check out our exclusive documentary on the rise and fall of Isis or our video on Israel's modern military over on our website armchair history. TV thanks for your support after 8 years of war in Iran Iraq became the leading Regional power in the Middle East Iraq's fight against Iran's revolutionary Shia ideology and its staunch opposition to Israel made its dictator Saddam Hussein immensely popular throughout the Sunni Arab world by 1990 the Iraqi Army had ballooned into the fourth largest military in the world with plenty of combat hardened soldiers filling its ranks however the Iran Iraq
war proved to be a double-edged sword it cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and left Iraq with mountains of debt much of that debt was owed to the small Emirate to its South Kuwait while geographically small Kuwait was incredibly wealthy and had been an important Financial Ally to Iraq during the war in less than 2 years however this Alliance morphed into hostility Saddam believed that the other Arab states owed Iraq for taking on the common cause against Iran and demanded Deb forgiveness the list of grievances to Kuwait in particular increased Iraq accused
Kuwait of illegally tapping its oil reserves overproducing its OPEC quota and even conspiring with Israel and the West to keep oil prices low and bankrupt Arab Nations additionally Iraq denied the legitimacy of the Kuwaiti State the area had historically been part of of the Ottoman Bassa province which in saddam's eyes legally made the region rightfully part of Iraq following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire as a high-profile YouTuber and content creator I'm no stranger to having personal information being made available on the internet data Brokers and people search sites like white pages my life and
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now and get 50% off an annual subscription for you or your family one rep is backed by a 30-day money back guarantee and you even have a trial period to see how it works and experience all of the benefits support our Channel by clicking on the link in the description below and start protecting you and your family's privacy today Iraq's Ambitions directly clashed with American interests since the second world war the United States committed to defending Saudi Arabia especially due to its massive oil reserves Franklin D Roosevelt himself had stated that the defense of Saudi
Arabia is vital to the United States throughout the 1980s American Support became even stronger the US was determined to guarantee the territorial integrity and the internal stability of Saudi Arabia as it turned out saddam's invasion of Kuwait proved ample reason for the United States to act on its guarantee the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was Swift and surprising in within a single day saddam's Army overran their underprepared and under equipped adversaries starting out at 2: a.m. on August 2nd the elite Iraqi Republican guard swept through the Emirate Just 4 hours later they besieged dasman Palace the
residents of imir jabir al- Ahmad alabah who fled to Saudi Arabia scattered pockets of resistance continued for 2 days although Iraq secured Kuwait quickly most Kuwaiti officials the vast majority of the Air Force and a few Army brigades escaped into Saudi Arabia the world quickly voiced its overwhelming disapproval of the invasion one of the strongest reactions came from the US President George HW Bush his disapproval was influenced by British prime minister Margaret Thatcher who is one of the first people Bush spoke to after the invasion she compared The Invasion to to appeasement in the 1930s
saying that Saddam would have the whole Gulf at his mercy and 65% of the world's oil with it if his aggression were not quickly checked a more panicked reaction emerged in Saudi Arabia who feared that they were next on saddam's chopping block King fod quickly reached out to the United States to organize a thorough defense of the country and keep Saddam from invading Saudi Arabia throughout the world Nations flocked to condemn saddam's Invasion and annexation of Kuwait all five permanent members of the UN Security Council implemented sanctions and placed arms embargos on Iraq the UN
initially tried to get Saddam to withdraw from Kuwait through economic pressure however as it became increasingly clear that Saddam remained defiant the security Council passed resolution 678 this legally authorized UN member states to use all necessary means to force Iraq to withdraw if it hadn't left by January 15th 1991 as the world pressured Iraq Saddam Unleashed brutal measures on the Kuwaiti population civilians were terrorized by arrests torture kidnapping rape and murder people who were suspected of members of the Kuwaiti resistance were brutally tortured and publicly executed Ed the Iraqis looted Kuwait for all it was
worth according to an official in the Kuwaiti reconstruction program the Iraqi stole everything that could be loaded onto a 5ton truck and carried it away automobiles typ riters telephones domestic appliances furniture and every other possible sort of moving possession to protect Saudi Arabia and prepare for the liberation of Kuwait the United States launched op Operation Desert Shield on August 7th 1990 the goals were to defend Saudi Arabia while simultaneously building a massive concentration of aircraft armored vehicles and Naval presence for the expected military campaign in Kuwait the operation was a major logistical challenge the buildup
concentrated in the desolate sweltering Northeast of Saudi Arabia although the modern infrastructure in the region eased the challenge inefficient numbers of available ships aircraft and trucks made transporting the heavy equipment very difficult the list of Nations committing to fight Saddam rapidly grew throughout 1990 Regional Rivals like Syria and Egypt eagerly supported the Coalition additionally US Secretary of State James Baker convinced dozens of other nations to join and check Iraq's aggression however the large Coalition was troubled by intricate command B structures and cultural rivalries France in particular sought strategic autonomy and only wanted to allow French
troops to use French airbases Arab troops preferred to only strike Iraqi Targets in Kuwait since those could be justified as an attack on Iraqi aggression rather than an attack on Muslim civilians despite these differences the Coalition was able to balance operational flexibility and autonomy with a unified strategy by January 15th 1991 the Coalition consisted of 42 countries and about 900,000 soldiers under the commands of us General Norman Schwarz cop and Saudi General khed bin Sultan facing them were over a million Iraqi soldiers including the Fearsome and Powerful Republican guard these elite units were the cream
of the crop in the Iraqi military the most loyal most disciplined best trained and best equipped that Saddam had to offer when the deadline for withdraw passed and Saddam showed no sign of giving in Operation Desert Shield transformed into Operation Desert Storm the attack started with an extensive bombing Campaign which quickly overwhelmed Iraq within a week the Coalition established Absolute Air superiority with over a thousand sorties per day they leveled Iraq's infrastructure and Industry Iraq's previously feared air defenses proved to be no match the Coalition aircraft flew too fast and too high of the almost
3,000 aircraft the Coalition sent in it only lost just 75 Saddam responded by firing wildly inaccurate scud missiles at the Coalition armies and toward neutral Israel he hoped that by dragging Israel into the Coalition the anti-israel Arab Coalition members would would leave causing the alliance to fall apart despite launching missiles for 6 weeks Israel did not retaliate the attacks were expected and Bush had urged Israel not to get involved in reaction the United States supplied anti-missile systems to Israel and ramped up its bombing of Iraqi launching sites during the first 2 weeks of Operation Desert
Storm the War mostly involved artillery duels and bombing sorties the Coalition made a few reconnaissance missions in Kuwait but no large-scale land fighting had occurred Saddam worried over falling morale amidst The NeverEnding bombardments attempted to provoke the Coalition into a land battle if he could just inflict a single decisive blow the war would become too costly for the Americans thus he took the initiative and sent his troops to occupy the Saudi Border City of kafi Iraqi troops smashed through the Eastern flank of the Coalition and entered the city King fod outraged that Iraqi soldiers were
on Saudi soil ordered the immediate recapture of the city although the ensuing battle was vicious the Iraqi soldiers were outmatched especially due to overwhelming Coalition air power after just 36 hours the Iraqis fled to the KU border although the battle was a tactical win for the Coalition Iraqi leaders claimed Victory to bolster their troops flagging morale it took three more weeks of back and forth artillery fire maneuvering and skirmishing before the ground invasion was ready on February 22nd 1991 Bush sent a final ultimatum to Saddam leave Kuwait within 24 hours or face a ground Invasion
Saddam rejected the ultimatum and in Revenge ramped up the destruction of Kuwait especially by destroying it oil wells the explosion of over 600 oil wells served both to punish Kuwait and to raise a smoke screen Against The Invader the ground campaign codenamed Operation Desert saber seemed to be a daunting task numerous Iraqi forces were deeply entrenched in Kuwait and Saddam kept his Elite Republican Guard in reserve near the Iraq Kuwait border should Kuwait be overrun they would be able to prevent a coalition Advance into to Iraq proper the expectations were that the Coalition would launch
its main thrust into Kuwait from the south possibly supported by an amphibious assault the Coalition actually launched its main thrust further west deep into the Arabian Desert the main objective was to cut off the Iraqi forces in Kuwait encircle the Republican guard and destroy it the Coalition offensive lasted only 100 hours a little over 4 days one of the first objectives of the ground war was the capture and establishment of a Ford base deep inside Iraqi territory in one of the deepest Airborne operations in history American forces buried the 101st Airborne Division 100 km or
62 Mi Behind Enemy Lines simultaneously the first armored thrusts pierced deep into Iraqi territory French tanks and armored vehicles Advanced toward the town of Al Salman neutralizing a mechanized infantry division during their assault while the Coalition forces advanced in the West American and Arab forces began breaking through the Iraqi defenses in Kuwait properly the Coalition dominated the battlefield a wellth thought-out strategy was complemented with Superior technology like the M1A1 Abrams battle tank and complete air superiority Iraqi morale was also extremely low making the assaults very one-sided Iraqi soldiers surrendered in droves with many being so
anxious to surrender that they gave themselves up to the first foreigners that they encountered in one notable incident a dozen Iraqi soldiers surrendered to an Italian news crew in broken Italian throughout the next 2 days Coalition forces would press further into Iraq and cut off all Paths of retreat for the Iraqi armies in Kuwait as forces in the desert drove for the Euphrates River those in Kuwait progressively moved up the coast toward Kuwait City assisted by Naval gunfire although wind rain and smoke from burning oil fields hampered progress Coalition forces progressed steadily the black smoke
in particular LED American Marines to nickname Kuwait the land of darkness which helped provide a concealment to Iraqi forces attempting to counter Coalition forces regardless of Iraqi concealment attacks like the one near alberan were quickly defeated that same day Saddam ordered all remaining units to withdraw from Kuwait to the Bassa area while Iraqi troops embarked on their Exodus from Kuwait the fiercest phase of the war was yet to begin there had been a few tank on tank skirmishes but only on February 26th would the tank war truly began more than 3,000 tanks and 1,000 more
armored vehicles fought in three separate but closely related battles the battles of 73 easting and Norfolk near the Iraq Kuwait border and the Battle of Medina Ridge a bit further North during the Battle of 73 easting US general fredderick Frank's 7th Army Corps engaged the Tawakal division of the Republican guard despite Terrible Weather poor visibility and Iraqi numerical superiority the Americans dominated after six hours of vicious battle the United States suffered just 23 casualties they lost a single armored fighting vehicle and didn't lose any of their tanks Iraq suffered up to 1,000 casualties and lost
180 armored fighting vehicles and 160 tanks the Battle of Norfolk fought just 2 hours later and nearby followed a similar pattern also referred to as bright night the Battle of Northfolk was an even larger battle than 73 eastn and fought in the dead of night without night vision goggles it was impossible to see which tank was on which side during the fighting the fighting itself was chaotic but lopsided but after the dust settled Coalition armies were once again Victorious while close to 600 Iraqi tanks had been destroyed the final major tank battle Medina Ridge marked
The Last Stand of the Republican guard during the war this was arguably the quickest and most decisive Victory the American Army achieved over the Republican guard in just a couple hours the opposing armor divisions had been decimated leaving the desert littered with hundreds of burning Iraqi tanks and armored personnel carriers while these tank battles raged one of the most infamous episodes of the golf War took place American French British and Canadian ground and Air Forces attacked the main Highway between Kuwait and Iraq on the night of February 26th to February 27th which thousands of Iraqi
soldiers and civilians used in their Retreat from Kuwait when the attack was over thousands of vehicles lay burnt or abandoned by the roadside their occupants either dead or fled although the death toll is officially unknown estimates range from hundreds to over a thousand casualties the Carnage earned this stretch of pavement the nickname the high way of death the campaign ended after only 100 hours the few Iraqi units that remained in Kuwait to cover the Iraqi Retreat were defeated during the Battle of Kuwait International Airport on February 27th this battle marked the liberation of Kuwait City
and the end of the Kuwaiti theater of the war a ceasefire was negotiated shortly after the United States and the United Nations had achieved their goal Kuwait was restored saddam's ability to wage war was crippled and the status quo in the Middle East was preserved despite its win on the battlefield the Coalition failed to achieve a strategic Victory Saddam remained in power and the Republican guard was not destroyed however the United States was unwilling to pursue the war American officials argued that getting rid of Saddam would result in a costly and lengthy occupation which was
not worth the additional American casualties the United States thus also did not support Shia and Kurdish uprisings against Saddam following the ceasefire although bush had encouraged Iraqis to resist Saddam he would not Aid them within half a year Saddam would violently Crush these uprisings despite its short duration the Gulf War caused extensive damage the oil fires in Kuwait continued for eight more months and the Kuwaiti economy was devastated Additionally the oil fires and oil spills caused extensive environmental damage while Kuwait would recover relatively quickly Iraq was in shambles around 175,000 Iraqis both civilian and Military
had died Iraq's GDP had fallen by over 64% living standards deteriorated and the overwhelming majority of its electric grid industrial capacity and infrastructure lay in ruin in in addition un sanctions and embargos on the nation made it next to impossible for Iraq to rebuild the Gulf War left Iraq an international Pariah Saddam had waged war on the world and the world had won albeit not decisively Saddam was not gone and to American policy makers he remained a threat the United States answered this Threat by keeping Iraq on a close leash interfering and bombing the country
regularly the Troublesome relations between saddam's Iraq and the United States would eventually set the scene for yet another even more devastating second golf War don't forget to check out our website armchair history. TV if you use our code free history you can watch our new documentary on the rise and fall of Isis completely for free
