Introduction to Persian Gulf War
Persian Gulf War, 1991, a war fought between Iraq and a coalition of Middle Eastern and Western powers led by the United States. The aim of the Persian Gulf War coalition was to force Iraq out of Kuwait, a country it had conquered and annexed in 1990. The coalition consisted of 37 nations, but only the United States (with a force of 540,000). Saudi Arabia (118,000), Great Britain (43,000), Egypt (40,000), France (16,000). Syria (15,000), and Kuwait (7,000) provided substantial numbers of personnel.
The war began January 16, 1991, with the coalition launching an air assault on Iraq and its troops and military installations in Kuwait. The assault, which lasted 38 days, destroyed much of Iraq's war-making capabilities; when the ground attack began February 24, coalition forces were virtually unopposed and they defeated Iraqi ground troops within 100 hours. Hostilities ended with a temporary cease-fire on February 27. Iraq agreed to terms of a United Nations permanent cease-fire on April 6, 1991. The Persian Gulf War marks the first time in history that air power played the most important role in deciding the outcome of a war.
Background
The war had its origin in a dispute between Iraq and Kuwait over Kuwait's oil policies. Iraq's president, Saddam Hussein, asserted that Kuwait in the late 1980's had overproduced oil and thus caused a reduction in its price. By conquering Kuwait, Iraq could control Kuwait's production and bring the price of oil up to the level desired by Hussein.
On August 2, 1990, Hussein sent an invasion force into Kuwait. The conquest took one day and Iraq annexed the country on August 8. On August 2, the Security Council of the United Nations condemned the invasion and demanded that Iraq withdraw immediately. On August 6 the Security Council imposed an embargo on Iraqi trade.
Meanwhile, the United States formed a coalition to oppose Iraq and began a massive build-up of forces in Saudi Arabia, an action code-named Operation Desert Shield.
By late November, coalition forces were strong enough to invade Iraq if ordered to do so. On November 29, the Security Council authorized the use of force against Iraq unless it withdrew from Kuwait by January 15.
On January 12 the United States Con-gress authorized President George Bush to use military force against Iraq. The Congressional authorization was preceded by weeks of intense debate. Opponents of the authorization argued that more time should be allowed for the embargo to create extreme economic hardship for Iraq, causing Hussein to give in and withdraw his forces from Kuwait. Supporters of the authorization doubted the effectiveness of the embargo and argued that only a war would force Hussein out of Kuwait.
On January 16, a day after the United Nations deadline for Iraqi withdrawal, the Persian Gulf War, code-named Operation Desert Storm, began. Commanding the coalition forces was General H. Norman Schwarzkopf of the U.S. Army.
The Air War
The coalition's air forces greatly outmatched Iraq's in number of airplanes (2,790 to 650), technological development, pilot training, and operational strategy. The coalition forces' air assault involved mainly American, British, and French fighter planes and bombers, U.S. Army attack helicopters, and U.S. Navy intermediate-range missiles from submarines and surface ships.
The initial Iraqi targets were antiaircraft weapons, radar sites, and other air defenses; communications facilities; airfields and aircraft on the ground; surface-to-surface missile launching sites; and military command centers. Air defenses were rendered almost useless by laser-guided bombs that destroyed radar installations. Subsequent air attacks targeted ground forces; bridges, railways, and other transportation facilities; and plants suspected of developing nuclear and biological-warfare weapons and of manufacturing poison gas.
Iraq retaliated, beginning January 17, by attacking Israel and Saudi Arabia with intermediate-range missiles. The missiles were modified versions of a Soviet missile known in the West as the Scud. Mobile launchers were usually used, making it difficult for coalition forces to locate and destroy them. The attacks, 81 in all, continued throughout the war; they were of little military value, being largely directed at civilian targets.
The intent of the Scud attacks on Israel, which was not a member of the coalition, was to draw that country into the conflict in the hope that the Arab partners in the coalition would abandon the war and fight their decades-old enemy, Israel. The United States sent batteries of Patriot air-defense missiles to Israel to bolster that country's air defenses, and Israel refrained from retaliating against Iraq.
The Iraqi air force lost 35 planes in air-to-air battles with coalition planes and shot down no coalition planes. On January 26, in an attempt to preserve what remained of its air force, Iraq sent 148 of its fighter planes to seek refuge in Iran, which impounded them.
Coalition aircraft flew some 110,000 sorties against Iraq. When coalition ground forces were ready to attack Iraqi army positions, most defenses had been shattered and resistance was negligible. The destruction of Iraqi air defenses in the first days of combat was a major factor in the low loss of coalition aircraft, a total of 42 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, which included 13 U.S. Air Force planes.
The Iraqis suffered thousands of civilian casualties. The worst loss of life occurred on February 14, when some 400 civilians were killed in a building that collapsed after being hit with laser-guided bombs.
The Sea War
The small coastal vessels in Iraq's navy were no match for the coalition's huge naval force. Much of the force consisted of carrier battle groups of the U.S. Navy, which arrived in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea in January. Also that month the first of 33 amphibious warfare ships carrying 17,000 Marines entered the gulf.
After the war began on January 16, U.S. Marines and other ship-based coalition forces began retaking Iraqi-occupied islands off the coast of Kuwait. On January 25, Iraq began releasing oil from the Sea Island Terminal in Kuwait into the Persian Gulf, causing extensive environmental damage. It was an act that baffled coalition leaders, because it had no apparent military purpose. Before air strikes on January 29 destroyed the pumps that were pushing the oil into the gulf, some 120 million gallons (450 million liters) were dumped.
By the end of January some 60 Iraqi naval vessels had been either sunk or severely damaged by coalition forces, ending the country's naval capabilities.
When the ground war began in February, a United States amphibious force was assembled off the coast of Kuwait. No invasion was intended; the force's mission, which was successful, was to provide a diversion.
The Ground War
Coalition ground forces included some 500,000 United States troops and some 160,000 from other countries. The number of Iraqi defenders is unknown; estimates range from 250,000 to 540,000. Hussein placed his weaker divisions near the Saudi border; his elite Republican Guard divisions were positioned deep inside Kuwait and in southern Iraq.
The first ground fighting occurred January 29 when an Iraqi division made a foray south for six miles (9.6 km) into Saudi Arabia and seized the town of Khafji. Eleven U.S. Marines were killed in the attack. Within two days, however, Saudi troops and U.S. Marine forces destroyed the Iraqi division and retook Khafji.
On February 24 the coalition forces launched their major ground attack, a direct assault from the south into Kuwait and a flanking attack from the west into southern Iraq and western Kuwait.
The assault from the south involved three groups along the Kuwaiti border:
- A Saudi-Kuwaiti task force.
- A United States force consisting of the U.S. Marines' 1st and 2nd divisions and the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Brigade of the 2nd Armored Division.
- Pan-Arab forces consisting of two Egyptian divisions, a Syrian division, and a Saudi task force.
The flanking attack was carried out by two attacking groups aligned on the Iraqi border:
- VII Corps, consisting of two components: (a) the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, 3rd Armored Division, and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment; and (b) a British-American task force consisting of the British 1st Armored Division and the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division.
- XVIII Corps, consisting of two components: (a) the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, 24th Infantry Division, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and most of the 82nd Airborne Division; and (b) a Franco-American task force consisting of the French 6th Light Armored Division and one brigade from the 82nd Airborne.
The invading forces met only scattered resistance, as most Iraqis, demoralized by weeks of bombardment, immediately surrendered. On the first day all coalition units headed north across the Kuwaiti and Iraqi frontiers and advanced an average of 45 miles (72 km). In the west, the 101st Airborne made a helicopter assault some 70 miles (113 km) north into Iraqi territory to establish a forward supply base, and the Franco-American task force took the As Salman airfield.
On February 25 three units of XVIII Corps began heading east toward Basra in a flanking attack. VII Corps' British-American task force headed east into Kuwait, engaging in a two-day fight with Iraqi reserves and Republican Guard units. Most units of VII Corps moved northeast around Kuwait toward Basra. XVIII and VII corps were rapidly cutting off the escape routes of the Iraqi forces fleeing the coalition forces moving up from the south.
On February 26 the Saudi-Kuwaiti task force was poised to enter Kuwait City. U.S. Marines began blocking exits from the city and launched an assault on the city's airport. On February 27, the final day of the ground offensive, U.S. Marines seized the airport while the Saudi-Kuwaiti task force cleared Kuwait City of Iraqi defenders.
At the same time, in what was the largest tank battle since World War II, units of VII Corps fought and destroyed several Republican Guard divisions 15 miles (24 km) west of Basra. The battle involved more than 800 tanks of VII Corps and about 300 Republican Guard tanks. Coalition forces destroyed some 200 Iraqi tanks and lost none of their own.
Fewer than 100 Americans were killed during the ground war. Twenty-eight of them were killed by a Scud missile that hit a reservists' barracks in northeast Saudi Arabia. At the end of 100 hours of the ground offensive, President Bush declared a ceasefire.
Aftermath of the War
Total United States casualties for the Persian Gulf War were 148 killed in action and 458 wounded. Total casualties of the other coalition members were 77 killed in action and 830 wounded. Approximately one-quarter of the casualties were caused by misdirected fire from coalition troops. Estimates of Iraqi casualties range from 30,000 to 100,000 killed, and from 100,000 to 300,000 wounded.
The Security Council approved a resolution on March 2 setting the terms of surrender. Iraqi military commanders agreed to accept terms the following day. Meanwhile, Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq rose in rebellion against Saddam Hussein on March I and the Kurds in northern Iraq rose in rebellion on March 5. Both the Shiites and the Kurds were temporarily victorious, but by March 20 the Shiite rebels were defeated and by April 3 the Kurds were in retreat.
On April 6, the Iraqi government accepted the permanent cease-fire terms of the UN Security Council Resolution. On April 11, the Security Council declared an end to the war. Among the provisions of the cease-fire were ones requiring Iraq to pay war damages to Kuwait and its allies and to agree to a UN-supervised destruction of its development facilities for chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.
By the middle of April more than a million Kurds had fled attacks by Hussein's forces, and on April 17 United States, French, and British troops established a protective zone for Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq.
In the closing days of the war, Iraq had set fire to more than 500 oil wells in Kuwait. The fires continued to burn for months, causing catastrophic air pollution throughout the region.