Gulf War (Continued)

The United States' involvement in the Gulf War began on August 7, 1990, five days after Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army invaded Kuwait, a small country contiguous to Saudi Arabia. Since the Arab nations knew of Hussein's aggression and viciousness, proven by his murder of his own cabinet members in 1979 shortly after he seized control of Iraq, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia worried that his nation might be the dictator's next target. On August 6, King Fahd met with Defense Secretary Richard Cheney to request U.S. military protection of Saudi Arabia. On August 7, President George H. W. Bush complied with his request by committing two carrier battlegroups from the U.S. Navy and more than 100 fighter and attack aircraft from the U.S. Air Force. In addition, a surface action group and command ship stood firm in the Persian Gulf, supported by fixed wing Navy and Air Force combat aircraft. The forces steadily grew during the month, until about 700 fighter and attack aircraft, with Marine and Army attack helicopters were present by the end of August. These forces, present only to show U.S. military might and stabilize the border of Saudi Arabia, were the beginning of Operation Desert Shield.

The United Nations gave Hussein a deadline of January 15 to withdraw from Kuwait. By the end of October, the situation in Kuwait began to imply that the use of force might be necessary to eject the Iraqi army from Kuwait. On January 12, 1991, Congress officially authorized the use of force against Iraq. Operation Desert Storm began on January 17.

The first attack, led by Apache aircraft, pitted the U.S. against the Iraqi scud missiles, resulting in aircraft losses for the Navy and causing the British command to reconsider its own attack strategy. Some of the first American prisoners of war were also taken during the first few air strikes. In addition to the aircraft, the Navy introduced the Tomahawk Land attack missile (TLAM), a missile that uses a complex guidance system from an on-board computer to reach its target. Because it can read the terrain and avoid enemy radar, it is almost always accurate at hitting its target. Desert Storm marked the first time this missile had been used in battle.

U.S. forces hit Kuwait from air, land, and sea. While Navy Prowlers disabled Iraq's early warning systems and destroyed radar, Naval forces at sea fired TLAMs and destroyed mines beneath international waters. Marines prepared an amphibious assault in the Gulf of Oman, a tactic which General Norman Schwarzkopf ultimately decided not to deploy. On February 13, the U.S. killed more than 200 civilians in the Al Firdos Bunker, sparking concern among U.S. military forces and prompting Radio Baghdad to notify President Bush that the Iraqis wished to withdraw, a proposal that Bush called "a cruel hoax."
On February 21, President Bush initiated a new deadline for Iraqi withdrawal--noon, February 23. Even as U.S. forces pummeled enemy targets, Iraq once again ignored the deadline, and the ground offensive began. As more than 250,000 soldiers from the U.S. and its allies poured into Kuwait from the west, Iraqi soldiers found themselves cut off from any avenue of escape. Although Iraqis fought back with artillery and some missile defenses, they could not match the power of the TLAMs and the intense fire from Navy and Marine aircraft. Many Iraqis fought for only a few minutes before fleeing to Iran.

After President Bush ordered a cease-fire at 8 AM on February 28, the Navy continued to search and destroy sea mines in the Persian Gulf. At the end of the war, nearly the entire Iraqi offensive system had been destroyed or damaged, and over 20,000 Iraqi soldiers found themselves prisoners of the U.S. military. By the beginning of March, Iraq released American prisoners of war, and the Gulf War concluded in American victory.

Sources:
Frontline: the Gulf War