Prelude: Iraq invades Kuwait
In the early morning hours of August 2, 1990, hundreds of
Iraqi tanks rumbled across the usually peaceful desert sands
of northern Kuwait. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had
ordered his forces to invade the tiny Arab emirate on his
southern border, following a series of disputes over oil
rights and Iraqi debts. Within 24 hours, all of
Kuwait was under Iraq's control.
The U.N. Security Council immediately demanded Iraq's
withdrawal and imposed sanctions, but to no avail. Saddam
annexed Kuwait and appeared to threaten neighboring
Saudi Arabia by moving thousands of troops to the Kuwait-
Saudi border.
Immediately, U.S. President George Bush began working to form
an international coalition against Iraq. By mid-January
1991, that coalition included 39 nations and a military
colossus of 670,000 troops, 200 warships and the world's most
state-of-the-art military equipment. The U.N. Security
Council, meanwhile, had authorized "all necessary means" to
remove Iraq from Kuwait if they had not voluntarily withdrawn
by January 15.
On January 17, the bombs began falling on Baghdad.
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