198 ISLAM AT WAR
presence in the Indian Ocean. Marines landed next and were slowly re-
inforced by regular army divisions. While American air and military
power grew, the two sides’ diplomats growled at each other. Hussein may
have misjudged Western resolve because of the weakness with which
Jimmy Carter had acted—or failed to act—when Iran had kidnapped
American embassy staff in Tehran. President Bush was cut from sterner
stuff and built a decisive military and political coalition to defeat the Iraqi
invasion. By January hosts of modern fighter planes faced Iraq’s aging
Mirages, and a large U.S.-led army had shouldered up to the Kuwaiti-
Iraqi border. The only question was the ability of the American armored
forces, who hadn’t seen serious action in fifty years. If Saddam’s troops
could sufficiently bloody the Americans, he must have hoped that the
pacifist and isolationist elements of the American Congress would win his
battle for him. He ordered his army into action.
A few hours after darkness fell on January 29, 1991, U.S. Marine Corps
outposts along the border reported the advance of a major Iraqi armored
attack. Realizing that they were terribly outnumbered, the marines loaded
into their vehicles and fled Khafji five minutes before the T-62s of the
Iraqi 3rd Armored Division rolled over their now empty post.
The Iraqis were advancing in three distinct spearheads, two moving at
positions to the west and one striking down the coastal highway. The 1st
Mechanized Division was assigned the task of guarding the western flank
of the attacking forces. The 3rd Armored Division was to cross the Saudi-
Kuwaiti border south of Wafra and then strike against the Saudi port of
MisÛhab. Simultaneously, the 5th Mechanized Division was to strike
straight down the coast, clear out the Saudi forces posted on the border,
then push south to link up with the 3rd Armored Division near MisÛhab.
This was the spearhead of the only Iraqi advance into Saudi Arabia, and
it was intended to be their major assault on the Saudis. If successful it
would break the political back of the coalition.
The westernmost column consisted of a T-62 tank battalion and armored
personnel carriers drawn from the 1st Mechanized Division. The central
column was formed by elements of the 3rd Armored Division and con-
tained about fifty tanks and thirty armored personnel carriers. The eastern
column contained forty or more tanks and armored personnel carriers and
moved directly down the coastal road. Once spotted, all three columns
were brought under continuous air attack.
The 5th Mechanized Division’s line of advance led it through the city
of RaÛs al Khafji, an oil and resort city on the Persian Gulf coast, about
eight miles from the Kuwaiti border. Because of its proximity to Kuwait,
when the war erupted, the Saudis had evacuated its 15,000 inhabitants.