68 Persian Gulf War Facts For History Lovers

The Persian Gulf War is the name given to the conflict that primarily took place between Iraq and Kuwait.This war is considered to be one of the biggest wars after World War II. This is because many other countries came forward to support Kuwait and the United Nations got involved in the conflict too.Like other wars, the Persian Gulf War cost human lives, financial crisis, loss of homes, damage to the environment, and so much more. The damage was suffered by both Kuwait and Iraq. The other members of the coalition forces also suffered human, financial, and material losses. After the end of the war, the financial loss of countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom while helping Kuwait was paid partially by both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Iraq continued to rebel against the regulations set out after the end of the conflict and further aggravated other countries. This led to more conflicts between Iraq and other powerful countries such as the United States.Read on to find what actually happened during this war, the events that led to it, and the consequences of the war that came after.Persian Gulf War OverviewThe Persian Gulf War is also called the First Gulf War or just the Gulf War. Here is an overview of the Persian Gulf War.The First Gulf War lasted a year, from 1990-1991.This war was fought between Iraqi forces and the Kuwaiti army, and coalition forces, including countries such as the United States, Egypt, France, and Saudi Arabia.The actual war started on August 2, 1990, when Iraqi troops entered Kuwait with hostile intentions.During the first 14 hours of the invasion of Kuwait, the resistance against the Iraqi forces was high.Within the next 36 hours, Iraq’s invasion was successful and they captured Kuwait city without much difficulty.The fight was then taken to Dasman Palace, where the Emir, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, was staying with his family.After an intense hand-to-hand fight that lasted for hours, the Kuwaiti side had to yield to the Iraqi forces.It was during this part of the Iraqi invasion that Sheikh Fahad, who was the Emir’s younger brother, was killed.Sheikh Jaber, the Sabah family’s senior members, and the cabinet took off to Saudi Arabia, where they created the government-in-exile.Following this, on August 4, Col. Alaa Hussain Ali was appointed as the Head of State of Kuwait City by the Iraqi forces.Then, the installation of the Provisional Free Government of Kuwait was carried out by the Iraqis on August 8.This was done to promote the idea that the invasion of Kuwait was organized according to the requests of the people of Kuwait who opposed the rule of the Sabah dynasty.A two-week deadline was given to the foreign diplomats in Kuwait to close down their embassies in the country and flee to Baghdad.On August 28, Kuwait was declared as Iraq’s 19th province by Saddam Hussein.After the declaration, the names of the places in Kuwait were ‘Iraqized’, and Al-Basrah, a province in southern Iraq, was extended to include the Al-Rumaylah oil field on the Kuwait side.Many islands such as Al-Warbah and Bubiyan were also added to the Iraqi region.The world that was witnessing this invasion did not sit idle and decided to take diplomatic actions against Iraq.The Security Council of the United Nations issued Resolution 661 on August 9, which put a ban on any economic relation with Iraq.The resolution also urged members of the United Nations to protect the various assets of the Kuwaiti government.The next day, the first batch of US troops was deployed to Saudi Arabia, and Arab leaders were invited to Cairo by Mubarak to address an emergency summit.Out of the 21 member countries of the Arab League, 12 protested against the invasion of Kuwait by the Iraqis and supported the resolution passed by the U.N.There were several Arab states that took Iraq’s side in this conflict, such as Yemen, Jordan, Tunisia, Sudan, and Algeria. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) also sympathized with Iraq.The list of Kuwait supporters included Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United States, France, and other Arab Gulf states.The Soviet Union had first remained silent about the conflict, yet it showed its support regarding the military presence of the US in the Gulf on September 3.The Iraqi army was using the Westerners who were barred from leaving Kuwait as shields in the face of any attack.Saddam Hussein also used this conflict as an opportunity to end any negative relationship between the countries of Iraq and Iran by removing Iraqi troops from the region of Iran and organizing a prisoner-of-war exchange.While Saddam Hussein first ordered women and children to leave Kuwait in August after his forces had taken over the country, he also announced the release of other hostages consisting of western politicians and celebrities later in December 1990.Iraq was still occupying the country of Kuwait and was still posing a threat to Saudi Arabia at the time.The fight mainly took place between the two sides on land and in the air.The US troops, along with the military forces of several other nations, attacked the Iraqi military targets present in Kuwait as well as in Iraq.During the initial attack, warplanes were used to drop bombs on the capital of Iraq, which was Baghdad.In retaliation, the oil wells of Kuwait were blown up, and a lot of oil was dumped into the waters of the Persian Gulf.The Iraqi forces also fired SCUD missiles on Israel.Then, a ground force invasion of Iraq and Kuwait occurred on February 24, 1991, that was able to free much of the country of Kuwait in a span of a few days.Two days later, on February 26, Saddam Hussein had to order his troops to leave Kuwait.Finally, the war ended when on February 28, the United States president George W Bush made an announcement of a ceasefire.Effects Of Persian Gulf WarWar always leaves destruction and destroyed lives behind. Some wars also affect the rest of the world, influencing various aspects of human life. Some of the significant effects of the Persian Gulf War are:During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, only within a few hours, the Kuwaiti army had had to deal with significant losses.People of both Iraq and Kuwait were traumatized by the attacks during the war.The Iraqi military and the coalition forces suffered casualties and deaths of fellow soldiers.While leaving the country of Kuwait, the Iraqi troops set fire to oil wells all across Kuwait, which lasted for several months.These fires caused great damage to the surrounding environment of the country. The smoke covered the whole of Kuwait, and below it, the pollution level rose very high.The fire also released a toxic combination of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide.The presence of sulfur dioxide caused acid rain to pour as far as Pakistan and the Black Sea.It was only by November 1991, the fires finally began to extinguish and the temperatures returned to normal.Gulf War Syndrome is something that the war veterans of this conflict suffered from after being exposed to toxic conditions caused by the fire.The symptoms of this syndrome included tiredness, headaches, joint and muscle pain, memory loss, as well as post-traumatic stress symptoms.The dumping of oil into the waters of the sea caused severe damage to the aquatic ecosystem too.The ceasefire that was announced by President George Bush included terms that dictated the country of Iraq to acknowledge the existence of Kuwait as a sovereign nation and to remove any weapon of mass destruction consisting of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons from their possession.The ceasefire also established a no-fly zone over the area of southern Iraq.Regular inspections of Iraq’s weapons by the United Nations were also proposed in the ceasefire.Saddam Hussein and his forces did not completely comply with the regulations imposed on their country.The weapons inspectors from the United Nations were not allowed to enter Iraq and the Iraqi air force did not obey the no-fly zone rules.While the allies of the coalition forces were slowly leaving, US and the British aircraft were still patrolling the Iraqi skies.The United States tried to issue a new resolution to inspect the weapons of Iraq, but the other members of the UN had other opinions regarding the issue.Britain and the US already had gathered their troops just outside Iraq’s border.When Saddam Hussein refused to obey the ultimatum given by President Bush to step down from his position of power and to leave Iraq, the United States and its allied forces invaded Iraq and launched an attack on the country.This conflict that started on March 20, 2003, and lasted until December 11, 2011, is known as the Iraq War.Another name for Iraq War is the Second Gulf War, and it was a war fought to destroy the mass destruction weapons possessed by Iraq and to defeat Saddam Hussein.Reasons Behind The Persian Gulf WarNo war is fought between two forces without there being some reasons that caused it. This is why the First Gulf War happened.From 1980-88, the Iran-Iraq war took place, which made Iraq seek out allies to fight alongside it.Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab states that were neighbors of Iraq showed their support for Iraq by financially helping the country during the conflict.When the war ended, Iraq was indebted to Kuwait and the other Arab nations.Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began to blame Kuwait and its government for Iraq’s financial crisis.He publicly accused Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), of exceeding the quota set out by OPEC for the export of crude oil.Saddam Hussein wanted to take control of the oil reserves in Kuwait and become more powerful by extending his reign over another region.Iraq also wanted the seaports present in Kuwait, which could aid their trade relations immensely.Iraq further accused Kuwait of stealing oil from the oil field of Al-Rumaylah, which sits on the border of Kuwait and southern Iraq.When the tension kept rising and the talk happening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between the representatives of both countries broke down finally on August 1, 1990, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait took place the next day.Operation GranbyThere were several operations carried out during the Persian Gulf War. These operations were conducted by allies of Kuwait to drive out and defeat the Iraqi troops that had taken over the country. Some of these operations were Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield, and Operation Desert Sabre.Operation Granby was also one such operation.While Operation Desert Storm was conducted by the United States troops, Operation Granby was conducted by the British military.During the war, the British Armed Forces had sent 53,462 soldiers to the war areas.Nine days from when the conflict began, the British Air Force and British aircraft landed in Saudi Arabia, as did the United States Air Force.The US Air Force helped in curbing the trade of Iraq when the United Nations passed the resolution for banking any trade or economic relation with Iraq.The British Air Force, along with those of the coalition allies, targeted the Iraqi Air Force as it could help the ground force with its missiles.In addition to the Air Force, Operation Granby also deployed ground and naval forces to Iraq and Kuwait.The main objective of Operation Granby was to drive out the Iraqi forces from Kuwait and help restore Jaber III as the emir of Kuwait.Operation Granby came to an end when the ceasefire was announced.Around 47 British soldiers lost their lives during this conflict.This operation was considered a success by some people as the objectives of the operation were fulfilled.

The Persian Gulf War is the name given to the conflict that primarily took place between Iraq and Kuwait.