Gulf War

Gulf War. What Started It? On August 2, 1990, the Iraqi Army invaded and quickly overwhelmed Kuwait and declared it Iraq's nineteenth province., The Result: Coalition forces from 34 countries, led by the US, began building up in Saudi Arabia. Iraq massed forces along the Saudi border, breaching it at some points and indicating the possibility that Hussein's forces would continue south into Saudi Arabia's oil fields. Operation Desert Shield was initiated with a powerful force build-up in the Arabian peninsula., Our Deception: We prepared an excellent deception plan to convince Iraq we planned to attack in one area, but we were really going to execute a "Left hook" strategy and completely catch Iraqi forces by surprise., The Outcome: By mid-January 1991, it became clear Iraq would not withdraw, so Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm. After 42 days of relentless attacks by our coalition naval, air, and ground forces, we declared a cease-fire on February 28 since most Iraqi forces in Kuwait had surrendered or fled. Although the Gulf War was initially considered an unqualified success for the international coalition, simmering conflict in the troubled region would lead to a second Gulf War - known as the Iraq War., Did you know? When the 34 nations joined the coalition, it formed the largest military alliance since World War II., At What Cost? Of the 584,000 who served, 147 died in combat and 235 died in non-combat incidents, while over 71,000 Iraqi forces were captured.