in early 1991, Aziz reportedly made no concrete proposals and did not outline any hypothetical Iraqi moves.<ref>{{cite news|last=Friedman|first=Thomas L.|title=CONFRONTATION IN THE GULF; As U.S. Officials See It, Hands of Aziz Were Tied|newspaper=The New York Times|pages=A10|date=11 January 1991|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/11/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-as-us-officials-see-it-hands-of-aziz-were-tied.html|access-date=30 September 2010}}</ref>

On 14 January 1991, France proposed that the UN Security Council call for "a rapid and massive withdrawal" from Kuwait along with a statement to Iraq that Council members would bring their "active contribution" to a settlement of the region's other problems, "in particular, of the Arab–Israeli conflict and in particular to the Palestinian problem by convening, at an appropriate moment, an international conference" to assure "the security, stability and development of this region of the world." The proposal was supported by Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and several non-aligned states. The US, UK, and Soviet Union rejected it; US Ambassador to the UN [[Thomas R. Pickering|Thomas Pickering]] stated that the French proposal was unacceptable, because it went beyond Council resolutions on the Iraqi invasion.<ref>See Paul Lewis, "Confrontation in the Gulf: The U.N.; France and 3 Arab States Issue an Appeal to Hussein," ''New York Times'', 15 January 1991, p. A12</ref><ref>Michael Kranish et al., "World waits on brink of war: Late effort at diplomacy in gulf fails," ''Boston Globe'', 16 January 1991, p. 1</ref><ref>Ellen Nimmons, A.P., "Last-ditch pitches for peace; But U.S. claims Iraqis hold key," ''Houston Chronicle'', 15 January 1991, p. 1</ref> France dropped this proposal when it found "no tangible sign of interest" from Baghdad.<ref>Alan Riding, [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/16/world/confrontation-gulf-france-paris-says-its-last-ditch-peace-effort-has-failed.html "CONFRONTATION IN THE GULF: France; Paris Says Its Last-Ditch Peace Effort Has Failed"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026174110/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/16/world/confrontation-gulf-france-paris-says-its-last-ditch-peace-effort-has-failed.html |date=26 October 2016 }} ''New York Times'' 16 January 1991</ref>

===Military means===
{{Anchor|Operation Desert Shield}}
{{Redirect|Operation Desert Shield|the 2006 operation by the Iraqi insurgency|Operation Desert Shield (2006)}}
[[File:Multiple F-15E parked during Operation Desert Shield.jpg|thumb|American F-15Es parked in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield]]

A concern in the Western world was the significant threat Iraq posed to Saudi Arabia. Following Kuwait's conquest, the Iraqi Army was within striking distance of Saudi [[oil field]]s. Control of these, along with Kuwaiti and Iraqi reserves, would have given Saddam control over most of the world's oil reserves. Iraq had grievances with Saudi Arabia. The Saudis had lent Iraq 26&nbsp;billion dollars during its war with Iran, as the Saudis feared the influence of [[Shia Islam|Shia]] Iran's [[Iranian Revolution|Islamic revolution]] on its own Shia minority. After the war, Saddam felt he should not have to repay the loans due to the help he had given the Saudis by fighting Iran.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} After his conquest of Kuwait, Saddam verbally attacked the Saudis. He argued the US-supported Saudi state was an illegitimate and unworthy guardian of the holy cities of [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]]. He combined the language of the [[Islamism|Islamist]] groups that had fought in Afghanistan with the rhetoric Iran had used to attack the Saudis.<ref>[[Gilles Kepel]] ''Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam.''</ref>

Acting on the [[Carter Doctrine]] policy, and out of fear the Iraqi Army could invade Saudi Arabia, Bush announced that the US would launch a "wholly defensive" mission to prevent Iraq from invading Saudi Arabia, under the codename Operation Desert Shield. The operation began on 7 August 1990, when US troops were sent to Saudi Arabia, due also to the request of its monarch, [[King Fahd]], who had called for US military assistance.<ref name="AFPS Timeline">{{cite web|title=The Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm Timeline |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Aug2000/n08082000_20008088.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526135240/http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45404 |archive-date=26 May 2008 |access-date=30 June 2010}}</ref> This "wholly defensive" doctrine was quickly abandoned when, on 8 August, Iraq declared Kuwait to be Iraq's 19th province and Saddam named his cousin, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, as its governor.<ref name=AFPS15years>{{cite web|title=15 Years After Desert Storm, U.S. Commitment to Region Continues |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=14792 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608084842/http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=14792|archive-date=2011-06-08|access-date=29 March 2007}}</ref>

[[File:M3 Bradley Operation Desert Shield.JPEG|thumb|right|M3 Bradleys of L Troop, 3rd ACR, stand in line at a holding area during the build-up to Operation Desert Shield.]]
The [[United States Navy|US Navy]] dispatched two naval battle groups built around the [[aircraft carriers]] [[USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)|USS ''Dwight D. Eisenhower'']] and [[USS Independence (CV-62)|USS ''Independence'']] to the Gulf, where they were ready by 8 August. The US sent the battleships [[USS Missouri (BB-63)|USS ''Missouri'']] and [[USS Wisconsin (BB-64)|USS ''Wisconsin'']]. 48 US Air Force F-15s from the [[1st Fighter Wing]] at [[Langley Air Force Base]], Virginia, landed in Saudi Arabia and commenced round-the-clock air patrols of the Saudi–Kuwait–Iraq border to discourage Iraqi military advances. They were joined by 36 F-15 A-Ds from the [[36th Wing|36th Tactical Fighter Wing]] at [[Bitburg, Germany]]. The Bitburg contingent was based at [[Al Kharj Air Base]]. The 36th TFW would be responsible for 11 confirmed Iraqi Air Force aircraft shot down during the war. Two Air National Guard units were stationed at Al Kharj Air Base, the [[South Carolina Air National Guard]]'s 169th Fighter Wing flew bombing missions with 24 F-16s flying 2,000 combat missions and dropping {{convert|4000000|lb|kg t|spell=in|abbr=off|sp=us}} of munitions, and the [[New York Air National Guard]]'s 174th Fighter Wing from [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]] flew 24 F-16s on bombing missions. Military buildup continued, reaching 543,000 troops, twice that used in the 2003 invasion. Much of the material was airlifted or carried to the staging areas via [[Fast Sealift Ship|fast sealift ships]], allowing a quick buildup. Amphibious exercises were carried out in the Gulf, including Operation Imminent Thunder, which involved the [[USS&nbsp;Midway&nbsp;(CV-41)|USS ''Midway'']] and 15 other ships, 1,100 aircraft, and a thousand Marines.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S., Saudi Forces Start 'Imminent Thunder' Exercise in Gulf|url=https://apnews.com/article/b725461875b6227b7757a809c1ed4a3e|access-date=2021-05-20|website=AP NEWS}}</ref> In a press conference, General Schwarzkopf stated that these exercises were intended to deceive the Iraqi forces, forcing them to continue their defense of the Kuwaiti coastline.<ref>{{Cite AV media|title=Gen. Schwarzkopf's Famed News Conference| date=29 December 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKi3NwLFkX4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901232144/https://youtube.com/watch?v=wKi3NwLFkX4 | archive-date=2021-09-01 | via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=2021-05-20}}</ref>

===Creating a coalition===
[[File:Coalition of the Gulf War vs Iraq.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Countries that deployed coalition forces or provided support<ref name="apps.dtic.mil"/> (On behalf of Afghanistan, 300 Mujaheddin joined the coalition on 11 February 1991. Niger contributed 480 troops to guard shrines in Mecca and Medina on 15 January 1991.)<ref name="apps.dtic.mil"/>]]

A [[List of United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq|series of UN Security Council resolutions]] and Arab League resolutions were passed regarding Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Resolution 678, passed on 29 November 1990, gave Iraq a withdrawal deadline until 15 January 1991 and authorized "all necessary means to uphold and implement Resolution 660", and a diplomatic formulation authorizing the use of force if Iraq failed to comply.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/11205/un_security_council_resolution_678_iraq_kuwait.html?breadcrumb=%2Fregion%2F408%2Fkuwait |website=Council on Foreign Relations |title=UN Security Council Resolution 678, Iraq / Kuwait |date=29 November 1990 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614131250/http://www.cfr.org/publication/11205/un_security_council_resolution_678_iraq_kuwait.html?breadcrumb=%2Fregion%2F408%2Fkuwait |archive-date=14 June 2009}}</ref>

To ensure the US received economic backing, James Baker went on an 11-day journey to nine countries in September 1990, which the press dubbed "The Tin Cup Trip". The first stop was Saudi Arabia, which had already granted permission to the US to use its facilities. However, Baker believed that Saudi Arabia should assume some of the cost of to defend it. When Baker asked King Fahd for $15 billion, the King agreed, with the promise that Baker ask Kuwait for the same amount.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} The next day, 7 September, Baker did just that, and the [[Emir of Kuwait]], displaced in a Sheraton hotel outside Kuwait, agreed. Baker moved to enter talks with Egypt, whose leadership he considered "the moderate voice of the Middle East". President Mubarak was furious with Saddam for his invasion, and that Saddam had assured Mubarak that an invasion was not his intention. Egypt received approximately $7&nbsp;billion in debt forgiveness for providing support and troops for the US-led intervention.<ref>New York Times, 10 Apr. 1991, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/10/business/egypt-s-reward-forgiven-debt.html Egypt's 'Reward': Forgiven Debt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118035402/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/10/business/egypt-s-reward-forgiven-debt.html |date=18 November 2018 }}</ref>

After stops in Helsinki and Moscow to smooth out Iraqi demands for a Middle-Eastern peace conference with the Soviet Union, Baker traveled to Syria to discuss its role with President [[Hafez al-Assad|Hafez Assad]]. Assad had a personal enmity towards Saddam, as "Saddam had been trying to kill him [Assad] for years."{{cn|date=September 2025}} Harboring this animosity and impressed with Baker's initiative to visit Damascus (relations had been severed since the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombings|1983 bombing of US barracks]]), Assad agreed to pledge up to 100,000 Syrian troops to the coalition. This was a vital step in ensuring Arab states were represented in the coalition. In exchange, Washington gave al-Assad the green light to wipe out forces opposing Syria's rule in [[Lebanon]] and arranged for weapons valued at a billion dollars to be provided to Syria, mostly through Gulf states.<ref name="newstatesman.com">''[[New Statesman]]'', 23 September 2002, "[https://www.newstatesman.com/node/192550 John Pilger Reveals How the Bushes Bribe the World, from Russia to Iran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118081556/https://www.newstatesman.com/node/192550 |date=18 November 2018 }}"</ref> In exchange for Iran's support for the US-led intervention, the US promised Iran to end US opposition to [[World Bank]] loans to Iran. On the day before the coalition ground invasion, the World Bank gave Iran the first loan of $250m.<ref name="newstatesman.com"/>

Baker flew to Rome for a meeting with the Italians in which he was promised the use of military equipment, before journeying to Germany to meet with American ally [[Helmut Kohl|Chancellor Kohl]]. Although [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|Germany's constitution]] (brokered by the US) prohibited military involvement outside Germany's borders, Kohl committed a two billion dollar contribution to the war effort, and further economic and military support of coalition ally Turkey, and the transportation of Egyptian soldiers and ships to the Gulf.<ref>Baker, James Addison, and Thomas M. DeFrank. ''The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War, and Peace, 1989–1992''. New York: Putnam, 1995.</ref>

[[File:President Bush rides in a HUMVEE with General H. Norman Schwarzkopf during his visit with troops in Saudi Arabia on... - NARA - 186424.jpg|thumb|General [[Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.]] and President [[George H. W. Bush]] visit US troops in Saudi Arabia on [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving Day]], 1990.]]
A coalition of forces opposing Iraq's aggression was formed, consisting of forces from 42 countries: Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Turkey,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Clyde |date=20 January 1991 |title=WAR IN THE GULF: Turkey; Turkey's Role in Air Assault Sets Off Fear of Retaliation (Published 1991) |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/20/world/war-in-the-gulf-turkey-turkey-s-role-in-air-assault-sets-off-fear-of-retaliation.html}}</ref> the United Arab Emirates, the UK and US.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/15/middleeast/gulf-war-fast-facts|title=Gulf war fast facts|publisher=CNN Editorial Research|year=2020|access-date=15 December 2020 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020744/https://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/15/world/meast/gulf-war-fast-facts/index.html |archive-date=12 November 2020}}</ref> It was the largest coalition since World War II.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar/|title=The Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm|publisher=CNN In-Depth Specials|year=2001|access-date=5 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317110507/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar/ |archive-date=17 March 2008}}</ref> A group of [[Afghan mujahidin|Afghan mujahideen]] soldiers also reportedly joined towards the end of the war.<ref name="apps.dtic.mil"/> Although they did not contribute forces, Japan and Germany made financial contributions totaling $10&nbsp;billion and $6.6&nbsp;billion respectively. [[Luxembourg]] provided financial support.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luxembourg (09/06) |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/luxembourg/74191.htm |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=U.S. Department of State}}</ref> US troops represented 73% of the coalition's 956,600 troops in Iraq.<ref>Freedman, Lawrence, and Efraim Karsh. ''The Gulf Conflict 1990–1991: Diplomacy and War in the New World Order''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993. Print.</ref>

US Army General [[Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.]] was designated to be the commander of the coalition forces. The Soviet Union condemned Baghdad's aggression against Kuwait, but did not support the US and allied intervention in Iraq and tried to avert it.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Gulf War: Moscow's role|publisher=CNN|year=2001|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/01/16/russia.iraq/index.html|access-date=18 October 2020}}</ref> Many of the coalition countries were reluctant to commit military forces. Some felt that the war was an internal Arab affair or did not want to increase US influence in the Middle East. In the end, however, many governments were persuaded by Iraq's belligerence towards other Arab states, offers of economic aid or debt forgiveness, and threats to withhold aid.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/31/AR2006103101217.html |title=Security Council Seat Tied to Aid |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=18 March 2010 |first=Colum |last=Lynch |date=1 November 2006}}</ref>

====Justification for intervention====
The US and UN gave public justifications for involvement in the conflict, the most prominent being the Iraqi violation of Kuwaiti territorial integrity. In addition, the US moved to support its ally Saudi Arabia, whose importance in the region, and as a key supplier of oil, made it of considerable [[geopolitics|geopolitical]] importance. Shortly after the Iraqi invasion, US Defense Secretary [[Dick Cheney]] made the first of several visits to Saudi Arabia where King Fahd requested US military assistance. During a speech in a special joint session of the US Congress given on 11 September 1990, Bush summed up the reasons with the following remarks: "Within three days, 120,000 Iraqi troops with 850 tanks had poured into Kuwait and moved south to threaten Saudi Arabia. It was then that I decided to act to check that aggression."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3425|first=George H. W.|last=Bush|title=Address Before a Joint Session of Congress|publisher=Miller Center of Public Affairs|date=11 September 1990|access-date=1 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116162710/http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3425|archive-date=16 January 2011}}</ref>

The Pentagon stated that satellite photos showing a buildup of Iraqi forces along the border were the source of this information, but this was later alleged to be false. A reporter for the ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'' acquired commercial Soviet satellite images which showed nothing but empty desert.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/tampabay/access/50586247.html?dids=50586247:50586247&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+6%252C+1991&author=JEAN+HELLER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=1.A&desc=Photos+don%2527t+show+buildup |title=Photos don't show buildup |work=St. Petersburg Times |date=6 January 1991 |access-date=13 January 2012 |first=Jean |last=Heller |archive-date=4 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204014848/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/tampabay/access/50586247.html?dids=50586247:50586247&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+6%252C+1991&author=JEAN+HELLER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=1.A&desc=Photos+don%2527t+show+buildup }}</ref>

Other justifications for foreign involvement included Iraq's history of human rights [[Human rights in Saddam Hussein's Iraq|abuses under Saddam]]. Iraq was known to possess [[biological warfare|biological weapons]] and [[chemical warfare|chemical weapons]], which Saddam had used against Iranian troops during the Iran–Iraq War and his own country's [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] population in the [[Al-Anfal campaign]]. Iraq was known to have a [[nuclear weapon]]s program; the report about it from January 1991 was partially declassified by the CIA in May 2001.<ref>[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]], Volume 59, page 33, Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science (Chicago, Ill.), Atomic Scientists of Chicago, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (Organization), 2003.</ref>

====Public relations campaign targeting the public====
{{see also|Nayirah testimony}}
[[File:Powell, Schwarzkopf, and Wolfowitz at Cheney press conference, February 1991.jpg|thumb|Gen. [[Colin Powell]] (left), Gen. [[Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.]], and [[Paul Wolfowitz]] (right) listen as Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney addresses reporters regarding the 1991 Gulf War.]]

Although the Iraqi military committed human rights abuses during the invasion, the alleged incidents that received the most publicity in the US were fabrications of the [[public relations]] firm hired by the government of Kuwait to persuade Americans to support military intervention.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chardell |first=Daniel |date=29 June 2023 |title=The Origins of the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait Reconsidered |url=https://tnsr.org/2023/06/the-origins-of-the-iraqi-invasion-of-kuwait-reconsidered/ |website=Texas National Security Review}}</ref> Shortly after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the organization ''[[Citizens for a Free Kuwait]]'' was formed in the US. It hired the public relations firm [[Hill & Knowlton]] for about $11&nbsp;million, paid by [[Government of Kuwait|Kuwait's government]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy10.html |title=How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf &#124; Center for Media and Democracy |publisher=Prwatch.org |access-date=1 February 2011|date=2004-10-28 }}</ref>

Among many other means of influencing US opinion, such as distributing books on Iraqi atrocities to US soldiers deployed, "Free Kuwait" T-shirts and speakers to college campuses, and video news releases to television stations, the firm arranged for an appearance before members of the [[United States Congress|US Congress]] in which a young woman identifying herself as a [[Nayirah testimony|nurse working in the Kuwait City hospital]] described Iraqi soldiers pulling babies out of incubators and letting them die on the floor.<ref name=kuwaitgate /> The story helped tip the public and Congress towards a war with Iraq: six Congressmen said the testimony was enough for them to support military action against Iraq and seven Senators referenced the testimony in debate. The Senate supported the military actions in a 52–47 vote. However, a year after the war, this allegation was revealed to be a fabrication. The young woman was found to be a member of Kuwait's royal family and the daughter of Kuwait's ambassador to the US.<ref name=kuwaitgate><!-- Rowse (1992) "Kuwaitgate – killing of Kuwaiti babies by Iraqi soldiers exaggerated", Washington Monthly-->{{cite Q|Q123698876}}</ref> She had not lived in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The details of the Hill & Knowlton public relations campaign, including the incubator testimony, were published in [[John R. MacArthur]]'s ''Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War'',<ref>[[John R. MacArthur]], ''Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War'' (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992)</ref> and came to public attention when an [[Op-ed]] by MacArthur was published in ''[[The New York Times]]''. This prompted a reexamination by [[Amnesty International]], which had promoted an account alleging even greater numbers of babies torn from incubators than the fake testimony. After finding no evidence to support it, the organization issued a retraction.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williams Jr |first1=Nick B. |title=MIDEAST: Kuwait Story of Babies Removed From Incubators Refuses to Die |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-06-mn-3337-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=6 March 1992}}</ref> Bush repeated the incubator allegations on television.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The Iraqi Army did commit well-documented crimes during its occupation, such as the [[summary execution|summary execution without trial]] of three brothers, after which their bodies were stacked and left to decay in a street.{{sfnp|Makiya|1993|p=40}} Iraqi troops ransacked and looted private homes; one residence was repeatedly defecated in.{{sfnp|Makiya|1993|pp=31–33}} A resident later commented: "The whole thing was violence for the sake of violence, destruction for the sake of destruction&nbsp;... Imagine a [[Surrealism|surrealistic]] painting by [[Salvador Dalí]]".{{sfnp|Makiya|1993|p=32}} Bush repeatedly compared Saddam Hussein to [[Hitler]].<ref>New York Times, 24 Oct. 1990, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/24/world/mideast-tensions-no-compromise-on-kuwait-bush-says.html Mideast Tensions; No Compromise on Kuwait, Bush Says] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112101338/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/24/world/mideast-tensions-no-compromise-on-kuwait-bush-says.html |date=12 November 2018 }}"</ref>

==Early battles==

===Air campaign===
{{Main|Gulf War air campaign}}

[[File:F-117 Nighthawk Front.jpg|thumb|left|The [[USAF]] [[F-117 Nighthawk]], one of the key aircraft used in Operation Desert Storm]]

The Gulf War began with an extensive [[aerial bombing of cities|aerial bombing]] campaign on 16 January 1991. For 42 consecutive days and nights, the coalition forces subjected Iraq to one of the most intensive air bombardments in military history. The coalition flew over 100,000 [[sortie]]s, dropping 88,500 tonnes of bombs,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/limit1.html |author=Edwin E. Moïse |title=Limited War: The Stereotypes |publisher=Clemson University |access-date=2 July 2010}}</ref> which widely destroyed military and civilian infrastructure.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Iraqi anti-aircraft defenses, including [[man-portable air-defense systems]], were surprisingly ineffective against enemy aircraft, and the coalition suffered only 75 aircraft losses in over 100,000 sorties, 44 due to Iraqi action. Two of these losses are the result of aircraft colliding with the ground while evading Iraqi ground-fired weapons.<ref name=cnnstats>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612131747/http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar/ |archive-date=12 June 2008 |title=CNN.com In-depth specials — Gulf War (via Internet Archive) |access-date=23 March 2008 |year=2001 |publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rjlee.org/aaloss.html |title=Fixed-Wing Combat Aircraft Attrition in Desert Storm |year=2002 |access-date=30 January 2012 |author=Lee, Robin J. |quote=Sources: Gulf War Airpower Survey, Vol. 5; Norman Friedman, Desert Victory; World Air Power Journal. Additionally, Mark Bovankovich and LT Chuck Chase offered corrections and several intriguing details on these incidents. All errors, however, remain entirely mine.}}</ref> One of these losses is a confirmed air-air victory.<ref>[[Rick Atkinson|Atkinson, Rick]] (1994). ''Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. 47. {{ISBN|978-0-395-71083-8}}</ref>

===Iraqi Scud missile strikes on Israel and Saudi Arabia===
{{main|Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel|Iraqi rocket attacks on Saudi Arabia}}

[[File:scud TEL launch.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Scud]] Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) with missile in upright position]]

Iraq's government made no secret that it would attack Israel if invaded. Prior to the war's start, in the aftermath of the failed US–Iraq peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, a reporter asked Iraq's English-speaking Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz: "Mr. Foreign Minister, if war starts&nbsp;... will you attack Israel?" His response was: "Yes, absolutely, yes."<ref>Lawrence Freedman and Efraim Karsh, ''The Gulf Conflict: Diplomacy and War in the New World Order'', 1990–1991 (Princeton, 1993), 332.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/ID/176306&start=607&end=657 |title=Geneva Meeting on Persian Gulf Crisis |work=C-SPAN Video Library |publisher=C-SPAN |date=9 January 1991 |access-date=18 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501102548/http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/ID/176306%26start%3D607%26end%3D657 |archive-date=1 May 2011}}</ref>

Five hours after the first attacks, Iraq's state radio broadcast declared that "The dawn of victory nears as this great showdown begins." Iraq fired eight missiles the next day. These missile attacks were to continue throughout the war. Iraq fired 88 Scud missiles during the war's seven weeks.<ref name="iraqwatch.org"/>

Iraq hoped to provoke a military response from Israel. The Iraqi government hoped that many Arab states would withdraw from the Coalition, as they would be reluctant to fight alongside Israel.<ref name=sam>Waldman, Shmuel (2005). ''Beyond a Reasonable Doubt''. Feldheim Publishers, p. 179. {{ISBN|978-1-58330-806-6}}</ref> Following the first attacks, [[Israeli Air Force]] jets were deployed to patrol the northern airspace with Iraq. Israel prepared to militarily retaliate, as its policy for the previous 40 years had always been retaliation. However, President Bush pressured Israeli Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Shamir]] not to retaliate and withdraw Israeli jets, fearing that if Israel attacked Iraq, the other Arab states would either desert the coalition or join Iraq. It was also feared that if Israel used Syrian or Jordanian airspace to attack Iraq, they would intervene in the war on Iraq's side or attack Israel. The coalition promised to deploy [[MIM-104 Patriot|Patriot missiles]] to defend Israel if it refrained from responding to the Scud attacks.<ref>Lawrence Freedman and Efraim Karsh, ''The Gulf Conflict: Diplomacy and War in the New World Order'', 1990–1991 (Princeton, 1993), 331–41.</ref><ref>Thomas, Gordon, ''Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad''</ref>

The Scud missiles targeting Israel were relatively ineffective, as firing at extreme range resulted in a dramatic reduction in accuracy and payload. Two Israeli civilians died as a direct result of the missile attacks.<ref name="JPostCasualtyCount">{{cite news |title=The day Israel's wars changed forever |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/the-day-israels-wars-changed-forever-655785 |access-date=2022-03-01 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Between 11 and 74 were killed from incorrect use of gas masks, heart attacks, and incorrect use of the anti-chemical weapons drug [[atropine]].<ref name="JPostCasualtyCount" /> Approximately 230 Israelis were injured.<ref name="publicpolicy.umd.edu"/> Extensive property damage was also caused, and, according to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Damage to general property consisted of 1,302 houses, 6,142 apartments, 23 public buildings, 200 shops and 50 cars."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/history/pages/the%20gulf%20war%20-%201991.aspx|title=The Gulf War (1991)|access-date=5 July 2016}}</ref> It was feared that Iraq would fire missiles filled with [[nerve agent]]s such as [[sarin]]. As a result, Israel's government issued [[conflict gas mask|gas mask]]s to its citizens. When the first Iraqi missiles hit Israel, some people injected themselves with an antidote for nerve gas. It has been suggested that the sturdy construction techniques used in Israeli cities, coupled with the fact that Scuds were only launched at night, played an important role in limiting the number of casualties from Scud attacks.<ref name="publicpolicy.umd.edu">{{cite journal |last1=Fetter |first1=Steve |last2=Lewis |first2=George N. |last3=Gronlund |first3=Lisbeth |title=Why were Casualties so low? |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=361|pages=293–296 |location=London |date=28 January 1993 |url=http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/4282/1/1993-Nature-Scud.pdf |doi=10.1038/361293a0 |issue=6410 |hdl=1903/4282 |s2cid=4343235 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

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In response to the threat of Scuds on Israel, the US rapidly sent a Patriot missile air defense artillery battalion to Israel along with two batteries of MIM-104 Patriot missiles for the protection of civilians.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tech.mit.edu/V110/N60/war1.60n.html|title=Three Israelis killed as Scuds hit Tel Aviv|newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]]|year=1991|access-date=11 January 2009|archive-date=28 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228034422/http://tech.mit.edu/V110/N60/war1.60n.html}}</ref> The [[Royal Netherlands Air Force]] also deployed a Patriot missile squadron to Israel and Turkey. The Dutch Defense Ministry later stated that the military use of the Patriot missile system was largely ineffective, but its psychological value for the affected populations was high.<ref name=nederland2009>{{cite web|url=http://www.defensie.nl/landmacht/onderwijs/werkstukken_basisvorming/golfoorlog/betrokkenheid_van_nederland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428093020/http://www.defensie.nl/landmacht/onderwijs/werkstukken_basisvorming/golfoorlog/betrokkenheid_van_nederland|archive-date=2011-04-28|title=Betrokkenheid van Nederland|publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)|Ministerie van Defensie]]|year=2009|access-date=11 January 2009|language=nl}}</ref>

Coalition air forces were also extensively exercised in "Scud hunts" in the Iraqi desert, trying to locate the camouflaged trucks before they fired their missiles at Israel or Saudi Arabia. On the ground, special operations forces also infiltrated Iraq, tasked with locating and destroying Scuds – including the ill-fated [[Bravo Two Zero]] patrol of the [[Special Air Service|SAS]]. Once special operations were combined with air patrols, the number of attacks fell sharply, then increased slightly as Iraqi forces adjusted to coalition tactics.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

As the Scud attacks continued, the Israelis grew increasingly impatient, and considered taking unilateral military action against Iraq. On 22 January 1991, a Scud missile hit the Israeli city of [[Ramat Gan]], after two coalition Patriots failed to intercept it. Three elderly people suffered fatal heart attacks, another 96 people were injured, and 20 apartment buildings were damaged.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kifner|first1=John|title=WAR IN THE GULF: TEL AVIV; 3 DIE 96 ARE HURT IN ISRAELI SUBURB|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/23/world/war-in-the-gulf-tel-aviv-3-die-96-are-hurt-in-israeli-suburb.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=23 January 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Atkinson|first1=Rick|last2=Balz|first2=Dan|title=Scud Hits Tel Aviv, Leaving 3 Dead, 96 Hurt|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/archive/post012291.htm|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=2 June 2013|date=23 January 1991}}</ref> After this attack, the Israelis warned that if the US failed to stop the attacks, they would. At one point, Israeli commandos boarded helicopters prepared to fly into Iraq, but the mission was called off after a phone call from US Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, reporting on the extent of coalition efforts to destroy Scuds and emphasizing that Israeli intervention could endanger US forces.<ref>Cheney, Richard: ''In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir''</ref>

In addition to the attacks on Israel, [[Iraqi rocket attacks on Saudi Arabia|47 Scud missiles were fired into Saudi Arabia]], and one missile was fired at Bahrain and another at Qatar. The missiles were fired at both military and civilian targets. One Saudi civilian was killed, and 78 others were injured. No casualties were reported in Bahrain or Qatar. The Saudi government issued all its citizens and expatriates with gas masks in the event of Iraq using missiles with warheads containing chemical weapons.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ottaway|first=David B.|date=1990-08-31|title=SAUDI KING FAHD ORDERS GAS MASKS FOR EVERYONE|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/08/31/saudi-king-fahd-orders-gas-masks-for-everyone/990b9314-d55f-4b60-bdc4-bb0f7b0d237a/|access-date=2021-03-25|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The government broadcast alerts and 'all clear' messages over television to warn citizens during Scud attacks.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

On 25 February 1991, a Scud missile hit a US Army barracks of the 14th Quartermaster Detachment, out of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, stationed in [[Dhahran]], Saudi Arabia, killing 28 soldiers and injuring over 100.<ref name="iraqwatch.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.iraqwatch.org/government/US/Pentagon/dodscud.htm |title=DOD: Information Paper- Iraq's Scud Ballistic Missiles |publisher=Iraqwatch.org |access-date=18 March 2010 |archive-date=14 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514212635/http://www.iraqwatch.org/government/US/Pentagon/dodscud.htm }}</ref> A subsequent investigation found that the assigned Patriot missile battery had failed to engage due to the [[Loss of significance|loss of significance effect]] in the onboard computer's [[Floating-point arithmetic|floating point calculations]] compounding over 100 hours of consecutive use, shifting the range gate position far enough to lose contact with the Scud during tracking action.<ref>{{cite web|author=U. S. Government Accountability Office|title=Patriot Missile Defense: Software Problem Led to System Failure at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia|url=https://www.gao.gov/products/imtec-92-26|access-date=2022-01-25|website=www.gao.gov|language=en}}</ref>

===Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia (Battle of Khafji)===
{{Main|Battle of Khafji}}

[[File:Battle of Khafji 1991.svg|thumb|Military operations during Khafji's liberation]]

On 29 January, Iraqi forces attacked and occupied the lightly defended Saudi city of [[Khafji]] with tanks and infantry. The Battle of Khafji ended two days later when the Iraqis were driven back by the [[Saudi Arabian National Guard]], supported by Qatari forces and US Marines.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Washingtonpost.com: Fog of War – Post Archive|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|language=en-US|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/archive/post013091.htm|access-date=2021-03-25|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The allied forces used extensive artillery fire.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Both sides suffered casualties, although Iraqi forces sustained substantially more dead and captured than the allied forces. Eleven Americans were killed in two separate [[friendly fire]] incidents, an additional 14 US airmen were killed when their [[AC-130]] gunship was shot down by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile,<ref>{{cite web|last=Wilkinson|first=Jeff|date=May 29, 2016|title=25 years ago, this University of South Carolina graduate gave his life in Desert Storm|url=https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article80667657.html|access-date=March 25, 2021|website=The State}}</ref> and two US soldiers were captured during the battle. Saudi and Qatari forces had a total of 18 dead. Iraqi forces in Khafji had 60–300 dead and 400 captured.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The Battle of Khafji was an example of how air power could single-handedly hinder the advance of enemy ground forces. Upon learning of Iraqi troop movements, 140 coalition aircraft were diverted to attack an advancing column consisting of two armored divisions in battalion-sized units. Precision stand-off attacks were conducted during the night and through to the next day. Iraqi vehicle losses included 357 tanks, 147 armored personnel carriers, and 89 mobile artillery pieces. Some crews simply abandoned their vehicles upon realizing that they could be destroyed by guided bombs, stopping the divisions from massing for an organized attack on the town. One Iraqi soldier, who had fought in the Iran–Iraq War, remarked that his brigade "had sustained more punishment from allied airpower in 30 minutes at Khafji than in eight years of fighting against Iran."<ref>[http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2014/February%202014/0214reversal.aspx AirLand Reversal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219160549/http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2014/February%202014/0214reversal.aspx |date=19 February 2014 }}. ''Air Force Magazine''. 1 February 2014.</ref>

==Counter reconnaissance for 2nd Armored Division==
{{Main|Battle of Norfolk}}

[[File:Destroyed Iraqi tank TF-41.jpg|thumb|Iraqi tanks destroyed by [[Task Force 1-41 Infantry]], February 1991]]

[[Task Force 1-41 Infantry]] was a [[US Army]] heavy battalion task force from the 2nd Armored Division (Forward). 2nd Armored Division (Forward) included the 1st Battalion, [[41st Infantry Regiment (United States)|41st Infantry Regiment]], the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, [[66th Armor Regiment]], and the 4th Battalion, [[3rd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)|3rd Field Artillery Regiment]]. Task Force 1–41 was the first coalition force to breach the Saudi Arabian border on 15 February 1991, and to conduct ground combat operations in Iraq against the enemy on 17 February 1991.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> Shortly after arrival in theatre "..the battalion received, for planning, a brigade cross-boundary counter-reconnaissance mission."{{sfnp|Hillman|1993|p=6}} 1–41 Infantry was assisted by the 1st Squadron, 4th Armored Cavalry Regiment. This joint effort would become known as Task Force Iron.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=95}} Counter-reconnaissance generally includes destroying or repelling the enemy's reconnaissance elements and denying their commander any observation of friendly forces. On 15 February 1991 4th Battalion of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment fired on a trailer and a few trucks in the Iraqi sector observing American forces.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=96}}

On 16 February 1991 several groups of Iraqi vehicles appeared to be performing reconnaissance on the Task Force and were driven away by fire from 4–3 FA.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=98}} Another enemy platoon, including six vehicles, was reported as being to the northeast of the Task Force. They were engaged with artillery fire from 4–3 FA.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=99}} Later that evening another group of Iraqi vehicles was spotted moving towards the center of the Task Force. They appeared to be Iraqi Soviet-made [[BTR (vehicle)|BTRs]] and tanks. For the next hour the Task Force fought several small battles with Iraqi reconnaissance units. TF 1–41 IN fired [[BGM-71 TOW|TOW missiles]] at the Iraqi formation destroying one tank. The rest of the formation was destroyed or driven away by artillery fire from 4–3 FA.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=99}} On 17 February 1991 the Task Force took enemy mortar fire, but the enemy forces managed to escape.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=102}} Later that evening the Task Force received enemy artillery fire but suffered no casualties.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=103}} That same evening the Task Force identified an Iraqi mortar position and engaged it with both direct and indirect fires.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=159}} The Iraqis continued probing operations against the Task Force for approximately two hours.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=159}} For the next two days the Task Force observed Iraqi wheeled vehicles and small units move in front of them. Several times Iraqi mortars fired on Task Force 1–41 Infantry positions.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=159}} On 18 February Iraqi mortar positions continued to conduct fire missions against the Task Force. The Task Force returned fire on the Iraqi positions with artillery fire from 4–3 FA and 1st Infantry Division Artillery.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=160}} During the Iraqi mortar attacks two American soldiers were wounded.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|pp=159–160}} Iraqi reconnaissance elements continued to patrol the area between the Task Force and the 1st Cavalry Division.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=160}} VII Corps air units and artillery conducted combat operations against Iraqi defensive positions.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=160}}

==Breach==
[[File:C141Infantryds.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of 2nd Platoon, Company C, [[Task Force 1-41 Infantry|1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment]] pose with a captured Iraqi tank, February 1991]]
{{Main|Battle of Norfolk}}

{{See also|Task Force 1-41 Infantry}}

Task Force 1–41 Infantry was the first coalition force to breach the Saudi Arabian border on 15 February 1991 and conduct ground combat operations in Iraq engaging in direct and indirect fire fights with the enemy on 17 February 1991.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> Prior to this action the Task Force's primary fire support battalion, 4th Battalion of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, participated in a massive artillery preparation. Around 300 guns from multiple countries participated in the [[artillery barrage]]. Over 14,000 rounds were fired during these missions. [[M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System]]s contributed an additional 4,900 rockets fired at Iraqi targets.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=164}} Iraq lost close to 22 artillery battalions during the initial stages of this barrage,{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=161}} including the destruction of approximately 396 Iraqi artillery pieces.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=161}}

By the end of these raids Iraqi artillery assets had all but ceased to exist. One Iraqi unit that was totally destroyed during the preparation was the Iraqi 48th Infantry Division Artillery Group.<ref name="armyhistory.org">{{cite web|url=https://armyhistory.org/the-gulf-war-and-european-artillery/|title=The Gulf War and "European Artillery" – The Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army|date=20 January 2015}}</ref> The group's commander stated his unit lost 83 of its 100 guns to the artillery preparation.<ref name="armyhistory.org"/> The artillery bombardment was supplemented by [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress]] bombing raids and [[Lockheed AC-130]] attacks.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=163}}  [[AH-64 Apache]] attack helicopters from the 1st Infantry Division and B-52 bombers attacked the Iraqi 110th Infantry Brigade.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=201}} Under enemy fire, the 1st and [[9th Engineer Battalion]]s marked and proofed assault lanes to secure a foothold in enemy territory and pass the 1st Infantry Division and the [[1st Armoured Division (United Kingdom)|1st Armoured Division]] forward.<ref name="VUA Citation"/>{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|pp=156–157}}

[[File:Destroyediraqitank4-3fa.jpg|thumb|An Iraqi [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]] T-55 tank destroyed by Task Force 1–41 Infantry, February 1991]]
On 24 February 1991 the 1st Cavalry Division fired its artillery against Iraqi artillery units.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=206}} One artillery mission struck a series of Iraqi bunkers, reinforced by Iraqi T-55 tanks, in the sector of the Iraqi 25th Infantry Division.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=206}} The same day the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division with the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Battalion, 32nd Armor, and the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry destroyed Iraqi bunkers and combat vehicles in the sector of the Iraqi 25th Infantry Division.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=206}} On 24 February 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division rolled through the breach in the Iraqi defense west of [[Wadi al-Batin]] and also cleared the northeastern sector of the breach site of enemy resistance.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> Task Force 3–37th Armor breached the Iraqi defense clearing four passage lanes and expanding the gap under direct enemy fire.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> Also on 24 February the 1st Infantry Division along with the 1st Cavalry Division destroyed Iraqi outposts and patrols belonging to the Iraqi 26th Infantry Division.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=207}} The two divisions also began capturing prisoners.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=207}} The 1st Infantry Division cleared a zone between Phase Line Vermont and Phase Line Kansas.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=207}} Once the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Battalion, 37th Armor reached the Iraqi rear defensive positions it destroyed an Iraqi [[122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30)|D-30]] artillery battery and many trucks and bunkers.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=225}}

Task Force 1–41 Infantry was given the task of breaching Iraq's initial defensive positions along the Iraq–Saudi Arabia border.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> The 1st Squadron, 4th Armored Cavalry Regiment handled similar responsibilities in its sector of operations.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> The 1st Infantry Division's 5th Battalion, 16th Infantry also played a significant role clearing the trenches and captured 160 Iraqi soldiers in the process.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=225}} Once into Iraqi territory Task Force 1–41 Infantry encountered multiple Iraqi defensive positions and bunkers. These defensive positions were occupied by a brigade-sized element.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> Task Force 1–41 Infantry elements dismounted and prepared to engage the enemy soldiers who occupied these well-prepared and heavily fortified bunkers.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> The Task Force found itself engaged in six hours of combat in order to clear the extensive [[bunker]] complex.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> The Iraqis engaged the Task Force with [[Small Arms and Light Weapons|small arms]] fire, [[Rocket-propelled grenade|RPGs]], [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] fire, and what was left of Iraqi [[artillery]] assets. A series of battles unfolded resulting in heavy Iraqi casualties and the Iraqis being removed from their defensive positions with many becoming prisoners of war. Some escaped to be killed or captured by other coalition forces.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|pp=113–133}} In the process of clearing the bunkers, Task Force 1–41 captured two brigade command posts and the command post of the Iraqi 26th Infantry Division.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=259}} The Task Force also captured a brigade commander, several battalion commanders, company commanders, and staff officers.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=259}} As combat operations progressed Task Force 1–41 Infantry engaged at short range multiple dug in enemy tanks in ambush positions.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> For a few hours, bypassed Iraqi RPG-equipped anti-tank teams, [[T-54/T-55|T-55]] tanks, and dismounted Iraqi infantry fired at passing American vehicles, only to be destroyed by other US tanks and fighting vehicles following the initial forces.<ref name="usdefensewatch.com">{{cite web|url=http://usdefensewatch.com/2015/04/correcting-myths-about-the-persian-gulf-war-the-last-stand-of-the-tawakalna/|title=CORRECTING MYTHS ABOUT THE PERSIAN GULF WAR: THE LAST STAND OF THE TAWAKALNA|date=30 April 2015}}</ref>

The 1st Infantry Division's Task Force 2–16 Infantry cleared four lanes simultaneously through an enemy fortified trench system while inflicting heavy casualties on Iraqi forces.<ref name="VUA Citation"/> Task Force 2–16 continued the attack clearing over {{convert|13|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} of entrenched enemy positions resulting in the capture and destruction of numerous enemy vehicles, equipment, personnel and command bunkers.<ref name="VUA Citation"/>

==Ground campaign==
{{long|section|words=3,000|date=September 2025}}
{{See also|Battle of Al Busayyah|Battle of Phase Line Bullet|Battle of 73 Easting|Battle of Norfolk|Battle of Medina Ridge|Battle of Kuwait International Airport|Battle of Rumaila}}
[[File:DS1991.jpg|thumb| M109 howitzers belonging to 4th Battalion of the [[3rd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)|3rd Field Artillery Regiment]], 2nd Armored Division (FWD) conducts artillery strikes on Iraqi positions during the Gulf War. 4-3 FA was the primary fire support battalion for Task Force 1–41 during the Gulf War, February 1991.]]

A 90,000 round artillery preparation fire on Iraqi defensive positions preceded the major ground assault, lasting 2.5 hours.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=194}} 1st Infantry Division Artillery, which included 4-3 FA battalion, was decisive during artillery combat operations performing multiple raids and fire missions. These combat operations resulted in the destruction of 50 enemy tanks, 139 APCs, 30 air defense systems, 152 artillery pieces, 27 missile launchers, 108 mortars, and 548 wheeled vehicles, 61 trench lines and bunker positions, 92 dug in and open infantry targets, and 34 logistical sites.<ref>Lingamfelter P.190-191</ref> The ground campaign consisted of three or possibly four of the largest [[tank]] battles in American military history.<ref name="wearethemighty.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/6-massive-tank-battles-from-us-history|title=These were the 6 most massive tank battles in US history|date=24 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Chenoweth-2005">{{cite book |title=Semper Fi: The Definitive Illustrated History of the U.S. Marines |last=Chenoweth |first=H. Avery |year=2005 |page=408}}</ref> The battles at 73 Easting, Norfolk, and Medina Ridge are well noted for their historical significance.<ref name="wearethemighty.com"/> Some consider the [[Battle of Medina Ridge]] the largest tank battle of the war.<ref name="VUA Citation"/><ref name="wearethemighty1">{{cite web |author=Logan Nye |date=2021-04-16 |title=These were the 6 most massive tank battles in US history |url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/6-massive-tank-battles-from-us-history/ |access-date=2021-11-20 |publisher=We Are The Mighty}}</ref> Other sources consider the [[Battle of Norfolk]] the largest tank battle of the war and the second largest tank battle in American history.<ref name="wearethemighty1"/> The U.S. Marine Corps also fought the biggest tank battle in its history at [[Kuwait International Airport]].<ref name="Chenoweth-2005"/> The U.S. 3rd Armored Division also fought a significant battle at Objective Dorset not far from where the Battle of Norfolk was taking place. The U.S. 3rd Armored Division destroyed approximately 300 enemy combat vehicles during this particular encounter with Iraqi forces.<ref name="VUA Citation"/>

The U.S. VII Corps was the primary combat formation of the coalition forces.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1991-02-26-1991057001-story.html|title = VII Corps leads armored surge into Iraq WAR IN THE GULF| date=26 February 1991 }}</ref> It was a formidable fighting force consisting of 1,487 tanks, 1,384 infantry fighting vehicles, 568 artillery pieces, 132 MLRS, 8 missile launchers, and 242 attack helicopters.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=90}} It had a total troop strength of 146,321 troops.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=473}} Its primary full strength fighting formations were the [[1st Armored Division (United States)]], the [[3rd Armored Division (United States)]] and the [[1st Infantry Division (United States)]]. The [[2nd Armored Division (United States)|2nd Armored Division (Forward)]] was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division as its third maneuver brigade.{{sfnp|Dinackus|2000|p=4–10}} Its Task Force 1-41 Infantry would be the spearhead of VII Corps.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/vua_citations.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915090951/http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/vua_citations.html | archive-date=15 September 2012 | title=Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM: Valorous Unit Award Citations &#124; Unit Award Orders & Citations }}</ref> In addition, the corps had the [[2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States)]] to act as a scouting and screening force, and two further heavy divisions, the [[1st Cavalry Division (United States)]] and the [[1st_(UK)_Division#Campaign|United Kingdom's 1st Armoured Division]], as well as the U.S. [[11th Aviation Group (United States)|11th Aviation Group]].<ref name="VUA Citation"/>{{sfnp|Bourque|Burdan|2007|p=275}}{{sfnp|Bourque|Burdan|2007|p=377}} VII Corps fought a number of large battles against Iraqi forces, with some of historic scope and size. Three of the battles at Norfolk, Medina Ridge, and 73 Easting are considered among the largest tank battles in history.<ref name="wearethemighty1"/> By the end of combat operations on 28 February 1991, U.S. VII Corps had driven {{Convert|260|km}}, captured 22,000 Iraqi soldiers, and destroyed 1,350 Iraqi tanks, 1,224 armored personnel carriers, 285 artillery pieces, 105 air defense systems, and 1,229 trucks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://armyhistory.org/jayhawk-goes-to-war-vii-corps-in-operation-desert-storm/ |title=Jayhawk Goes to War: VII Corps in Operation DESERT STORM – The Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army |date=30 April 2016 |publisher=Armyhistory.org |access-date=2021-11-20}}</ref>

[[File:An OH-58D Kiowa helicopter departs from a communications site in the desert during Operation Desert Shield.jpg|thumb|An OH-58D Kiowa helicopter departs from a communications site in the desert during Operation Desert Shield|left]]
The primary combat vehicles of the American divisions were the [[M1A1 MBT|M1A1 Abrams]] tank and the [[Bradley Fighting Vehicle]].{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|pp=75, 92}} The primary American artillery system was the self propelled [[M109 howitzer]].{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=107}} The primary American attack helicopter was the [[Boeing AH-64 Apache]] (Army) with the [[Bell AH-1 Cobra]] (Army and Marines) also being in theatre.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=107}} The U.S. [[A-10#|Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II]] ground attack aircraft would distinguish itself during the Gulf War aided by the [[OH-58D]] [[JAATT]] eyes in the sky. Together they inflicted significant damage on Iraqi ground forces.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=244}} U.S. A-10 "Warthog" crews would destroy 900 Iraqi tanks, 2,000 other military vehicles and 1,200 artillery pieces during combat operations.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The [[U.S. Marine Corps]] was represented by the [[1st Marine Division]] and the [[2nd Marine Division]].<ref name="marinesmil">{{cite magazine |author=Paul W. Westermeyer |title=The Battle of al-Khafji |magazine=U.S. Marines in Battle |date=28 January – 1 February 1991 |url=https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/U.S.%20Marines%20in%20Battle%20Al-Khafji%20%20PCN%20106000400_1.pdf?ver=2012-10-11-164150-403}}</ref> They were supported by the U.S. Army's 2nd Armored Division's Tiger Brigade to provide the Marines with additional armor support.<ref name="marinesmil"/> Marine armor units mostly consisted of the older [[M60 tank|M-60]] tank.<ref name="marinesmil"/> The 1st Marine Division destroyed around 60 Iraqi tanks near the Burgan oil field without suffering any losses.<ref>Blitzkrieg in the Gulf by Yves Debay</ref> The [[1st Marine Division (United States)|1st Marine Division]] Task Force Ripper led the drive to the Kuwait International Airport on 27 February 1991. Marine Task Force Ripper destroyed about 100 Iraqi tanks and [[armored personnel carrier]]s, including [[T-72 tank|T-72]] tanks.<ref>U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf, 1990–1991 With the 1st U.S. Marine Division in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. pp.92–93.</ref> The division commander Maj. Gen. J.M. Myatt said,{{sfnp|Nordeen|Isby|2010|p=66}} "During the first day of combat operations 1st Platoon, D Company, 3rd Tank Battalion destroyed 15 Iraqi tanks".{{sfnp|Nordeen|Isby|2010|p=73}} The Marines also destroyed 25 [[Armoured personnel carrier|APC]]s and took 300 [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]].<ref>U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf, 1990–1991 With the 1st U.S. Marine Division in Desert Shield and Desert Storm Cureton P.94</ref> The U.S.M.C. would often encounter the Iraqi 3rd Armored Division in their theater of operations. Once the 1st Marine Division reached Kuwait International Airport they found what remained of the Iraqi 12th Armored Brigade, 3rd Armored Division defending it. The Marines destroyed 30 to 40 Iraqi T-72 tanks which had taken up defensive positions around the airport.{{sfnp|Nordeen|Isby|2010|p=73}} The Iraqi 3rd Armored Division losses included more than 250 T-55/62s and 70 T-72 tanks by the end of combat operations.{{sfnp|Nordeen|Isby|2010|p=73}} The Iraqi 3rd Armored Division would be totally destroyed. The 2nd Marine Division played a major role repelling the attempted Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia which is known as the [[Battle of Khafji]]. The 2nd Marine Division also faced heavy resistance during the [[Battle of Kuwait International Airport]]. The battle featured the "Reveille Engagement" which went on to become the largest tank battle in United States Marine Corps' entire history.<ref>Col H. Avery Chenoweth (2005) Semper Fi: The Definitive Illustrated History of the U.S. Marines</ref> Marine Reserve unit Bravo Company, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine division was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division.<ref name="bravocompany4thtankbattalion.org">{{cite web |url=http://bravocompany4thtankbattalion.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109120912/http://bravocompany4thtankbattalion.org/ |archive-date=9 January 2016 |title= History of Bravo Company, 4th Tank Battalion in Desert Storm 1991 |access-date=5 January 2019 }}</ref> Bravo Company destroyed a total of 119 enemy vehicles and took over 800 [[POW]]s by the end of combat operations.<ref name="bravocompany4thtankbattalion.org"/> The 1st Tank Battalion claimed 50 Iraqi T-55 and T-62 tanks and 25 APCs. The 3rd Battalion claimed 57 T-55s and T-62s along with 5 T-72s, 7 APCs, and 10 trucks. The 8th Battalion destroyed more than three dozen tanks and a number of other vehicles.<ref>M60 vs T-62 Cold War Combatants 1956–92, Nordeen & Isby, p.73</ref> U.S. Marine Corps armor units would destroy hundreds of Iraqi tanks by the end of combat operations.{{sfnp|Nordeen|Isby|2010|p=73}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/m60-old-tank-crushed-saddam-hussein-during-first-gulf-war-146816 | title=M60: This Old Tank Crushed Saddam Hussein During the First Gulf War | date=22 April 2020 }}</ref> U.S. Marine Corps tank losses would be light as they suffered the loss of ten M-60 tanks during combat operations.{{sfnp|Nordeen|Isby|2010|p=74}}

[[File:A Challenger 1 tank during the Gulf War.JPEG|thumb|British Challenger 1 tanks during the Gulf War. The British Challenger tank was the most efficient tank of the Gulf War, suffering no losses while destroying approximately 300 Iraqi tanks during combat operations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tanknutdave.com/the-british-challenger-1-main-battle-tank/|title = The British Challenger 1 Main Battle Tank}}</ref>]]
The United Kingdom was represented by its 1st Armoured Division known as the Desert Rats. The British 1st Armoured Division fielded approximately 176 [[Challenger 1]] tanks.<ref>Dunstan P.8</ref> British infantry rode into battle on the [[Warrior tracked armoured vehicle]]. It had reasonable armour protection and a 30mm gun. Modified versions of the vehicle included mortar carriers, [[MILAN]] antitank systems, and command and control vehicles; and the British possessed a variety of excellent light armoured vehicles built on their [[FV101 Scorpion]] chassis. British artillery was primarily American made M109 howitzers (155mm), [[M110 howitzer]]s (203mm), and [[M270 MLRS]] which were compatible with American systems. Their air support consisted of [[Gazelle helicopter]]s, used for reconnaissance, and the [[Lynx helicopter]] which was comparable to the American [[AH-1 Cobra]]. The British had their full contingent of engineer, logistics, and medical units.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=260}}

The British 1st Armoured Division was responsible for protecting the right flank of VII Corps. It was assumed by the Corps' planners the Iraqi 52nd Armored Division would counterattack VII Corps once their penetration into Iraqi defenses was discovered. The British 1st Armoured Division had two brigades (the 4th and 7th) which participated in [[Operation Granby]], the name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War. The British 1st Armoured Division had traveled 217 miles in 97 hours. The British 1st Armoured Division had captured or destroyed about 300 Iraqi tanks{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} and a very large number of armored personnel carriers, trucks, reconnaissance vehicles, etc.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=275}}{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=377}} The Desert Rats also destroyed multiple Iraqi artillery positions.<ref name="Halberstadt P.117, 121">Halberstadt P.117, 121</ref> The division also took over 7,000 Iraqi prisoners of war including two division commanders and two other general officers.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=319}} The British 1st Armoured Division destroyed or isolated four Iraqi infantry divisions (the 26th, 48th, 31st, and 25th) and overran the Iraqi 52nd Armored Division in several sharp engagements. The Iraqi 80th Armored Brigade would also fall victim to the British 1st Armoured Division.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=265}}

Iraq was represented mostly by its own VII Corps and its Jihad Corps.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=244}} Its most notable participants were its elite Republican Guard Divisions Tawakalna, Medina, Hammurabi, and Adnan.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=43}}{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=350}} The first three of these had a strength of over 660 tanks, 660 infantry fighting vehicles, and thousands of antitank weapons, self propelled artillery, and other combat systems.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=244}} The Tawakalna Republican Guard Division was Iraq's most powerful division which included approximately 14,000 soldiers, 220 [[T-72]] tanks, 284 [[infantry fighting vehicle]]s, 126 artillery pieces, and 18 MLRS.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=324}} The Iraqi 52nd Armored Division was also a primary participant.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=377}} It was a powerful division consisting of 245 tanks and 195 [[armored fighting vehicle]]s.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=185}} The Iraqi 10th and [[12th Division (Iraq)|12th Armored Division]]s were also present. The two divisions formed the foundation of the Jihad Corps.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=244}} The Iraqi [[10th Division (Iraq)|10th Armored Division]] was considered the best regular division in the Iraqi Army.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=243}} It had more modern equipment than the other regular Iraqi units.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=243}} It was equipped with T-72 and [[T-62]] tanks.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=243}} The T-62 tank being its primary system.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=243}} Overall the primary tank of the Iraqi forces was the [[T-55]] tank.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=19}} The Iraqis fielded them in great numbers.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=19}} The Iraqis also had elements of two other independent armored brigades in theatre, those being the 50th and 29th Armored Brigades.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|pp=333–337}}
Iraq would also field multiple Infantry Divisions.<ref>U.S. Marines in the Persian Gulf, 1990–1991 With the 1st U.S. Marine Division in Desert Shield and Desert Storm Cureton P.97</ref>

The Iraqis suffered the loss of over 3,000 tanks and over 2,000 other combat vehicles during these battles against the American-led coalition.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=455}} It is estimated that Iraqi forces suffered 20,000–50,000 troops killed during combat operations.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=455}} It is also estimated that over 75,000 Iraqi soldiers were wounded.<ref>"Persian Gulf War". MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on 1 November 2009.</ref> Between 80,000 and 175,000 Iraqi troops were taken prisoner.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=455}}<ref name="google1990"/><ref name="google1991"/> Iraqi forces inflicted very minimal damage on Coalition forces.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=471}}<ref>Carhart, Tom (1994). Iron Soldiers: How America's 1st Armored Division Crushed Iraq's Elite Republican Guard. New York: Random House. p.323 {{ISBN|0671791656}}</ref><ref>Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2017.</ref>

===Liberation of Kuwait===
{{Main|Liberation of Kuwait campaign}}

{{See also|Order of battle of the Gulf War ground campaign}}
[[File:3 AD Iraq.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|US [[M1A1 MBT|M1A1 Abrams]] tanks from the [[3rd Armored Division (United States)|3rd Armored Division]] along the Line of Departure]]

US decoy attacks by air attacks and naval gunfire the night before Kuwait's liberation were designed to make the Iraqis believe the main coalition ground attack would focus on central Kuwait.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} For months, American units in Saudi Arabia had been under almost constant Iraqi artillery fire, as well as threats from Scud missiles and chemical attacks. On 24 February 1991, the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions and the 1st Light Armored Infantry Battalion crossed into Kuwait and headed toward Kuwait City. They encountered trenches, barbed wire, and minefields. However, these positions were poorly defended, and were overrun in the first few hours. Several tank battles took place, but otherwise coalition troops encountered minimal resistance, as most Iraqi troops surrendered. The general pattern was that the Iraqis would put up a short fight before surrendering. However, Iraqi air defenses shot down nine US aircraft. Meanwhile, forces from Arab states advanced into Kuwait from the east, encountering little resistance and suffering few casualties.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

Despite the successes of coalition forces, it was feared that the Iraqi Republican Guard would escape into Iraq before it could be destroyed. It was decided to send British armored forces into Kuwait 15 hours ahead of schedule, and to send US forces after the Republican Guard. The coalition advance was preceded by a heavy artillery and rocket barrage, after which 150,000 troops and 1,500 tanks began their advance. Iraqi forces in Kuwait counterattacked against US troops, acting on a direct order from Saddam Hussein himself. Despite the intense combat, the Americans repulsed the Iraqis and continued to advance towards Kuwait City.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=375}}

Kuwaiti forces were tasked with liberating the city. Iraqi troops offered only light resistance. The Kuwaitis quickly liberated the city despite losing one soldier and having one plane shot down.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} On 27 February, Saddam ordered a retreat from Kuwait,{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} and President Bush declared it liberated.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenthal |first=Andrew |date=1991-02-28 |title=War in the Gulf: Bush Halts Offensive Combat; Kuwait Freed, Iraqis Crushed |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/28/world/war-in-the-gulf-bush-halts-offensive-combat-kuwait-freed-iraqis.html |access-date=2023-02-26 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> However, an Iraqi unit at Kuwait International Airport appeared not to have received the message and fiercely resisted. US Marines had to fight for hours before securing the airport, after which Kuwait was declared secure. After four days of fighting, Iraqi forces were expelled from Kuwait.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} As part of a [[scorched earth]] policy, they [[Kuwaiti oil fires|set fire to nearly 700 oil wells]] and placed land mines around the wells to make extinguishing the fires more difficult.<ref>{{cite web|last=International|first=Radio Canada|date=2015-11-06|title=History: November 6, 1991 Canadians cap the last oil fire in the Gulf War|url=https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2015/11/06/history-november-6-1991-canadians-cap-the-last-oil-fire-in-the-gulf-war/|access-date=2021-03-25|website=RCI {{!}} English}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2023}}

===Initial moves into Iraq===
[[File:DesertStormMap v2.svg|thumb|Ground troop movements 24–28 February 1991 during Operation Desert Storm]]
The war's ground phase was officially designated Operation Desert Saber.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} The first units to move into Iraq were three patrols of the British Special Air Service's B squadron, call signs Bravo One Zero, Bravo Two Zero, and Bravo Three Zero, in late January. These eight-man patrols landed behind Iraqi lines to gather intelligence on the movements of Scud mobile missile launchers, which could not be detected from the air, as they were hidden under bridges and camouflage netting during the day.{{sfnp|Riley|2010|p=207}} Other objectives included the destruction of the launchers and their fiber-optic communications arrays that lay in pipelines and relayed coordinates to the [[Transporter erector launcher|TEL]] operators launching attacks against Israel. The operations were designed to prevent any possible Israeli intervention. Due to lack of sufficient ground cover to carry out their assignment, One Zero and Three Zero abandoned their operations, while Two Zero remained, and was later compromised, with only Sergeant [[Chris Ryan]] escaping to Syria.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Elements of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Battalion [[5th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|5th Cavalry]] of the 1st Cavalry Division of the US Army performed a direct attack into Iraq on 15 February 1991, followed by one in force on 20 February that led directly through seven Iraqi divisions which were caught off guard.{{citation needed|date=February 2009}} On 17 January 1991 the 101st Airborne Division Aviation Regiment fired the first shots of the war when eight [[AH-64]] helicopters successfully destroyed two Iraqi early warning radar sites.<ref name="ReferenceA">Screaming Eagles 101st Airborne Division by Russ & Susan Bryant P.85</ref> From 15 to 20 February, the [[Battle of Wadi al-Batin]] took place inside Iraq; this was the first of two attacks by 1 Battalion 5th Cavalry of the 1st Cavalry Division. It was a feint attack, designed to make the Iraqis think that a coalition invasion would take place from the south. The Iraqis fiercely resisted, and the Americans eventually withdrew as planned back into the Wadi al-Batin. Three US soldiers were killed and nine wounded, with one M2 Bradley IFV turret destroyed, but they had taken 40 prisoners and destroyed five tanks, and successfully deceived the Iraqis. This attack led the way for the XVIII Airborne Corps to sweep around behind the 1st Cav and attack Iraqi forces to the west. On 22 February 1991, Iraq agreed to a Soviet-proposed ceasefire agreement. The agreement called for Iraq to withdraw troops to pre-invasion positions within six weeks following a total ceasefire, and called for monitoring of the ceasefire and withdrawal to be overseen by the UN Security Council.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The coalition rejected the proposal, but said that retreating Iraqi forces would not be attacked,{{citation needed|date=February 2009}} and gave 24 hours for Iraq to withdraw its forces. On 23 February, fighting resulted in the capture of 500 Iraqi soldiers. On 24 February, British and American armored forces crossed the Iraq–Kuwait border and entered Iraq in large numbers, taking hundreds of prisoners. Iraqi resistance was light, and four Americans were killed.<ref name="leyden.com">{{cite web|author=Andrew Leydon |url=http://www.leyden.com/gulfwar/week6.html |title=Carriers in the Persian Gulf War |publisher=Leyden.com |access-date=18 March 2010}}</ref>

===Coalition forces enter Iraq===
[[File:IrakDesertStorm1991.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of destroyed Iraqi [[T-72]] tank, [[BMP-1]] and [[Type 63 (armoured personnel carrier)|Type 63]] armored personnel carriers and trucks on Highway 8 in March 1991]]

Shortly afterwards, the US VII Corps, in full strength and spearheaded by the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, launched an armored attack into Iraq early on 24 February, just to the west of Kuwait, surprising Iraqi forces. Simultaneously, the [[XVIII Airborne Corps|US XVIII Airborne Corps]] launched a sweeping "left-hook" attack across southern Iraq's largely undefended desert, led by the US [[3d Armored Cavalry Regiment|3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment]] and the [[24th Infantry Division (United States)|24th Infantry Division (Mechanized)]]. This movement's left flank was protected by the French [[Division Daguet]]. The [[101st Airborne Division]] conducted a combat air assault into enemy territory.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The 101st Airborne Division had struck {{convert|155|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} behind enemy lines.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> It was the deepest air assault operation in history.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Approximately 400 helicopters transported 2,000 soldiers into Iraq where they destroyed Iraqi columns trying to flee westward and prevented the escape of Iraqi forces.<ref>''Screaming Eagles: The 101st Airborne Division from D-Day to Desert Storm'' by Christopher J Anderson P.8</ref> The 101st Airborne Division travelled a further {{convert|50|to|60|mi|km|sigfig=1|order=flip|abbr=on}} into Iraq.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> By nightfall, the 101st cut off Highway 8 which was a vital supply line running between Basra and the Iraqi forces.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The 101st had lost 16 soldiers in action during the 100-hour war and captured thousands of enemy prisoners of war.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The French force quickly overcame Iraq's 45th Infantry Division, suffering light casualties and taking a large number of prisoners, and took up blocking positions to prevent an Iraqi counterattack on the coalition's flank. The movement's right flank was protected by the United Kingdom's 1st Armoured Division. Once the allies had penetrated deep into Iraqi territory, they turned eastward, launching a flank attack against the elite Republican Guard before it could escape. The Iraqis resisted fiercely from dug-in positions and stationary vehicles, and even mounted armored charges.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Unlike many previous engagements, the destruction of the first Iraqi tanks did not result in a mass surrender. The Iraqis suffered massive losses and lost dozens of tanks and vehicles, while US casualties were comparatively low, with a single Bradley knocked out. Coalition forces pressed another {{Convert|10|km|abbr=on}} into Iraqi territory, and captured their objective within three hours. They took 500 prisoners and inflicted heavy losses, defeating Iraq's 26th Infantry Division. A US soldier was killed by an Iraqi land mine, another five by friendly fire, and 30 wounded during the battle. Meanwhile, British forces attacked Iraq's Medina Division and a major Republican Guard logistics base. In nearly two days of some of the war's most intense fighting, the British destroyed 40 enemy tanks and captured a division commander.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Meanwhile, US forces attacked the village of [[Muthanna Governorate|Al Busayyah]], meeting fierce resistance. The US force destroyed military hardware and took prisoners, while suffering no casualties.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

On 25 February 1991, Iraqi forces fired a Scud missile at an American barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The missile attack killed 28 US military personnel.<ref>''Twentieth Century Battlefields'', "The Gulf War".</ref>

The coalition's advance was much swifter than US generals had expected. On 26 February, Iraqi troops began retreating from Kuwait, after they had set 737 of its oil wells on fire. A long convoy of retreating Iraqi troops formed along the main Iraq–Kuwait highway. Although they were retreating, this convoy was bombed so extensively by coalition air forces that it came to be known as the [[Highway of Death]]. Thousands of Iraqi troops were killed. American, British, and French forces continued to pursue retreating Iraqi forces over the border and back into Iraq, eventually moving to within {{convert|150|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} of Baghdad, before withdrawing back to Iraq's border with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.<ref name="Holsti2011">{{cite book|last=Holsti|first=Ole R.|author-link=Ole R. Holsti|title=American Public Opinion on the Iraq War|page=20|chapter=The United States and Iraq before the Iraq War|date=2011-11-07|publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]]|isbn=978-0-472-03480-2|quote=Air attacks inflicted heavy casualties on retreating forces along what became known as 'the highway of death.' American, British, and French units pursued the Iraqis to within 150 miles of Baghdad.}}</ref>

==End of active hostilities==
{{See also|Kuwaiti oil fires}}
[[File:Gulf War Saudi Flag.JPEG|thumb|upright|left|Civilians and coalition military forces wave Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian flags as they celebrate the retreat of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.]]

In coalition-occupied Iraqi territory, a peace conference was held where a ceasefire agreement was negotiated and signed by both sides. At the conference, Iraq was authorized to fly armed helicopters on their side of the temporary border, ostensibly for government transit due to the damage done to civilian infrastructure. Soon after, these helicopters and much of Iraq's military were used to fight an [[1991 uprisings in Iraq|uprising in the south]]. On March 1, 1991, one day after the Gulf War ceasefire, a revolt broke out in [[Basra]] against the Iraqi government. The uprising spread within days to all of the largest Shia cities in southern Iraq: [[Najaf]], [[Amarah]], [[Diwaniya]], [[Hilla]], [[Karbala]], [[Kut]], [[Nasiriyah]] and [[Samawah]]. The rebellions were encouraged by an airing of "The Voice of Free Iraq" on 24 February 1991, which was broadcast from a CIA-run radio station out of Saudi Arabia. The Arabic service of the Voice of America supported the uprising by stating that the rebellion was well supported, and that they would soon be liberated from Saddam.<ref>[[Robert Fisk|Fisk, Robert]]. ''[[Robert Fisk#Works|The Great War for Civilisation]]'', Vintage (2007 reprint), at p. 646.</ref>

In the North, Kurdish leaders took American statements that they would support an uprising to heart, and began fighting, hoping to trigger a [[coup d'état]]. However, when no US support came, Iraqi generals remained loyal to Saddam and brutally crushed the Kurdish uprising and the uprising in the south.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2007-08-21|title=Flashback: the 1991 Iraqi revolt|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2888989.stm|access-date=2021-03-25}}</ref> Millions of Kurds fled across the mountains to Turkey and Kurdish areas of Iran. On April 5, the Iraqi government announced "the complete crushing of acts of sedition, sabotage and rioting in all towns of Iraq." An estimated 25,000 to 100,000 Iraqis were killed in the uprisings.<ref name="ENDLESS">{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/Iraq926.htm |title=ENDLESS TORMENT, The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath |publisher=Hrw.org |access-date=2009-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615171955/http://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/Iraq926.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,HRW,,KWT,467fca591e,0.html |title=Refworld &#124; Human Rights Watch World Report 1992 – Iraq and Occupied Kuwait |publisher=UNHCR |access-date=2013-08-14}}</ref> These events later resulted in [[no-fly zone]]s being established in northern and southern Iraq.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

In Kuwait, the Emir was restored, and suspected Iraqi collaborators were repressed. Eventually, over 400,000 people were expelled from the country, including a large number of [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]], because of PLO support of Saddam. Yasser Arafat did not apologize for his support of Iraq, but after his death [[Mahmoud Abbas]] formally apologized in 2004 on behalf of the PLO. This came after the Kuwaiti government formally forgave the group.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4089961.stm |work=BBC News |title=Abbas apology to Kuwait over Iraq |date=12 December 2004}}</ref>

There was some criticism of the Bush administration, as they chose to allow Saddam to remain in power instead of pushing on to capture Baghdad and overthrowing his government. In their co-written 1998 book, ''[[A World Transformed]]'', Bush and Brent Scowcroft argued that such a course would have fractured the alliance, and would have had many unnecessary political and human costs associated with it.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

In 1992, the US Defense Secretary during the war, Dick Cheney, made the same point:

{{blockquote|I would guess if we had gone in there, we would still have forces in Baghdad today. We'd be running the country. We would not have been able to get everybody out and bring everybody home.

And the final point that I think needs to be made is this question of casualties. I don't think you could have done all of that without significant additional US casualties, and while everybody was tremendously impressed with the low cost of the (1991) conflict, for the 146 Americans who were killed in action and for their families, it wasn't a cheap war.

And the question in my mind is, how many additional American casualties is Saddam [Hussein] worth? And the answer is, not that damned many. So, I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the President made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/national/192908_cheney29.html|title="Cheney changed his view on Iraq", by Charles Pope, ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', 29 September 2004|date=28 September 2004|access-date=7 January 2005}}</ref>}}

On 10 March 1991, 540,000 US troops began moving out of the Persian Gulf.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

On 15 March 1991, [[Sheikh]] [[Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah]] returned to Kuwait, staying at the private home of a wealthy Kuwaiti as his own palace had been destroyed. He was met with a symbolic arrival with several dozens cars filled with people honking their horns and waving Kuwaiti flags who tried to follow the Emir's convoy. According to ''The New York Times'', he faced a population divided between those who stayed and those who fled, a government straining to reassert control and a rejuvenated opposition that is pressing for greater democracy and other postwar changes, including voting rights for women. Democracy advocates had been calling for restoration of Parliament that the Emir had suspended in 1986.<ref>New York Times, 15 Mar. 1991, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/15/world/after-war-kuwait-kuwaiti-emir-tired-tearful-returns-his-devastated-land.html After the War: Kuwait: Kuwaiti Emir, Tired and Tearful, Returns to His Devastated Land] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012095410/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/15/world/after-war-kuwait-kuwaiti-emir-tired-tearful-returns-his-devastated-land.html |date=12 October 2017 }}"</ref>

==Coalition involvement==
{{Main|Coalition of the Gulf War|Naval organization of the U.S.-led coalition during the Gulf War}}

[[File:Various Arabic Troops during Operation Desert Storm.jpg|thumb|Coalition troops from Egypt, Syria, Oman, France, and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm]]

Coalition members included Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark,<ref>{{cite web |date=24 September 2010 |title=Den 1. Golfkrig |url=http://www.forsvaret.dk/SOK/Internationalt/Tidligere/Golf1/Pages/default.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112215511/http://forsvaret.dk/SOK/Internationalt/Tidligere/Golf1/Pages/default.aspx |archive-date=12 January 2011 |access-date=1 February 2011 |publisher=Forsvaret.dk}}</ref> Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania,<ref>{{cite book |author-last1=Alexandrescu |author-first1=Grigore |url=https://cssas.unap.ro/ro/pdf_studii/operatii_militare_expeditionare.pdf |title=Operații militare expediționare |author-last2=Băhnăreanu |author-first2=Cristian |date=2007 |publisher=Editura Universității Naționale de Apărare "Carol I" |isbn=978-973-663-499-4 |place=[[Bucharest]] |page=33 |language=ro}}</ref> Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.<ref name="Tread">{{Cite book|last=Crocker III|first=H. W.|title=Don't Tread on Me|publisher=Crown Forum|year=2006|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/donttreadonme40000croc/page/384 384]|isbn=978-1-4000-5363-6|url=https://archive.org/details/donttreadonme40000croc/page/384}}</ref> The United States had 700,000 troops.<ref>Gulf War coalition forces (latest available) by country {{cite web |title=www.nationmaster.com |url=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mil_gul_war_coa_for-military-gulf-war-coalition-forces |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105011128/http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mil_gul_war_coa_for-military-gulf-war-coalition-forces |archive-date=5 November 2013 |access-date=2007-09-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hersh |first=Seymour |title=Chain of Command |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2005 |page=181}}</ref>

Germany and Japan provided financial assistance<ref>{{cite web|title=Splitting the Check: When Allies Helped Pay for Middle East War|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/splitting-check-when-allies-helped-pay-middle-east-war-n203756|access-date=2021-03-25|website=NBC News|date=16 September 2014 |language=en}}</ref> and donated military hardware, although they did not send direct military assistance. This later became known as ''[[checkbook diplomacy]]''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

===Australia===
{{Main|Australia in the Gulf War}}

Australia contributed a Naval Task Group, which formed part of the multi-national fleet in the Persian Gulf and [[Gulf of Oman]], under Operation Damask. In addition, medical teams were deployed aboard a US [[hospital ship]], and a [[Clearance Diving Team (RAN)|naval clearance diving team]] took part in de-mining Kuwait's port facilities following the end of combat operations. Australian forces experienced a number of incidents in the first number of weeks of the Desert Storm Campaign including the detection of significant air threats from Iraq as a part of the outer perimeter of Battle Force Zulu; the detection of free sea floating mines and assistance to the aircraft carrier {{USS|Midway}}. The Australian Task Force was also placed at great risk with regard to the sea mine threat, with {{HMAS|Brisbane|D 41|6}} narrowly avoiding a mine. The Australians played a significant role in enforcing the sanctions put in place against Iraq following Kuwait's invasion. Following the war's end, Australia deployed a medical unit on [[Operation Habitat]] to northern Iraq as part of [[Operation Provide Comfort]].<ref>Odgers 1999, pp. 356–371.</ref>

===Argentina===
{{main|Operativo Alfil}}

[[File:An Alouette III helicopter of the Argentine navy onboard USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) during Operation Desert Storm.JPEG|thumb|Argentine Navy [[Alouette III]] helicopter on board {{USNS|Comfort}}, February 1991]]

Argentina was the only South American country to participate in the 1991 Gulf War. It sent a destroyer, [[ARA Almirante Brown (D-10)]], a corvette, [[ARA Spiro (P-43)]] (later replaced by another corvette, [[ARA Rosales (P-42)]]) and a supply ship, [[ARA Bahía San Blas (B-4)|ARA ''Bahía San Blas'' (B-4)]] to participate on the [[United Nations]] blockade and sea control effort of the Persian Gulf. The success of "Operación Alfil" (English: "Operation Bishop") with more than 700 interceptions and {{convert|25000|nmi|km}} sailed in the theatre of operations helped to overcome the so-called "[[Malvinas syndrome]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fuerzasnavales.com/magazine/mekosgolfo.html|title=La Armada Argentina en el Golfo|trans-title=The Argentine Armed Forces in the Gulf|publisher=Fuerzas Navales Magazine|access-date=14 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624194606/http://www.fuerzasnavales.com/magazine/mekosgolfo.html|archive-date=24 June 2018|language=es}}</ref>

Argentina was later classified by the US as a [[major non-NATO ally]] due to its contributions during the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa44953.000/hfa44953_0.htm |title=Overview of U.S. Policy Toward South America and the President's Upcoming Trip to the Region|access-date=14 January 2020}}</ref>

===Canada===
{{main|Operation Friction}}

Canada was one of the first countries to condemn Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and it quickly agreed to join the US-led coalition. In August 1990, Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]] committed the [[Canadian Forces]] to deploy a Naval Task Group. The destroyers {{HMCS|Terra Nova|DDE 259|6}} and {{HMCS|Athabaskan|DDG 282|6}} joined the maritime interdiction force supported by the supply ship {{HMCS|Protecteur|AOR 509|6}} in [[Operation Friction]]. The Canadian Task Group led the coalition's maritime logistics forces in the Persian Gulf. A fourth ship, {{HMCS|Huron|DDG 281|6}}, arrived in-theater after hostilities had ceased and was the first allied ship to visit Kuwait.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Following the UN-authorized use of force against Iraq, the Canadian Forces deployed a [[McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet|CF-18 Hornet]] and [[Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King|CH-124 Sea King]] squadron with support personnel, as well as a [[field hospital]] to deal with casualties from the ground war. When the air war began, the CF-18s were integrated into the coalition force and provided air cover and attacked ground targets. This was the first time since the [[Korean War]] that the [[Canadian Armed Forces]] had participated in an offensive. The only CF-18 Hornet to record an official victory during the conflict was an aircraft involved in the beginning of the [[Battle of Bubiyan]] against the Iraqi Navy.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morin|last2=Gimblett|first1=Jean H.|first2=Richard Howard|title=Operation Friction, 1990–1991: The Canadian Forces in the Persian Gulf|url=https://archive.org/details/operationfrictio0000mori|url-access=registration|year=1997|publisher=Dundurn Press|isbn=978-1-55002-257-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/operationfrictio0000mori/page/170 170]}}
The Canadian Commander in the Middle East was Commodore [[Kenneth J. Summers]].</ref>

===France===
{{main|Opération Daguet}}

[[File:Iraqi Type 69 destroyed by the French 6th Light Armored Division during the Gulf War.JPEG|thumb|French and American soldiers inspecting an Iraqi [[Type 69/79|Type 69]] tank destroyed by the French [[Division Daguet]] during Operation Desert Storm]]

The second largest European contingent was from France, which committed 18,000 troops.<ref name="Tread"/> Operating on the left flank of the US XVIII Airborne Corps, the French Army force was the Division Daguet, including troops from the [[French Foreign Legion]]. Initially, the French operated independently under national command and control, but coordinated closely with the Americans (via CENTCOM) and Saudis. In January, the Division was placed under the tactical control of the XVIII Airborne Corps. France also deployed several combat aircraft and naval units. The French called their contribution [[Opération Daguet]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

===Italy===
{{main|Operazione Locusta}}

Following the invasion and annexation of [[Kuwait]] by [[Iraq]], on September 25, 1990, the Italian Government sent eight multirole fighter bombers [[Panavia Tornado#Tornado IDS|Tornado IDS]] (plus two spare) in the Persian Gulf, belonging to the [[6th Stormo|6º]], [[36º Stormo|36º]] and [[50º Stormo]], which were deployed at the [[Al Dhafra Air Base]], near [[Abu Dhabi]], in the United Arab Emirates.<ref name="difesaonline.it">{{cite web |url=http://en.difesaonline.it/news-forze-armate/cielo/25-anni-dalloperazione-locusta|title=25 years from the &quot;Locust&quot; operation|work=Difesa Online |date=25 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="difesa.it">{{cite web |url=http://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/missione/attivitaoperative/operazioni_concluse/opr_internazionali_concluse/Pagine/Iraq(1990).aspx|title=Iraq (1990)|work=Minestero Della Difesa| language=it-IT}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.aviation-report.com/celebrato-93-anniversario-aeronautica-militare/| title=Celebrato il 93° Anniversario dell'Aeronautica Militare – Aviation Report| access-date=2018-02-01| language=it-IT}}</ref> During the 42 days of war, Italian fighters made 226 sorties for a total of 589 flight hours. The Italian Air Force recorded the loss of a single aircraft in the Gulf War. The use of Italian aircraft as part of the Desert Storm operation represented the first operational employment in combat missions of Italian Air Force aircraft since the end of World War II.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

===United Kingdom===
{{Main|Operation Granby}}

[[File:British Army convoy during the Gulf War.JPEG|thumb|British Army convoy during the Gulf War]]

The United Kingdom committed the largest contingent of any European state that participated in the war's combat operations. Operation Granby was the code name for the operations in the Persian Gulf. [[British Army]] regiments (mainly with the 1st Armoured Division), [[Royal Air Force]], [[Fleet Air Arm|Naval Air Squadrons]] and [[Royal Navy]] vessels were mobilized in the Persian Gulf. Both Royal Air Force and Naval Air Squadrons, using various aircraft, operated from [[Military airbase|airbases]] in Saudi Arabia and Naval Air Squadrons from various vessels in the Persian Gulf. The United Kingdom played a major role in the Battle of Norfolk, where its forces destroyed over 200 Iraqi tanks and a large quantity of other vehicles.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=275}}{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=377}} After 48 hours of combat the British 1st Armoured Division destroyed or isolated four Iraqi infantry divisions (the 26th, 48th, 31st, and 25th) and overran the Iraqi 52nd Armored Division in several sharp engagements.{{sfnp|Bourque|2001|p=377}}

Chief Royal Navy vessels deployed to the Persian Gulf included [[Type 22 frigate|''Broadsword''-class frigates]], and [[Type 42 destroyer|''Sheffield''-class destroyers]]; other R.N. and [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary|RFA]] ships were also deployed. The light aircraft carrier [[HMS Ark Royal (R07)|HMS ''Ark Royal'']] was deployed to the [[Mediterranean Sea]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Several SAS squadrons were deployed.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

A British Challenger 1 achieved the longest range confirmed tank kill of the war, destroying an Iraqi tank with an [[armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot]] (APFSDS) round fired over {{convert|4700|m|mi}}—the longest tank-on-tank kill shot recorded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://britisharmyblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/desert-storm-part-22-charge-of-the-heavy-brigade/ |title=Desert Storm Part 22: Charge of the Heavy Brigade |publisher=British Army Official Blog |date=28 February 2016 |access-date=27 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://britisharmyblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/11/desert-storm-part-24-back-to-germany/ |title=Desert Storm Part 24: Back to Germany |publisher=British Army Official Blog |date=11 March 2016 |access-date=27 December 2016}}</ref>

==Casualties==

===Civilian===
[[File:Kurdish refugees travel by truck, Turkey, 1991.jpeg|thumb|[[Iraqi Kurds]] fleeing to Turkey shortly after the war]]

Over 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians were killed by Iraqis.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Use of Terror During Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait|url=http://www.jewishagency.org/news/content/28866|date=2007-08-22 |website=The Jewish Agency |access-date=2 May 2016|archive-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920094524/http://www.jewishagency.org/news/content/28866}}</ref> More than 600 Kuwaitis went [[missing people|missing]] during Iraq's occupation,<ref>{{cite news|title=Iraq and Kuwait Discuss Fate of 600 Missing Since Gulf War |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jan-09-fg-missing9-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=9 January 2003 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010152741/https://articles.latimes.com/2003/jan/09/world/fg-missing9 |archive-date= 10 October 2017 }}</ref> and approximately 375 remains were found in mass graves in Iraq. The increased importance of air attacks from both coalition [[warplanes]] and [[cruise missiles]] led to controversy over the number of civilian deaths caused during Desert Storm's initial stages. Within Desert Storm's first 24 hours, more than 1,000 sorties were flown, many against targets in Baghdad. The city was the target of heavy bombing, as it was the seat of power for Saddam and the Iraqi forces' [[Command and Control (Military)|command and control]]. This ultimately led to [[civilian casualties]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

In one noted incident, two [[USAF]] stealth planes bombed [[Amiriyah shelter bombing|a bunker in Amiriyah]], causing the deaths of 408 Iraqi civilians in the shelter.<ref name=CSM2002>Scott Peterson, [https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1022/p01s01-wosc.htm "'Smarter' bombs still hit civilians"], ''Christian Science Monitor'', 22 October 2002. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709205401/http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1022/p01s01-wosc.htm |date=9 July 2009 }}.</ref> Scenes of burned and mutilated bodies were subsequently broadcast, and controversy arose over the bunker's status, with some stating that it was a civilian shelter, while others contended that it was a center of Iraqi military operations, and that the civilians had been deliberately moved there to act as [[human shield]]s.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Saddam's government gave high civilian casualty to draw support from Islamic countries. The Iraqi government claimed that 2,300 civilians died during the air campaign.{{sfnp|Tucker|2010|p=265}} According to the Project on Defense Alternatives study, 3,664 Iraqi civilians were killed in the conflict.<ref name="POL">{{cite web|url=http://www.comw.org/pda/0310rm8ap2.html |date= 20 October 2003 |first1=Carl |last1=Conetta |title=Wages of War{{snd}}Appendix 2: Iraqi Combatant and Noncombatant Fatalities in the 1991 Gulf War |publisher=The Commonwealth Institute and the Project on Defense Alternatives |access-date=1 February 2011}}</ref>

During the nationwide [[1991 Iraqi uprisings|uprisings]] against the Ba'athist Iraqi government that directly followed the end of the Gulf War in March and April, an estimated 25,000 to 100,000 Iraqis were killed, overwhelmingly civilians.<ref name="ENDLESS"/>

A [[Harvard University]] study released in June 1991 predicted that there would be tens of thousands of additional Iraqi civilian deaths by the end of 1991 due to the "public health catastrophe" caused by the destruction of the country's electrical generating capacity. "Without electricity, hospitals cannot function, perishable medicines spoil, water cannot be purified and raw sewage cannot be processed,". The US government refused to release its own study of the effects of the Iraqi public health crisis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tyler |first=Patrick E. |date=1991-06-03 |title=U.S. Officials Believe Iraq Will Take Years to Rebuild |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/03/world/us-officials-believe-iraq-will-take-years-to-rebuild.html |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118164729/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/03/world/us-officials-believe-iraq-will-take-years-to-rebuild.html |archive-date=18 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

An investigation in 1992 by Beth Osborne Daponte estimated about 13,000 civilians were directly killed in the war, while another 70,000 died indirectly from the war's other effects.<ref name="Robert Fisk" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Toting the Casualties of War |url=http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/feb2003/nf2003026_0167_db052.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030219033933/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/feb2003/nf2003026_0167_db052.htm |archive-date=19 February 2003 |work=Businessweek |date=6 February 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ford |first=Peter |title=Bid to stem civilian deaths tested |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0409/p06s01-woiq.html |work=Christian Science Monitor |date=9 April 2003}}</ref> According to a 1992 study published in [[The New England Journal of Medicine]] by researchers known as the International Study Team (IST), child mortality increased threefold as a result of the war, with 46,900 children under the age of 5 dying between January and August 1991.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Effect of the Gulf War on infant and child mortality in Iraq |journal=The New England Journal of Medicine| date=1992 | pmid=1513350 | last1=Ascherio | first1=A. | last2=Chase | first2=R. | last3=Coté | first3=T. | last4=Dehaes | first4=G. | last5=Hoskins | first5=E. | last6=Laaouej | first6=J. | last7=Passey | first7=M. | last8=Qaderi | first8=S. | last9=Shuqaidef | first9=S. | last10=Smith | first10=M. C. | volume=327 | issue=13 | pages=931–936 | doi=10.1056/NEJM199209243271306 }}</ref> However, these figures have been challenged by a 2017 study published in [[The BMJ]], which stated that the "IST survey probably understated the level of child mortality that prevailed during 1985–1990 and overstated the level during 1991." According to this study, "there was no major rise in child mortality in Iraq after 1990".<ref name="Dyson & Cetorelli 2017">{{Cite journal|last1=Dyson|first1=Tim|last2=Cetorelli|first2=Valeria|date=2017-07-01|title=Changing views on child mortality and economic sanctions in Iraq: a history of lies, damned lies and statistics|journal=BMJ Global Health|language=en|volume=2|issue=2|article-number=e000311|doi=10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000311|pmid=29225933|issn=2059-7908|pmc=5717930}}</ref> A report published in 2002 by [[Medact]] estimated the total number of Iraqi deaths caused directly and indirectly by the Gulf War to be between 142,500 and 206,000, including 100,000–120,000 military deaths, and 20,000–35,000 civilian deaths in the [[1991 Iraqi uprisings|civil war]] and 15,000–30,000 refugee deaths after the end of the Gulf war.<ref name="Collateral damage">[https://www.ippnw.org/pdf/medact-iraq-2002.pdf Collateral damage: The health and environmental costs of war on Iraq] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719070432/https://www.ippnw.org/pdf/medact-iraq-2002.pdf |date=19 July 2020 }}, ''[[Medact]]''</ref>

Iraq also launched numerous attacks on civilian targets in Israel and Saudi Arabia. A 1991 report by [[Middle East Watch]] said that at least one Saudi civilian was killed after they were hit by Iraqi shelling in [[Riyadh]].<ref>{{cite web |title=9 |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1991/gulfwar/CHAP9.htm |access-date=2022-05-06 |website=www.hrw.org}}</ref> A disputed number of people were also killed during the [[Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

===Iraqi===
A United Nations report in March 1991 described the effect on Iraq of the US-led bombing campaign as "near apocalyptic", bringing back Iraq to the "pre-industrial age."<ref>''New York Times'', 22 March 1991 "[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/22/world/after-the-war-un-survey-calls-iraq-s-war-damage-near-apocalyptic.html After the War; U.N. Survey Calls Iraq's War Damage Near-Apocalyptic] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118164833/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/22/world/after-the-war-un-survey-calls-iraq-s-war-damage-near-apocalyptic.html |date=18 November 2018 }}"</ref> The exact number of Iraqi combat casualties is unknown, but is believed to have been heavy. Some estimate that Iraq sustained between 20,000 and 35,000 fatalities.<ref name="Robert Fisk">Robert Fisk, ''The Great War For Civilisation; The Conquest of the Middle East'' (Fourth Estate, 2005), p.853.</ref> A report commissioned by the US Air Force estimated 10,000–12,000 Iraqi combat deaths in the air campaign, and as many as 10,000 casualties in the ground war.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Keaney |first=Thomas |author2=Eliot A. Cohen |title=Gulf War Air Power Survey |publisher=United States Dept. of the Air Force |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-16-041950-8}}</ref> This analysis is based on Iraqi prisoner of war reports.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

According to the Project on Defense Alternatives study, between 20,000 and 26,000 Iraqi military personnel were killed in the conflict while 75,000 others were wounded.<ref name="POL" />

According to [[Kanan Makiya]], "For the Iraqi people, the cost of enforcing the will of the United Nations has been grotesque."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1991/04/11/iraq-and-its-future/|title=Iraq and Its Future &#124; by Samir al-Khalil &#124; The New York Review of Books|first=Samir|last=al-Khalil|website=www.nybooks.com |date=11 April 1991}}</ref> General Schwarzkopf talked about "a very, very large number of dead in these units, a very, very large number indeed."{{sfnp|al-Khalil|1991}} The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, [[Les Aspin]], estimated that "at least 65,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed".{{sfnp|al-Khalil|1991}} A figure was supported by Israeli sources who speak of "one to two hundred thousand Iraqi casualties." Most of the killing "took place during the ground war. Fleeing soldiers were bombed with a device known as a 'fuel-air explosive.'"{{sfnp|al-Khalil|1991}}

===Coalition===
{|class="wikitable sortable floatright" style="text-align:right;"
|+Coalition troops killed by country
!Country
!Total
!Enemy<br/>action
!Accident
!Friendly<br/>fire
!Ref
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|United States}} || 148 || 113 || 35 || 35 ||<ref name=cnn/>
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|Senegal}}       || 92  ||     || 92  ||    ||<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19910321-0|title=ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed C-130H Hercules 469 Rash Mishab|first=Harro|last=Ranter|access-date=5 July 2016}}</ref>
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|United Kingdom}}|| 47  || 38  ||   1  || 9  ||<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britains-smallwars.com/gulf/Roll.html |title=Roll of Honour |publisher=Britains-smallwars.com |access-date=13 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501162112/http://www.britains-smallwars.com/gulf/Roll.html |archive-date=1 May 2011}}</ref>
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|Saudi Arabia}}  || 24  ||  18 ||  6   ||    ||<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11661.html |title=Saudi Arabia{{snd}}Persian Gulf War, 1991 |publisher=Country-data.com |access-date=1 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="92-senegalese-soldiers-die" />
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|Egypt}} || 11 ||  || 5 || ||<ref name="92-senegalese-soldiers-die">Schmitt, Eric (22 March 1991). [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/22/world/after-the-war-92-senegalese-soldiers-die-in-saudi-arabia-air-crash.html "After the War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020063210/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/22/world/after-the-war-92-senegalese-soldiers-die-in-saudi-arabia-air-crash.html |date=20 October 2017 }}. ''The New York Times''.</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/6f675aabb4b07225fea68fa64e3f976c "Soldier Reported Dead Shows Up at Parents' Doorstep"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203102032/http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1991/Soldier-Reported-Dead-Shows-Up-at-Parents-Doorstep/id-6f675aabb4b07225fea68fa64e3f976c |date=3 February 2014 }}. Associated Press. 22 March 1991.</ref>
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|France}}        || 9   ||  2  ||     ||    ||<ref name=cnn />
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|United Arab Emirates}} || 6 || 6 ||  ||    ||<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-14256.html |title=The Role of the United Arab Emirates in the Iran-Iraq War and the Persian Gulf War |publisher=Country-data.com |access-date=1 February 2011}}</ref>
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|Qatar}}         || 3   ||  3  ||     ||    ||<ref name=cnn />
|-
|align=left|{{Flagdeco|Ba'athist Syria}} Syria         || 2   ||    ||     ||    ||<ref name=nyt-Syria-double>Miller, Judith. "Syria Plans to Double Gulf Force." ''The New York Times'', 27 March 1991.</ref>
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|Spain}} || 2 ||  || 2 || ||<ref>{{cite news |title=Muere en accidente de tráfico en Abu Dabi un cabo de la fragata 'Victoria' |trans-title=Corporal of the frigate "Victoria" dies in traffic accident in Abu Dhabi |url=https://elpais.com/diario/1991/03/15/espana/668991613_850215.html |website=El País |access-date=13 July 2022 |language=es |date=14 March 1991 }}</ref>
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|Kuwait}} || 1 || 1 || || ||<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-14245.html |title=Role of Kuwaiti Armed Forces in the Persian Gulf War |publisher=Country-data.com |date=24 February 1991 |access-date=1 February 2011}}</ref>
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|Italy}} || 1 ||  || 1 || ||<ref>{{cite web |title=FESTA, LACRIME E AMAREZZA PER I MARO' RIENTRATI DAL GOLFO |url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1991/03/02/festa-lacrime-amarezza-per-maro-rientrati-dal.html |website=la Repubblica |access-date=13 July 2022 |location=[[Taranto]] |language=it |date=2 March 1991}}</ref>
|-
|align=left|{{Flagu|Czechoslovakia}} || 1 || || 1|| ||<ref>{{cite web |title=podporučík in memoriam Petr ŠIMONKA {{!}} inmemoriam.army.cz |url=https://inmemoriam.army.cz/podporucik-memoriam-petr-simonka |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=inmemoriam.army.cz}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Sornas |first=Ladislav |date=2021-07-15 |title=Střelecká soutěž – Memoriál ppor. Petra Šimonky |url=https://www.svvcr.cz/strelecka-soutez-memorial-ppor-petra-simonky/ |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=Sdružení válečných veteránů ČR |language=cs-CZ}}</ref>
|}
[[File:US Navy 090813-N-1522S-007 Members of a Navy honor guard carry the remains of Capt. Michael Scott Speicher to All Saints Chapel at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Fla.jpg|thumb|Sailors from a US Navy honor guard carry Navy pilot [[Scott Speicher]]'s remains.]]

The [[United States Department of Defense|US Department of Defense]] reports that US forces suffered 148 battle-related deaths (35 to friendly fire{{sfnp|Tucker|2010|p=470}}), with [[Scott Speicher|one pilot]] listed as [[Missing in action|MIA]] (his remains were found and identified in August 2009). A further 145 Americans died in non-combat accidents.<ref name=cnn /> The UK suffered 47 deaths (nine to friendly fire, all by US forces), France nine,<ref name=cnn /> and the other countries, not including Kuwait, suffered 37 deaths (18 Saudis, one Egyptian, six UAE and three Qataris).<ref name=cnn>{{Cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar/ |title=In-Depth Specials – Gulf War |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510125644/http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar/ |archive-date=2007-05-10 |year=2001 |work=CNN}}</ref> At least 605 Kuwaiti soldiers were still missing 10 years after their capture.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Nicholas|last=Blanford |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1223/p07s01-wome.html |title=Kuwait hopes for answers on its Gulf War POWs |journal=Christian Science Monitor |year=2001}}</ref>

The largest single loss of life among coalition forces happened on 25 February 1991, when an Iraqi [[Al Hussein (missile)|Al Hussein missile]] hit a US military barrack in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 [[United States Army Reserve|US Army Reservists]] from [[Pennsylvania]]. In all, 190 coalition troops were killed by Iraqi fire during the war, 113 of whom were American, out of 358 coalition deaths. Another 44 soldiers were killed and 57 wounded by friendly fire. 145 soldiers died of exploding munitions or non-combat accidents.{{sfnp|Tucker|2010|p=264}}

The largest accident among coalition forces happened on 21 March 1991, when a Royal Saudi Air Force C-130H crashed in heavy smoke on approach to Ras Al-Mishab Airport, Saudi Arabia. 92 Senegalese soldiers and six Saudi crew members were killed.<ref name="92-senegalese-soldiers-die" />

The number of coalition wounded in combat was 776, including 458 Americans.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Persian Gulf War{{snd}}MSN Encarta |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761551555_2/Arabian_Gulf_War.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021004902/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761551555_2/Persian_Gulf_War.html |archive-date=21 October 2009 }}</ref>

190 coalition troops were killed by Iraqi combatants, the rest of the 379 coalition deaths were from friendly fire or accidents. This number was much lower than expected. Among the American combat dead were four female soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Cost of Women in Combat|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=79646&page=1|access-date=2021-03-25|website=ABC News|language=en}}</ref>

====Friendly fire====
While the death toll among coalition forces engaging Iraqi combatants was very low, a substantial number of deaths were caused by accidental attacks from other Allied units. Of the 148 US troops who died in battle, 24% were killed by friendly fire, a total of 35 service personnel.{{sfnp|Tucker|2010|p=207}} A further 11 died in detonations of coalition munitions. Nine British military personnel were killed in a friendly fire incident when a USAF [[Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II|A-10 Thunderbolt II]] destroyed a group of two Warrior IFVs.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

==Aftermath==
{{main|Aftermath of the Gulf War}}

===Gulf War illness===
{{Main|Gulf War syndrome}}

Many returning coalition soldiers reported illnesses following their action in the war, a phenomenon known as [[Gulf War syndrome]] (GWS) or Gulf War illness (GWI). Common symptoms reported are chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and gastrointestinal disorder.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gulf War Veterans' Medically Unexplained Illnesses |url=http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/gulfwar/medically-unexplained-illness.asp|publisher=U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs|access-date=25 February 2014}}</ref> There has been widespread speculation and disagreement about the causes of the illness and the possibly related birth defects. Researchers found that infants born to male veterans of the 1991 war had higher rates of two types of heart valve defects. Some children born after the war to Gulf War veterans had a certain kidney defect that was not found in Gulf War veterans' children born before the war. Researchers have said that they did not have enough information to link birth defects with exposure to toxic substances.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Gulf war syndrome; higher rates of specific birth defects in gulf war veterans' children|date=29 June 2003 |journal=Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA |page=14 |id={{ProQuest|211397084}}}}</ref>

In 1994, the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs with Respect to Export Administration published a report entitled, "U.S. Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the Gulf War". This publication, called the [[Riegle Report]], summarized testimony this committee had received establishing that the U.S. had in the 1980s supplied Saddam Hussein with chemical and biological warfare technology, that Saddam had used such chemical weapons against Iran and his own native Kurds, and possibly against U.S. soldiers as well, plausibly contributing to the GWS.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

A 2022 study by Dr. Robert W. Haley of the [[University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center]], ''et al.'', of 1,016 U.S. Gulf War veterans found evidence of a [[Causality|causal]] link between GWS and exposure to low levels of the nerve agent sarin, which was released into the air by coalition bombing of Iraqi chemical weapons facilities. Significantly, the study found an increased incidence of GWS not only among veterans who recounted hearing nerve agent alarms, but also among veterans with the RR or QR (as opposed to the QQ) forms of the [[PON1]] gene, which produces an [[enzyme]] that deactivates [[organophosphate]]s (including sarin) through [[hydrolysis]]. By contrast, GWS was ''inversely'' associated with higher levels of the type Q [[isozyme]], which is more efficient at breaking down sarin than its type R counterpart. The authors "found that the PON1 [[genotype]] and hearing nerve agent alarms were independent and the findings robust to both measured and unmeasured [[confounding]], supporting a mechanistic [gene–environment] interaction.&nbsp;... Moreover, the change in the combined effect from one category to the next was significantly greater than the sum of the independent effects of the environmental exposure and the genotype".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Haley|first1=Robert W.|last2=Kramer|first2=Gerald|last3=Xiao|first3=Junhui|last4=Dever|first4=Jill A.|last5=Teiber|first5=John F.|title=Evaluation of a Gene–Environment Interaction of PON1 and Low-Level Nerve Agent Exposure with Gulf War Illness: A Prevalence Case–Control Study Drawn from the U.S. Military Health Survey's National Population Sample|journal=[[Environmental Health Perspectives]]|volume=130|issue=5|date=11 May 2022|page=57001 |publisher=[[National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences]]|doi=10.1289/EHP9009|pmid=35543525 |pmc=9093163 |bibcode=2022EnvHP.130e7001H |s2cid=248694742 }} cf. {{cite web|url=https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/articles/year-2022/sarin-nerve-gas-gulf-war-illness.html|title=UTSW genetic study confirms sarin nerve gas as cause of Gulf War illness|publisher=[[University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center]]|date=11 May 2022|access-date=11 May 2022|quote=For Gulf War veterans with the QQ genotype, hearing nerve agent alarms—a proxy for chemical exposure—raised their chance of developing GWI by 3.75 times. For those with the QR genotype, the alarms raised their chance of GWI by 4.43 times. And for those with two copies of the R gene, inefficient at breaking down sarin, the chance of GWI increased by 8.91 times. Those soldiers with both the RR genotype and low-level sarin exposure were over seven times more likely to get GWI due to the interaction per se, over and above the increase in risk from both risk factors acting alone. For genetic epidemiologists, this number leads to a high degree of confidence that sarin is a causative agent of GWI.}}</ref>

===Effects of depleted uranium===
{{Main|Depleted uranium#Health considerations}}

[[File:GWI DU map.gif|thumb|upright=1.35|Approximate area and major clashes in which DU rounds were used]]

The US military used [[depleted uranium]] in tank kinetic energy penetrators and {{Convert|20-30|mm|abbr=on}} cannon [[Ammunition|ordnance]]. Significant controversy regarding the long term safety of depleted uranium exists, including claims of [[pyrophoricity|pyrophoric]], [[genotoxicity|genotoxic]], and [[teratogenicity|teratogenic]] [[heavy metals|heavy metal]] effects. Many have cited its use during the war as a contributing factor to a number of major health issues in veterans and in surrounding civilian populations, including in birth defects and child cancer rates. Scientific opinion on the risk is mixed.<!--<ref name=r1/>--><ref name="bostonglobe">Elizabeth Neuffer [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0126-03.htm Iraqis Trace Surge in Cancer to US Bombings] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902013328/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0126-03.htm |date=2 September 2013 }} ''Boston Globe'' 26 January 2003, Page: A11 Section: National/Foreign</ref><ref>Larry Johnson [http://www.seattlepi.com/national/95178_du12.shtml Iraqi cancers, birth defects blamed on U.S. depleted uranium] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120013734/http://www.seattlepi.com/national/95178_du12.shtml |date=20 November 2008 }} ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' 12 November 2002. Retrieved 25 January 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Ron McKay |url=http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0114-01.htm |title=Depleted Uranium: The Horrific Legacy of Basra |newspaper=Sunday Herald |location=Scotland |date=14 January 2001 |access-date=15 February 2013 |archive-date=27 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527015017/http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0114-01.htm}}</ref> In 2004, Iraq had the highest mortality rate due to [[leukemia]] of any country.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/entity/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/gbddeathdalycountryestimates2004.xls |title=WHO Data, 2004 |access-date=4 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="Doctor's Gulf War Studies Link Cancer to Depleted Uranium">{{cite news |title=Doctor's Gulf War Studies Link Cancer to Depleted Uranium |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/29/world/doctor-s-gulf-war-studies-link-cancer-to-depleted-uranium.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=29 January 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Hindin R. |year=2005 |title=Teratogenicity of depleted uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective |journal=Environmental Health |volume=4 |issue=1 |article-number=17 |pmid=16124873 |doi=10.1186/1476-069X-4-17 |pmc=1242351 |display-authors=etal |doi-access=free |bibcode=2005EnvHe...4...17H }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Marshall |first=AC |year=2005 |title=An Analysis of Uranium Dispersal and Health Effects Using a Gulf War Case Study |publisher=[[Sandia National Laboratories]] |url=http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/2005/054331.pdf |access-date=16 July 2012}}</ref>

Depleted uranium has 40% less radioactivity than natural uranium.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/depleted_uranium//|title=Depleted Uranium – Public Health|author=((US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration)) |website=www.publichealth.va.gov}}</ref> Depleted uranium is not a significant health hazard unless it is taken into the body. External exposure to radiation from depleted uranium is generally not a major concern because the alpha particles emitted by its isotopes travel only a few centimeters in air or can be stopped by a sheet of paper. Also, the uranium-235 that remains in depleted uranium emits only a small amount of low-energy gamma radiation. However, if allowed to enter the body, depleted uranium, like natural uranium, has the potential for both chemical and radiological toxicity with the two important target organs being the kidneys and the lungs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Depleted Uranium Health Effects |url=http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/guide/depletedu/health/index.cfm |publisher=ead.anl.gov|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130406015817/http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/guide/depletedu/health/index.cfm |archive-date=6 April 2013|access-date=2014-05-24}}</ref>

===Highway of Death===
{{Main|Highway of Death}}

[[File:Demolished vehicles line Highway 80 on 18 Apr 1991.jpg|thumb|Destroyed Iraqi civilian and military vehicles on the [[Highway of Death]]]]

In the night of 26–27 February 1991, some Iraqi forces began leaving Kuwait on the main highway north of Al Jahra in a column of some 1,400 vehicles. A patrolling [[Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS|E-8 Joint STARS]] aircraft observed the retreating forces and relayed the information to the DDM-8 air operations center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} These vehicles and the retreating soldiers were subsequently attacked by two A-10 aircraft, resulting in a {{convert|60|km|mi}} stretch of highway strewn with debris—the Highway of Death. ''New York Times'' reporter Maureen Dowd wrote, "With the Iraqi leader facing military defeat, Mr. Bush decided that he would rather gamble on a violent and potentially unpopular ground war than risk the alternative: an imperfect settlement hammered out by the Soviets and Iraqis that world opinion might accept as tolerable."<ref>{{cite web |last=Chediac |first=Joyce |title=The massacre of withdrawing Soldiers on the highway of death |url=http://deoxy.org/wc/wc-death.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814211443/http://deoxy.org/wc/wc-death.htm |archive-date=14 August 2014}}</ref>

Chuck Horner, Commander of US and allied air operations, has written:
{{blockquote|[By February 26], the Iraqis totally lost heart and started to evacuate occupied Kuwait, but airpower halted the caravan of Iraqi Army and plunderers fleeing toward Basra. This event was later called by the media "The Highway of Death." There were certainly a lot of dead vehicles, but not so many dead Iraqis. They'd already learned to scamper off into the desert when our aircraft started to attack. Nevertheless, some people back home wrongly chose to believe we were cruelly and unusually punishing our already whipped foes.
...<br/>
By February 27, talk had turned toward terminating the hostilities. Kuwait was free. We were not interested in governing Iraq. So the question became "How do we stop the killing."<ref>{{Harvnb|Clancy|Horner|1999|pp=499–500}}.</ref>}}

===<span class="anchor" id="Bulldozer assault"></span> Bulldozer assault===
[[File:D7 armoured bulldozer on flatbed.jpg|thumb|An [[armored bulldozer]] similar to the ones used in the attack]]

Another incident during the war highlighted the question of large-scale Iraqi combat deaths. This was the "[[bulldozer]] assault", wherein two brigades from the US 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) were faced with a large and complex trench network, as part of the heavily fortified "Saddam Hussein Line". After some deliberation, they opted to use anti-mine [[plow]]s mounted on tanks and combat earthmovers to simply plow over and bury alive the defending Iraqi soldiers. Not a single American was killed during the attack. Reporters were banned from witnessing the attack, near the neutral zone that touches the border between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.<ref name="Sloyan">Sloyan, Patrick. [https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19910912/1305069/iraqis-buried-alive----us-attacked-with-bulldozers-during-gulf-war-ground-attack "Iraqis Buried Alive{{snd}}U.S. Attacked With Bulldozers During War Ground Attack"] . ''The Seattle Times''. 12 September 1991. Retrieved 4 March 2014.</ref> Every American in the assault was inside an armored vehicle.<ref name="Sloyan" />

Patrick Day Sloyan of ''[[Newsday]]'' reported, "Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Vulcan armored carriers straddled the trench lines and fired into the Iraqi soldiers as the tanks covered them with mounds of sand. 'I came through right after the lead company,' [Col. Anthony] Moreno said. 'What you saw was a bunch of buried trenches with peoples' arms and things sticking out of them.{{'"}}<ref name="Sloyan 1991-9-12">{{Citation |title=Buried Alive: U.S. Tanks Used Plows To Kill Thousands in Gulf War Trenches |newspaper=Newsday |place=New York |date=12 September 1991 |page=1 |first=Patrick Day |last=Sloyan}}</ref> However, after the war, the Iraqi government said that only 44 bodies were found.<ref name=appendix/> In his book ''The Wars Against Saddam'', [[John Simpson (journalist)|John Simpson]] alleges that US forces attempted to cover up the incident.<ref>{{Citation |first=John |last=Simpson |title=The Wars Against Saddam |publisher=MacMillan |place=Basingstoke |year=2003}}</ref> After the incident, the commander of the 1st Brigade said: "I know burying people like that sounds pretty nasty, but it would be even nastier if we had to put our troops in the trenches and clean them out with bayonets."<ref name="Sloyan 1991-9-12" /> Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney did not mention the First Division's tactics in an interim report to Congress on Operation Desert Storm.<ref name="Sloyan" /> In the report, Cheney acknowledged that 457 enemy soldiers were buried during the ground war.<ref name="Sloyan" />

===Palestinian exodus from Kuwait===
{{Main|Palestinian exodus from Kuwait (1990–91)}}

A [[Palestinian exodus from Kuwait (1990–91)|Palestinian exodus from Kuwait]] took place during and after the Gulf War. During the Gulf War, more than 200,000 Palestinians fled Kuwait during the [[Invasion of Kuwait|Iraqi occupation of Kuwait]] due to harassment and intimidation by Iraqi security forces,<ref name="ir"/> in addition to getting fired from work by Iraqi authority figures in Kuwait.<ref name=ir>{{cite web|author=Shafeeq Ghabra|title=The PLO in Kuwait|url=http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/1457|date=8 May 1991|access-date=2 September 2013|archive-date=7 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307074924/https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/1457}}</ref> After the Gulf War, the Kuwaiti authorities forcibly pressured nearly 200,000 Palestinians to leave Kuwait in 1991.<ref name="ir"/> Kuwait's policy, which led to this exodus, was a response to alignment of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the PLO with Saddam Hussein.

The Palestinians who fled Kuwait were [[Jordanian people|Jordanian citizens]].<ref name=jor>{{cite journal|author1=Yann Le Troquer |author2=Rozenn Hommery al-Oudat |title=From Kuwait to Jordan: The Palestinians' Third Exodus |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies|volume=28 |issue=3 |date=Spring 1999|pages=37–51|jstor=2538306 |doi=10.2307/2538306 }}</ref> In 2013, 280,000 Jordanian citizens of Palestinian origin lived in Kuwait.<ref name=mon>{{cite web |title=Jordanians of Kuwait |url=http://www.joshuaproject.net/countries.php?rog3=KU|work=[[Joshua Project]]|year=2013}}</ref> In 2012, 80,000 Palestinians (without Jordanian [[citizenship]]) lived in Kuwait.<ref name=monitor>{{cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/palestinians-open-kuwait-embassy.html|work=Al Monitor|title=Palestinians Open Kuwaiti Embassy|date=23 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522150710/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/palestinians-open-kuwait-embassy.html|archive-date=22 May 2013}}</ref>

Saudi Arabia expelled [[Yemen]]i workers after Yemen supported Saddam during the Gulf War.<ref>"[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/8557546/Yemens-president-flees-for-medical-treatment-as-search-for-new-leader-begins.html Yemen's president flees for medical treatment as search for new leader begins] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922211449/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/8557546/Yemens-president-flees-for-medical-treatment-as-search-for-new-leader-begins.html |date=22 September 2018 }}". ''The Daily Telegraph''. 5 June 2011</ref>

===Coalition bombing of Iraq's civilian infrastructure===
In the 23 June 1991 edition of ''The Washington Post'', reporter Bart Gellman wrote: 
{{blockquote|Many of the targets were chosen only secondarily to contribute to the military defeat of Iraq&nbsp;... Military planners hoped the bombing would amplify the economic and psychological impact of international sanctions on Iraqi society&nbsp;... They deliberately did great harm to Iraq's ability to support itself as an industrial society&nbsp;...<ref>23 June 1991, Washington Post, Bart Gellman</ref>}}
In the Jan/Feb 1995 edition of ''Foreign Affairs'', French diplomat Eric Rouleau wrote: 
{{blockquote|[T]he Iraqi people, who were not consulted about the invasion, have paid the price for their government's madness&nbsp;... Iraqis understood the legitimacy of a military action to drive their army from Kuwait, but they have had difficulty comprehending the Allied rationale for using air power to systematically destroy or cripple Iraqi infrastructure and industry: electric power stations (92 percent of installed capacity destroyed), refineries (80 percent of production capacity), petrochemical complexes, telecommunications centers (including 135 telephone networks), bridges (more than 100), roads, highways, railroads, hundreds of locomotives and boxcars full of goods, radio and television broadcasting stations, cement plants, and factories producing aluminum, textiles, electric cables, and medical supplies.<ref>"The View From France: America's Unyielding Policy toward Iraq," ''Foreign Affairs'', Vol. 74, No. 1, January/February 1995, pp.61–62</ref>}}
However, the UN subsequently spent billions rebuilding hospitals, schools, and [[water purification]] facilities throughout the country.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rubin |first=Michael |title=Sanctions on Iraq: A Valid Anti-American Grievance? |journal=[[Middle East Review of International Affairs]] |volume=5 |issue=4 |url=http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2001/issue4/mrubin.pdf |pages=100–115 |date=December 2001 |author-link=Michael Rubin (historian) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060907153101/http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2001/issue4/mrubin.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2006 |access-date=24 May 2017}}</ref>

===Abuse of Coalition POWs===
During the conflict, coalition aircrew shot down over Iraq were displayed as prisoners of war on TV, most with visible signs of abuse. Amongst several testimonies to poor treatment,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/war/ |title=Frontline: War Stories |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=1 February 2011}}</ref> USAF Captain Richard Storr was allegedly tortured by Iraqis during the Persian Gulf War. Iraqi secret police broke his nose, dislocated his shoulder and punctured his eardrum.<ref>Patrice O'Shaughness. "Gulf War POW denounces abuse of Iraqi detainees". ''New York Daily News''. 12 May 2004.</ref> Royal Air Force [[Panavia Tornado|Tornado]] crew [[John Nichol (RAF officer)|John Nichol]] and [[John Peters (RAF)|John Peters]] have both alleged that they were tortured during this time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.johnnichol.com/The%20Beginning.htm |title=The Flight That Changed My Life |publisher=Johnnichol.com |access-date=1 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429013825/http://www.johnnichol.com/The%20Beginning.htm |archive-date=29 April 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/war/4.html |title=War Story:John Peters |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=1 February 2011}}</ref> Nichol and Peters were forced to make statements against the war on television. Members of British Special Air Service Bravo Two Zero were captured while providing information about an Iraqi supply line of Scud missiles to coalition forces. Only one, Chris Ryan, evaded capture while the group's other surviving members were violently tortured.<ref>''The One that Got Away'' by Chris Ryan & ''Bravo Two Zero'' by Andy McNab</ref> Flight surgeon (later General) [[Rhonda Cornum]] was sexually assaulted by one of her captors<ref name=Time>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,438760,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030404061056/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,438760,00.html |archive-date=4 April 2003 |title=A Woman's Burden |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=28 March 2003}}</ref> after the [[Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk|Black Hawk helicopter]] in which she was riding was shot down while searching for a downed [[General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16]] pilot.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

===Operation Southern Watch===
{{Main|Operation Southern Watch}}

Since the war, the US has had a continued presence of 5,000 troops stationed in Saudi Arabia{{snd}}a figure that rose to 10,000 during the 2003 conflict in Iraq.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2984547.stm|title=US pulls out of Saudi Arabia |access-date=29 November 2009 |work=BBC News |date=29 April 2003}}</ref> Operation Southern Watch enforced the [[Iraqi no-fly zones|no-fly zones]] over southern Iraq set up after 1991; oil exports through the Persian Gulf's shipping lanes were protected by the Bahrain-based [[United States Fifth Fleet|US Fifth Fleet]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Since Saudi Arabia houses Mecca and Medina, Islam's holiest sites, many Muslims were upset at the permanent military presence. The continued presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia after the war was one of the stated motivations behind the [[September 11 attacks|11 September terrorist attacks]],<ref name="bbc"/> the [[Khobar Towers bombing]], and the date chosen for the [[1998 United States embassy bombings|1998 US embassy bombings]] (7 August), which was eight years to the day that US troops were sent to Saudi Arabia.<ref>Plotz, David (2001) [http://www.slate.com/default.aspx?id=115404 What Does Osama Bin Laden Want?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810171041/http://www.slate.com/default.aspx?id=115404 |date=10 August 2011 }}, Slate</ref> [[Osama bin Laden]] interpreted the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] as banning the "permanent presence of infidels in Arabia".<ref name="holywar-p3">{{cite book|author=Bergen, Peter L. |title=Holy War Inc. |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2001 |page=3}}</ref> In 1996, bin Laden issued a [[fatwa]], calling for US troops to leave Saudi Arabia. In a December 1999 interview with [[Rahimullah Yusufzai]], bin Laden said he felt that Americans were "too near to Mecca" and considered this a provocation to the entire Islamic world.<ref name="guardian-20010926">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,558075,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119011449/http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0%2C3604%2C558075%2C00.html |archive-date=19 January 2008 |title=Face to face with Osama |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=26 September 2001 |access-date=30 June 2010 |first=Rahimullah |last=Yusufzai }}</ref>

===Sanctions===
{{Main|United Nations Security Council Resolution 661|Sanctions against Iraq}}

{{Wikisource|United Nations Security Council Resolution 661}}
On 6 August 1990, after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 661 which imposed economic sanctions on Iraq, providing for a full trade [[embargo]], excluding medical supplies, food and other items of humanitarian necessity, these to be determined by the council's sanctions committee. From 1991 until 2003, the effects of government policy and sanctions regime led to [[hyperinflation]], widespread poverty and malnutrition.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

During the late 1990s, the UN considered relaxing the sanctions imposed because of the hardships suffered by ordinary Iraqis. Studies dispute the number of people who died in south and central Iraq during the years of the sanctions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unicef.org/newsline/99pr29.htm |title=Iraq surveys show 'humanitarian emergency' |website=UNICEF |date=12 August 1999 |access-date=29 November 2009 |archive-date=6 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806193122/http://www.unicef.org/newsline/99pr29.htm }}</ref><ref name=Spagat>{{cite magazine |url=http://personal.rhul.ac.uk/uhte/014/Truth%20and%20Death.pdf |title=Truth and death in Iraq under sanctions |first=Michael |last=Spagat |date=September 2010 |magazine=[[Significance (journal)|Significance]] |access-date=21 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711190050/http://personal.rhul.ac.uk/uhte/014/Truth%20and%20Death.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Rubin |first=Michael |title=Sanctions on Iraq: A Valid Anti-American Grievance? |journal=[[Middle East Review of International Affairs]] |volume=5 |issue=4 |url=http://www.iraqwatch.org/perspectives/meria-rubin-sanctions-1201.htm |pages=100–115 |date=December 2001 |author-link=Michael Rubin (historian) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028003924/http://www.iraqwatch.org/perspectives/meria-rubin-sanctions-1201.htm |archive-date=28 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="Dyson & Cetorelli 2017"/>

===Draining of the Qurna Marshes===
{{Main|Draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes}}

The draining of the [[Qurna Marshes]] was an irrigation project in Iraq during and immediately after the war, to drain a large area of [[marshes]] in the [[Tigris–Euphrates river system]]. Formerly covering an area of around {{Convert|3000|km2|abbr=on}}, the large complex of [[wetlands]] were nearly emptied of water, and the local Shi'ite population relocated, following the war and 1991 uprisings. By 2000, the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] estimated that 90% of the marshlands had disappeared, causing [[desertification]] of over {{convert|7500|sqmi|km2}}.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

The draining occurred in Iraq and to a smaller degree in Iran between the 1950s and 1990s to clear large areas of the marshes. Formerly covering an area of around {{Convert|20000|km2|abbr=on}}, the large complex of wetlands was 90% drained before the [[2003 Invasion of Iraq]]. The marshes are typically divided into three main sub-marshes, the [[Hawizeh Marshes|Hawizeh]], Central, and [[Hammar Marshes]] and all three were drained at different times for different reasons. Initial draining of the Central Marshes was intended to reclaim land for agriculture but later all three marshes would become a tool of war and revenge.<ref name="American University School of International Service" />

Many international organizations such as the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights|UN Human Rights Commission]], the [[Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq]], the [[Wetlands International]], and Middle East Watch have described the project as a political attempt to force the [[Marsh Arabs]] out of the area through water diversion tactics.<ref name="American University School of International Service">{{cite web |url=http://www1.american.edu/ted/marsh.htm |title=Marsh Arabs |access-date=1 August 2010 |publisher=[[American University School of International Service]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627142037/http://www1.american.edu/ted/marsh.htm |archive-date=27 June 2010}}</ref>

===Oil spill===
{{Main|Gulf War oil spill}}

On 23 January, Iraq dumped {{convert|400|e6USgal|m3}} of [[crude oil]] into the Persian Gulf,{{#tag:Ref|Note: The cited supporting source<ref name=dukemag030403 /> uses the term ''Arabian Gulf'' to name this body of water. This article uses the proper name ''Persian Gulf''. For more information, see the [[Persian Gulf naming dispute]] article.}} causing the largest offshore [[oil spill]] in history at that time.<ref name=dukemag030403>{{cite web |url=http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/030403/oil1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613021006/http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/030403/oil1.html|archive-date=2010-06-13 |title=Duke Magazine-Oil Spill-After the Deluge |author=Jeffrey Pollack |date=Mar–Apr 2003 |work=Duke Magazine |access-date=1 February 2011}}</ref> It was reported as a deliberate natural resources attack to keep US Marines from coming ashore (''Missouri'' and ''Wisconsin'' had shelled [[Failaka Island]] during the war to reinforce the idea that there would be an amphibious assault attempt).<ref name="Desert Storm">{{cite web|title=V: "Thunder And Lightning"- The War With Iraq (Subsection:The War at Sea) |work=The United States Navy in "Desert Shield" / "Desert Storm" |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/ds5.htm |publisher=[[United States Navy]] |access-date=26 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205022732/http://history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/ds5.htm |archive-date=5 December 2006 }}</ref> About 30–40% of this came from allied raids on Iraqi coastal targets.<ref>{{cite book|author=Leckie, Robert |title=The Wars of America |url=https://archive.org/details/warsofamerica00robe |url-access=registration |publisher=Castle Books |year=1998|isbn=978-0-7858-0914-2 }}</ref>

===Kuwaiti oil fires===
{{Main|Kuwaiti oil fires}}

{{See also|Environmental impact of war}}
[[File:Operation Desert Storm 22.jpg|thumb|Oil well fires rage outside Kuwait City in 1991.]]
The Kuwaiti oil fires were caused by the [[Military of Iraq|Iraqi military]] setting fire to 700 oil wells as part of a scorched earth policy while retreating from Kuwait in 1991 after conquering the country but being driven out by coalition forces. The fires started in January and February 1991, and the last one was extinguished by November.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://earthshots.usgs.gov/Iraq/Iraqtext|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021028200910/http://earthshots.usgs.gov/Iraq/Iraqtext|archive-date=2002-10-28|title="Iraq and Kuwait: 1972, 1990, 1991, 1997." Earthshots: Satellite Images of Environmental Change|last=Wellman|first=Robert Campbell|date=14 February 1999|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|access-date=27 July 2010}}</ref>

The resulting fires burned uncontrollably because of the dangers of sending in firefighting crews. [[Land mines]] had been placed in areas around the oil wells, and a military cleaning of the areas was necessary before the fires could be put out. Somewhere around {{convert|6|Moilbbl|m3|-4}} of oil were lost each day. Eventually, privately contracted crews extinguished the fires, at a total cost of US$1.5&nbsp;billion to Kuwait.<ref>{{cite book|last=Husain |first=T. |title=Kuwaiti Oil Fires: Regional Environmental Perspectives |year=1995 |publisher=BPC Wheatons Ltd |location=Oxford |page=68}}</ref> By that time, however, the fires had burned for approximately 10 months, causing widespread pollution.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

==Cost==
[[File:United States Forces in the Gulf War 1991 GLF980.jpg|thumb|right|A sentry patrols along a line-up of OH-58 Kiowa helicopters]]
The cost of the war to the United States was calculated by the US Congress in April 1992 to be $61.1&nbsp;billion<ref name="People.psych.cornell.edu-1997">{{cite web|url=https://people.psych.cornell.edu/~fhoran/gulf/GW_cost/GW_payments.html |title=How much did the Gulf War cost the US? |publisher=People.psych.cornell.edu |date=20 May 1997 |access-date=1 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821200403/http://people.psych.cornell.edu/~fhoran/gulf/GW_cost/GW_payments.html |archive-date=21 August 2010}}</ref> (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|61100000000|1992}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}).{{Inflation-fn|US-GDP}} About $52&nbsp;billion of that amount was paid by other countries: $36&nbsp;billion by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf; $16&nbsp;billion by Germany and Japan (which sent no combat forces due to their constitutions). About 25% of Saudi Arabia's contribution was paid with in-kind services to the troops, such as food and transportation.<ref name="People.psych.cornell.edu-1997" /> US troops represented about 74% of the combined force, and the global cost was therefore higher.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

===Effect on developing countries===
Apart from the impact on [[Arab States of the Persian Gulf]], the resulting economic disruptions after the crisis affected many states. The [[Overseas Development Institute]] (ODI) undertook a study in 1991 to assess the effects on developing states and the international community's response. A briefing paper finalized on the day that the conflict ended draws on their findings which had two main conclusions: Many developing states were severely affected and while there has been a considerable response to the crisis, the distribution of assistance was highly selective.<ref name="odi.org.uk">{{cite journal|title=The Impact of the Gulf Crisis on Developing Countries|url=http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=5466&title=gulf-crisis-impact-ldcs|journal=ODI Briefing Paper|date=March 1991|access-date=29 June 2011|archive-date=3 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803110221/http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=5466&title=gulf-crisis-impact-ldcs | last1=Manuel | first1=Marcus }}</ref>

The ODI factored in elements of "cost" which included oil imports, remittance flows, re-settlement costs, loss of export earnings and tourism. For Egypt, the cost totaled $1&nbsp;billion, 3% of GDP. Yemen had a cost of $830&nbsp;million, 10% of GDP, while it cost Jordan $1.8&nbsp;billion, 32% of GDP.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Peters |first1=John E |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/2007/MR629.pdf |title=Out of Area or Out of Reach? European Military Support for Operations in Southwest Asia |last2=Deshong |first2=Howard |publisher=[[RAND Corporation]] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8330-2329-2}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

International response to the crisis on developing states came with the channeling of aid through The Gulf Crisis Financial Co-ordination Group. They were 24 states, comprising most of the OECD countries plus some Gulf states: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. The members of this group agreed to disperse $14&nbsp;billion in development assistance.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The World Bank responded by speeding up the disbursement of existing project and adjustment loans. The [[International Monetary Fund]] adopted two lending facilities{{snd}}the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) and the Compensatory & Contingency Financing Facility (CCFF). The [[European Economic Community|European Community]] offered $2&nbsp;billion{{clarify|date=August 2011}} in assistance.<ref name="odi.org.uk" />

==Media coverage==
{{Main|Media coverage of the Gulf War}}

{{Globalize|section|date=January 2010}}
US policy regarding media freedom was much more restrictive than in the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>[http://www.iraquenewst55.jex.com.br/3+guerra+terrorismo/o+maior+bombardeio+da+historia Guerra/Terrorismo – O maior bombardeio da história] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426005120/http://www.iraquenewst55.jex.com.br/3+guerra+terrorismo/o+maior+bombardeio+da+historia|date=26 April 2012}}, access on 27 November 2011.</ref> The policy had been spelled out in a Pentagon document entitled ''[[Annex Foxtrot]]''. Most of the press information came from briefings organized by the military. Only selected journalists were allowed to visit the front lines or conduct interviews with soldiers. Those visits were always conducted in the presence of officers, and were subject to both prior approval by the military and censorship afterward. This was ostensibly to protect sensitive information from being revealed to Iraq. This policy was heavily influenced by the military's experience with the Vietnam War, in which public opposition within the US grew throughout the war's course. It was not only the limitation of information in the Middle East; media were also restricting what was shown about the war with more graphic depictions like [[Ken Jarecke]]'s image of a burnt Iraqi soldier being pulled from the American AP wire whereas in Europe it was given extensive coverage.<ref name="AJR">{{cite web |year=2007 |url=http://www.ajr.org/article_printable.asp?id=3759 |title=Images of War |publisher=AJR |access-date=20 July 2007 |last=Lori Robertson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724001706/http://www.ajr.org/article_printable.asp?id=3759 |archive-date=24 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="BBC.4528745">{{cite news |date=9 May 2005|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4528745.stm|title=Picture power: Death of an Iraqi soldier|work=BBC News|access-date=14 October 2010 |last=Ken Jarecke's account to the BBC World Service programme}}</ref><ref name="FamousPictures">{{cite web |year=2007 |url=http://www.famouspictures.org/iraqi-soldier/|title=Famous Pictures Magazine{{snd}}Iraqi Soldier|publisher=Famous Pictures Magazine|access-date=23 May 2013 |last=Lucas, Dean}}</ref>

Two BBC journalists, John Simpson and [[Bob Simpson (journalist)|Bob Simpson]] (no relation), defied their editors and remained in Baghdad to report on the war's progress. They were responsible for a report which included an "infamous cruise missile that travelled down a street and turned left at a traffic light."<ref>{{cite news |author=Peter Ruff |date=31 July 2006 |title=Obituary: Bob Simpson |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jul/31/broadcasting.guardianobituaries |access-date=4 September 2011}}</ref>

Alternative media outlets provided views opposing the war.<ref>{{cite web |title=Memória Globo |url=http://memoriaglobo.globo.com/Memoriaglobo/0%2C27723%2CGYN0-5273-256436%2C00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725085143/http://memoriaglobo.globo.com/Memoriaglobo/0%2C27723%2CGYN0-5273-256436%2C00.html |archive-date=25 July 2011 |access-date=2017-03-26}}, access on 29 March 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Livraria da Folha{{snd}}Livro conta como Guerra do Golfo colocou a CNN no foco internacional{{snd}}08/09/2010 |url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/livrariadafolha/794646-livro-conta-como-guerra-do-golfo-colocou-a-cnn-no-foco-internacional.shtml |access-date=13 May 2011 |publisher=.folha.uol.com.br}}</ref><ref>[http://www.colegioweb.com.br/historia/guerra-do-golfo.html A Guerra do Golfo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204020203/http://www.colegioweb.com.br/historia/guerra-do-golfo.html|date=4 February 2013}}, accessed on 29 March 2011</ref> Deep Dish Television compiled segments from independent producers in the US and abroad, and produced a 10-hour series that was distributed internationally, called The Gulf Crisis TV Project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deepdishtv.org/Series/Default.aspx?id=4 |title=Series (The Gulf Crisis TV Project) |date=11 July 2010 |access-date=17 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711090755/http://www.deepdishtv.org/Series/Default.aspx?id=4 |archive-date=11 July 2010 }}</ref> The series' first program ''War, Oil and Power''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/ddtv_50_war_oil_and_power|title=War, Oil and Power|access-date=17 January 2017|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> was compiled and released in 1990, before the war broke out. ''News World Order'' was the title of another program in the series; it focused on the media's complicity in promoting the war, as well as Americans' reactions to the media coverage.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/ddtv_56_new_world_order|title=News World Order|access-date=17 January 2017|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

[[Media watchdog]] group [[Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting]] (FAIR) critically analyzed media coverage during the war in various articles and books, such as the 1991 ''Gulf War Coverage: The Worst Censorship was at Home''.<ref name="fair.org.1518">{{cite web |date=April 1991 |url=https://fair.org/extra/gulf-war-coverage/|title=Gulf War Coverage: The Worst Censorship Was at Home|publisher=[[Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting]] (FAIR)|access-date=14 October 2010 |last=Naureckas|first=Jim |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406043739/https://fair.org/extra/gulf-war-coverage/ |archive-date=2016-04-06 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Technology and equipments==
{{Further|List of Gulf War military equipment}}
[[File:Missouri missile BGM-109 Tomahawk.JPG|thumb|[[USS Missouri (BB-63)|USS ''Missouri'']] launching a [[Tomahawk (missile family)|Tomahawk missile]]. The Gulf War was the last conflict in which [[battleship]]s were deployed in a combat role.]]

[[Precision-guided munition]]s were heralded as key in allowing military strikes to be made with a minimum of civilian casualties compared to previous wars, although they were not used as often as more traditional, less accurate bombs. Specific buildings in downtown Baghdad could be bombed while journalists in their hotels watched cruise missiles fly by.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Precision-guided munitions amounted to approximately 7.4% of all bombs dropped by the coalition. Other bombs included [[cluster bomb]]s, which disperse numerous submunitions,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/dumb/cluster.htm |title=Dumb Bombs |publisher=Fas.org |access-date=18 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328110957/http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/dumb/cluster.htm |archive-date=28 March 2010}}</ref> and [[BLU-82|daisy cutters]], 15,000-pound bombs which can disintegrate everything within hundreds of yards.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

[[Global Positioning System]] (GPS) units were relatively new at the time and were important in enabling coalition units to easily navigate across the desert. Since military GPS receivers were not available for most troops, many used commercially available units. To permit these to be used to best effect, the "selective availability" feature of the GPS system was turned off for the duration of Desert Storm, allowing these commercial receivers to provide the same precision as the military equipment.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVgf41ic6LgC&q=gulf%20war%20gps&pg=PR4|title=GPS for Dummies|first=Joel|last=McNamara|isbn=978-0-470-19923-7|year=2007|publisher=John Wiley & Sons }}</ref>

[[Airborne early warning and control|Airborne Warning and Control System]] (AWACS) and satellite communication systems were also important. Two examples of this are the US Navy's [[Grumman E-2 Hawkeye]] and the US Air Force's [[Boeing E-3 Sentry]]. Both were used in command and control area of operations. These systems provided essential communications links between air, ground, and naval forces. It is one of several reasons coalition forces dominated the air war.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

American-made color photocopiers were used to produce some of Iraq's battle plans. Some of the copiers contained concealed high-tech transmitters that revealed their positions to American [[electronic warfare aircraft]], leading to more precise bombings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/international/2011/04/07/something-wrong-with-our-chips-today |title=Something wrong with our **** chips today |newspaper=The Economist |date=7 April 2011|access-date=13 June 2011}}</ref>

===Scud and Patriot missiles===
[[File:Scud downed by Patriot missiles.JPEG|thumb|Military personnel examine the remains of a Scud.]]
The role of Iraq's Scud missiles featured prominently in the war. Scud is a tactical [[ballistic missile]] that the Soviet Union developed and deployed among the forward deployed [[Soviet Army]] [[GSFG|divisions]] in [[East Germany]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Scud missiles utilize inertial guidance which operates for the duration that the engines operate. Iraq used Scud missiles, launching them into both Saudi Arabia and Israel. Some missiles caused extensive casualties, while others caused little damage.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

The US Patriot missile was used in combat for the first time. The US military claimed a high effectiveness against Scuds at the time, but later analysis gives figures as low as 9%, with 45% of the 158 Patriot launches being against debris or false targets.<ref name="Cirincione"/> The [[Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)|Dutch Ministry of Defense]], which also sent Patriot missiles to protect civilians in Israel and Turkey, later disputed the higher claim.<ref name=nederland2009 /> Further, there is at least one incident of a software error causing a Patriot missile's failure to engage an incoming Scud, resulting in deaths.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ima.umn.edu/~arnold/disasters/patriot.html |title=The Patriot Missile Failure |publisher=Ima.umn.edu |access-date=1 February 2011}}</ref> Both the US Army and the missile manufacturers maintained the Patriot delivered a "miracle performance" in the Gulf War.<ref name="Cirincione">{{cite web |first=Joseph |last=Cirincione |author-link=Joseph Cirincione |title=The Performance of the Patriot Missile in the war |url=http://www.ceip.org/files/projects/npp/resources/georgetown/PatriotPaper.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031223120310/http://www.ceip.org/files/projects/npp/resources/georgetown/PatriotPaper.pdf |publisher=[[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]]|date=October 1992 |archive-date=23 December 2003 |access-date=4 December 2005}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
The Gulf War has been the subject of several video games including ''[[Conflict: Desert Storm]]'', ''[[Conflict: Desert Storm II]]'', ''[[Gulf War: Operation Desert Hammer]]'', and ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops 6]]''. There have also been numerous depictions in film including ''[[Jarhead (film)|Jarhead]]'' (2005), which is based on US Marine [[Anthony Swofford]]'s 2003 [[Jarhead (book)|memoir of the same name]].<ref>{{Cite news|issn = 0261-3077|last = Adams|first = Tim|title = Observer review: Jarhead by Anthony Swofford|work = The Guardian|access-date = 2018-06-13|date = 2003-03-23|url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/mar/23/biography.writersoniraq}}</ref> The 2016 [[Bollywood]] movie [[Airlift (film)|''Airlift'']] is based on [[1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait]], the evacuation of Indian citizens stranded in Kuwait during the Gulf War.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wionews.com/photos/pics-from-kuwait-airlift-in-1990-to-operation-ganga-in-2022-here-are-a-few-evacuation-missions-by-india-457085#:~:text=Kuwait%20airlift%201990,the%20course%20of%20two%20months|title=Pics: From Kuwait airlift in 1990 to operation Ganga in 2022, here are a few evacuation missions by India|date=27 February 2022}}</ref>
Gil Scott-Heron's song 'Work for Peace' from the album [[Spirits_(Gil_Scott-Heron_album)|'Spirits']] was a response to the war.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=27em}}
* [[Operation Granby]]
* [[1973 Samita border skirmish]]
* [[United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission]]
* [[Iraq–Russia relations]]
* [[SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, Iraq 1973–1990]]
* [[Gulf War curfew in Palestine]]
* [[Loss of Strength Gradient]]
* [[Military history of the United States]]
* [[Post–World War II air-to-air combat losses]]
* [[Organization of United States Air Force Units in the Gulf War]]
* [[Naval organization of the U.S.-led coalition during the Gulf War]]
* ''[[The Gulf War Did Not Take Place]]''
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{reflist |group=lower-alpha |refs=
<ref name=numbering>
The numbering of Persian Gulf conflicts depends on whether the [[Iran–Iraq War]] (1980–1988) is referred to as the First (Persian) Gulf War (English language sources prior to the start of the Kuwait war in 1990 usually called it the Gulf War), which would make the 1990 war the Second (Persian) Gulf War. Different sources may call the conflicts by different names. The name '[[Persian Gulf]]' is itself a subject of [[Persian Gulf naming dispute|dispute]]. The start date of the Kuwait War can also be seen as either August 1990 (when Iraq's [[Saddam Hussein]] invaded [[Kuwait]]) or as January 1991 (the start of Operation Desert Storm, when the US-led coalition forced Iraq out of Kuwait), so that the war is also often called the 1991 Gulf War, the 1990–1991 Gulf War, the 1990s Gulf War, etc. ... This dating is also used to distinguish it from the other two 'Gulf Wars'.</ref>
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|24em|refs=
<ref name="VUA Citation">Desert Storm/Shield Valorous Unit Award Citations.{{full citation needed|date=May 2022}}</ref>
}}

===Works cited===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bourque |first=Stephen A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RJib7YOJ4oEC |title=Jayhawk! The 7th Corps in the Persian Gulf War |date=2001 |publisher=[[Department of the Army]] |location=Washington, D.C |isbn=978-0-16-051128-8 |lccn=2001028533 |oclc=51313637}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Bourque |first1=Stephen A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sUDcIC-3QyoC |title=The Road to Safwan: The 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry in the 1991 Persian Gulf War |last2=Burdan |first2=John W. |publisher=[[University of North Texas Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-57441-232-1 |location=Denton, TX}}
* {{Cite report |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA264134.pdf |title=Task Force 1-41 Infantry: The Fratricide Experience in Southwest Asia |last=Hillman |first=James L. |date=1993 |publisher=[[US Army War College]] |location=Carlisle Barracks, PA |oclc=28169776 |access-date=26 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226024546/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a264134.pdf |archive-date=December 26, 2014 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Halbertstadt |first=Hans |title=Desert Storm: Ground War |date=1991 |publisher=[[Motorbooks International]] |isbn=978-0-87938-561-3 |location=Osceola, Wis.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dunstan |first=Simon |title=Challenger Squadron |date=1999 |publisher=Crowood |isbn=978-1-86126-301-8 |location=Marlborough}}
* {{Cite book |last=Halberstadt |first=Hans |title=Desert Rats: THe British 4 and 7 Armoured Brigades, WWII to Today |date=1993 |publisher=[[Motorbooks International]] |isbn=978-0-87938-767-9 |location=Osceola, Wis.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dinackus |first=Thomas D. |title=Order of Battle: Allied Ground Forces of Operation Desert Storm |date=2000 |publisher=Hellgate Press |isbn=978-1-55571-493-2 |location=Central Point, Oregon}}
* {{Cite book |last=Burton |first=James G. |author-link=James G. Burton |title=The Pentagon Wars: Reformers Challenge the Old Guard |date=1993 |publisher=[[Naval Institute Press]] |isbn=978-1-55750-081-6 |location=Annapolis, Md}}
* {{Cite book |last=Debay |first=Yves |title=Blitzkrieg in the Gulf: Armor of the 100-hour War |date=1991 |publisher=Concord Publications |isbn=978-9-62361-701-7 |location=Hong Kong}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lingamfelter |first=L. Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ye_QDwAAQBAJ |title=Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War |date=2020 |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |isbn=978-0-8131-7920-9 |series=American warrior series |location=Lexington, Kentucky}}
* {{cite book |last1=Nordeen |first1=Lon |last2=Isby |first2=David |year=2010 |title=M60 vs T-62: Cold War Combatants 1956–92 |series=Dual |others=Illustrated by Richard Chasemore |publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]] |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-1-84603-694-1 |lccn=2010525413 |oclc=495780787}}
{{Refend}}

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* {{cite book |first=Jon |last=Latimer |author-link=Jon Latimer |title=Deception in War |location=London |publisher=John Murray |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7195-5605-0}}
* {{cite news |first=Allan |last=Little |title=Iraq coming in from the cold? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/from_our_own_correspondent/newsid_34000/34588.stm |access-date=4 December 2005 |date=1 December 1997 |work=BBC}}
* {{cite web |first=John |last=MacArthur |date=October 7, 1993 |title=Independent Policy Forum Luncheon Honoring |url=http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/LIE/HK/HK_IRAQ.html |access-date=4 December 2005}}
* {{cite book |last=Makiya |first=Kanan |author-link=Kanan Makiya |title=Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising, and the Arab World |publisher=W.W. Norton |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-393-03108-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/crueltysilencewa00maki}}
* {{cite web |first=Edwin |last=Moise |title=Bibliography: The First U.S.{{snd}}Iraq War: Desert Shield and Desert Storm (1990–1991) |url=http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/iraqbib.html#first |access-date=21 March 2009}}
* {{cite book |first=Alan |last=Munro |title=Arab Storm: Politics and Diplomacy Behind the Gulf War |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84511-128-1}}
* {{cite web |author=Naval Historical Center |title=The United States Navy in Desert Shield/Desert Storm |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/ |access-date=4 December 2005 |date=15 May 1991 |archive-date=2 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051202183506/http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/}}
* {{cite book |last=Wright |first=Steven |title=The United States and Persian Gulf Security: The Foundations of the War on Terror |publisher=Ithaca Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-86372-321-6}}
* {{Cite web |last1=Niksch |first1=Larry A. |last2=Sutter |first2=Robert G. |date=23 May 1991 |title=Japan's Response to the Persian Gulf Crisis: Implications for U.S. -Japan Relations |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs8/ |access-date=4 December 2005 |website=UNT Digital Library |publisher=Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress |language=English}}
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* {{cite book |first=Jonathon |last=Riley |title=Decisive Battles: From Yorktown to Operation Desert Storm |publisher=Continuum |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84725-250-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/decisivebattlesf0000rile |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/decisivebattlesf0000rile/page/207 207] |quote=SAS first units ground January into iraq.}}
* {{cite book |first=Paul William |last=Roberts |author-link=Paul William Roberts |title=The Demonic Comedy: Some Detours in the Baghdad of Saddam Hussein |isbn=978-0-374-13823-3 |year=1998 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/demoniccomedysom00robe}}
* {{cite book |first1=Micah |last1=Sifry |last2=Cerf |first2=Christopher |author-link2=Christopher Cerf (musician and television producer) |title=The Gulf War Reader |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-8129-1947-9 |publisher=Random House |location=New York, NY |url=https://archive.org/details/gulfwarreaderhis00mica}}
* {{cite book |first=Geoff |last=Simons |title=Iraq: from Sumer to post-Saddam |year=2004 |edition=3rd |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4039-1770-6}}
* {{cite book |first=Jean Edward |last=Smith |author-link=Jean Edward Smith |title=George Bush's War |location=New York |publisher=Henry Holt |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-8050-1388-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/georgebushswar00smit}}
* {{cite book |first=Spencer |last=Tucker |title=The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts |publisher=ABC-Clio |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84725-250-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/decisivebattlesf0000rile}}
* {{cite web |first=Peter |last=Turnley |title=The Unseen Gulf War (photo essay) |url=http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0212/pt_intro.html |access-date=4 December 2005 |date=December 2002}}
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* {{cite book |last1=Victoria |first1=William L. Cleveland, late of Simon Fraser University, Martin Bunton, University of |title=A History of the Modern Middle East |date=2013 |publisher=Westview Press |location=Boulder, CO |isbn=978-0-8133-4833-9 |page=450 |edition=5th |quote=Last paragraph: "On 16 January 1991 the air war against Iraq began}}
* {{cite web |first=Andre Gunder |last=Frank |title=Third World War in the Gulf: A New World Order |url=http://rrojasdatabank.info/agfrank/gulf_war.html |access-date=4 December 2005 |date=20 May 1991 |work=Political Economy Notebooks for Study and Research, No. 14, pp. 5–34}}
* {{cite web |author=Frontline |title=The Gulf War: an in-depth examination of the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf crisis |website=[[PBS]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/script_b.html |access-date=4 December 2005}}
* {{cite web |title=Report to Congress on the Conduct of the Persian Gulf War, Chapter 6 |url=http://es.rice.edu/projects/Poli378/Gulf/gwtxt_ch6.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831094256/http://es.rice.edu/projects/Poli378/Gulf/gwtxt_ch6.html |archive-date=31 August 2019 |access-date=18 Aug 2021}}
* {{cite web |title=25 years since the "Locusta" Operation |work=Difesa Online |date=25 September 2015 |url=https://en.difesaonline.it/news-forze-armate/cielo/25-anni-dalloperazione-locusta}}
* {{cite web |title=Iraq (1990) |work=Ministero Della Difesa |language=it |url=http://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/missione/attivitaoperative/operazioni_concluse/opr_internazionali_concluse/Pagine/Iraq(1990).aspx}}
{{Refend}}

===Films===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* ''[[Dawn of the World]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Bravo Two Zero (film)|Bravo Two Zero]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Courage Under Fire]]'' (1996)
* ''[[The Finest Hour (1991 film)|The Finest Hour]]'' (1991)
* ''[[The Heroes of Desert Storm]]'' (1991)
* ''[[Lessons of Darkness]]'' (1992) (a documentary)
* ''[[Live from Baghdad (film)|Live from Baghdad]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Towelhead (film)|Towelhead]]'' (2007)
* ''[[Three Kings (1999 film)|Three Kings]]'' (1999)
* ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'' (2004)
* Used as a back drop for the film ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'' (1998). It is frequently discussed as well.
* Used in [[retconned]] backstory for ''[[The Punisher (2004 film)|The Punisher]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Airlift (film)|Airlift]]'' (2016){{snd}} A [[Bollywood]] film based on the true story of [[1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait|the evacuation of 170,000 Indians stranded in the war zone]].
{{refend}}

===Novels===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* ''Braving the Fear{{snd}}The True Story of Rowdy US Marines in the Gulf War'' (by Douglas Foster) {{ISBN|978-1-4137-9902-6}}
* ''Bravo Two Zero'' (by [[Andy McNab]]) {{ISBN|978-0-440-21880-7}}
* ''[[The Fist of God]]'' (by [[Frederick Forsyth]]) {{ISBN|978-0-553-09126-7}}
* ''Glass (Pray the Electrons Back to Sand)'' (by James Chapman)
* ''Gulf in the War Story: A US Navy Personnel Manager Confides in You'' (diary from inside the real Top Gun, VF-1 "Wolfpack" by Bob Graham) {{ISBN|978-1-4751-4705-6}}
* ''Hogs'' [[dime novel]] series by James Ferro
* ''Jarhead'' (by Anthony Swofford) {{ISBN|978-0-7432-3535-8}}
* ''Savant'' (by [[James Follett]])
* ''Summer 1990'' (by Firyal AlShalabi)
* ''Third Graders at War'' (by Felix G)
* ''To Die in Babylon'' by [[Harold Livingston]]
* '' M60 vs T-62 Cold War Combatants 1956–92'' (by Lon Nordeen & David Isby)
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|c=Category:Gulf War|d=yes|q=yes|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUAY4hwufkI Barbara Walters Interview with General Schwarzkopf, Coalition commander in the Persian Gulf War] (Video: ABC, 1991)
* [//repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552642 Gulf War Discussion] from the [//repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552494/browse?type=title Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives]
* [//repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552703 Historical Context] from the [//repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/552494/browse?type=title Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-71-593/conflict_war/gulf_war/ CBC Digital Archives{{snd}}The 1991 Gulf War]
* [http://www.history.army.mil/reference/Finding%20Aids/DSMI.htm Master Index of Desert Storm Oral History Interviews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231231437/http://www.history.army.mil/reference/Finding%20Aids/DSMI.htm |date=31 December 2010 }} by the [[United States Army Center of Military History]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071212214924/http://www.history.army.mil/reference/gulfbib.htm Bibliography of the Desert Shield and Desert Storm] compiled by the [[United States Army Center of Military History]] {{link note|note=via Wayback Machine}}
* [http://cdm16635.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p16635coll2!p16635coll25!p16635coll13!p16635coll18!p16635coll20!p16635coll15!p16635coll27!p16635coll3!p16635coll11!p16635coll8!p16635coll28!p16635coll23!p16635coll29!p16635coll10!p16635coll12!p16635coll5!p16635coll4!p16635coll14!p16635coll9!p16635coll21!p16635coll1!p16635coll22/searchterm/XVIII%20Airborne%20Corps%20History%20Office/field/all/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort/ad/asc, Desert Shield/Desert Storm Photographs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017021409/http://cdm16635.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p16635coll2!p16635coll25!p16635coll13!p16635coll18!p16635coll20!p16635coll15!p16635coll27!p16635coll3!p16635coll11!p16635coll8!p16635coll28!p16635coll23!p16635coll29!p16635coll10!p16635coll12!p16635coll5!p16635coll4!p16635coll14!p16635coll9!p16635coll21!p16635coll1!p16635coll22/searchterm/XVIII%20Airborne%20Corps%20History%20Office/field/all/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort/ad/asc, |date=17 October 2015 }} US Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140505181504/http://www.history.com-archive.info/topics/persian-gulf-war Persian Gulf War]
* [http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/20th-anniversary-of-desert-storm-in-photos/ 20th Anniversary of Desert Storm in Photos]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150714171711/http://waronline.org/mideast/iraq_airforce.htm Air Force and Air Defense of Iraq before the war (not translated) exact list of the technical details]
* [https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo52758 Liberating Kuwait] [[United States Marine Corps]]
* [http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabh.htm Friendly-fire Incidents] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601053948/http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabh.htm |date=1 June 2013 }}{{snd}}www.gulflink.osd.mil
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120915090951/http://www.history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/vua_citations.html Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm: Valorous Unit Award Citations] by the [[United States Army Center of Military History]]

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