Gulf War
The Event After Iraq invades and occupies
Kuwait, a thirty-four-nation coalition of military
forces responds by attacking the Iraqi army,
driving it out of Kuwait
Date January 17-February 28, 1991
Place The Persian Gulf, the waterway linking
Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and several other countries
with the Arabian Sea
Iraqi aggression against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia was
stopped, thereby preventing Iraqi president Saddam Hussein
from controlling most of the world’s known oil reserves.
When the modern Iraqi state was established after
World War I, Kuwait was created as a separate state,
although historically the two countries had been
governed together from the capital in Baghdad.
During the spring of 1990, Iraq presented demands
on Kuwait and opened negotiations with the coun-
try, while massing troops along the southern border
with Kuwait, presumably poised for an offensive to
settle such disputes as the location of the border be-
tween the two countries.
As Iraqi troops were moving south toward Kuwait,
American ambassador April Glaspie was summoned
by Iraqi president Saddam Hussein on July 25, 1990,
to inform her of Iraq’s grievances with Kuwait and of
his promise to resolve the issues peacefully. After ex-
pressing concern over the threat posed by the troop
movements, she indicated that the United States
was neutral toward disputes between Arab-speaking
countries.
Subsequently, during a congressional hearing,
an assistant secretary of state reported that there
were no contingency plans to repel an attack by Iraq
on Kuwait, as the United States had no military alli-
ance with either country. Baghdad interpreted
American disinterest as a green light for Iraq to an-
nex Kuwait.Iraq’s Attack and the Immediate Response On Au-
gust 2, a full-scale Iraqi attack was launched on Ku-
wait, whereupon Washington summoned the U.N.
Security Council for an emergency meeting that re-
sulted in a resolution calling on Iraq to withdraw.
Four days later, as Iraq took control of Kuwait, the Se-
curity Council authorized economic sanctions. On388 Gulf War The Nineties in America
Members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division take position in Iraq on February 25, 1991.(AP/Wide World Photos)