On 16 January 1991, when it became clear that Saddam would not withdraw, Desert Shield became Desert Storm.
Coalition troops protecting the Saudi border in Operation Desert Shield
5. Operation Desert Storm
The U.S. were outnumbered by two to one in terms of fighting troops, and to attack a position that is heavily dug in and barricaded, the U.S. needed to outnumber the Iraqi’s by at least five to one, so what they did, was launch an extensive air campaign. The aim of this air campaign was to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait and to weaken and immobilize the Iraqi forces. Operation Desert Storm began at 7pm on 16 January 1991 with massive air attacks on targets in Iraq and Kuwait using Tomahawk cruise missiles and aircraft from the USAF, USN, RAF and Royal Saudi Air Force. Tomahawk missiles, weighing 1000lb, were launched from US Navy ships in the gulf were fired against Iraqi command posts, radar stations and chemical and nuclear installations.
These missiles stimulated transmissions by Iraqi surveillance radars and SAM (surface to air) guidance, therefore making them extremely vulnerable to anti-radiation missiles and jamming. EF-111A Ravens were sent to disrupt the Iraqi Air Force’s response by jamming surveillance radars, the guidance systems of SAMs and the airborne radars mounted in Iraqi interceptor aircraft. Tactical Air Launched Decoys further confused surveillance and missile guidance radars. These are unmanned gliders, ten feet in length with a speed of 300mph and a range of 72miles, which looked like a manned aircraft on a radar screen and which could drop radar-calibrated metal strips called chaff, to add to the jamming effect. Iraq had no defence now against allied air attacks.
A US patriot missile used to shoot down Iraqi Scuds
The next day, Iraq launched eight Scud missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia. US patriot missiles downed some of these Scuds. Israel said that they would not respond to these attacks, because that was just what Saddam Hussein wanted. 100 allied aircraft flew through the corridor that had been created en route to Baghdad. After 30mins F-117A Stealth aircraft were making precision attacks against high value targets in Baghdad. F-117A aircraft could deliver bombs within one or two feet of the aim, making them very accurate. USAF F111s, F-15s and F-4s were attacking other command and control locations throughout Iraq supported by US Navy A-6s.
Meanwhile RAF Tornado GR-1 strike aircraft attacked airfield runways using the JP-233 runway denial system. Each Tornado carried two of these weapons which each contained 30 X 26Kg penetrating and cratering submunitions and 215 X 2.2kg delayed action minelets designed to disrupt subsequent runway repair operations. Air cover was provided by F-15s, F-14s and Tornado-F3s which would have destroyed any Iraqi plane had it appeared but none did.
All these initial strikes were immensely successful and had given the allies air superiority within the first 24hrs.
On 19 January three Scuds exploded in Israel. US raided oil platforms off Kuwait, and captured the first Iraqi prisoners of war.
Iraq fired ten Scuds at Saudi Arabia on 20 January, nine of these were downed and the other fell offshore. Iraq say it was using prisoners of war as human shields at allied air targets.
Six more Scuds were fired at Saudi Arabia on 22 January, but none caused any damage. Iraq torched Kuwaiti oil wells. Iraq launched more Scuds at Saudi Arabia and Israel on 23 January, but there were no casualties.
On 23 January the first attacks on an Iraqi naval unit occurred in which a tanker sunk a patrol boat and three hovercrafts. Attacks on naval crafts continued throughout the war. A large number of Iraqi ships were sunk by Sea Skua missiles fired from Royal Navy Lynx helicopters. All the Kuwaiti patrol boats captured by the Iraqis were also destroyed. The Lynx/Sea Skua combination was very successful during this period.
On 24 January Saudi officials reported two oil slicks moving south of Kuwait. The Allies said Iraq released oil. There was also the biggest dogfight of the war so far with no U.S. casualties.
A B-52 bomber used in Operation Desert Storm
On 25 January Scud missiles were fired at Israel and Saudi Arabia. Two people were killed. The oil spill was growing larger as well. At least 60 million gallons of oil had leaked. More Scuds were fired at Israel and Saudi Arabia but there were no casualties. U.S. F-15’s had the first major dogfight of the war and shot three Iraqi MiG-23’s down. The USS Louisville became the first sub to launch a cruise missile in combat.
In order to stop Iraq dumping oil in the gulf, the allies bombed Iraqi-held oil facilities in Kuwait.
On 29 January the largest ground battle of the war so far took place with up to 800 U.S. marines firing artillery, mortars, TOW missiles, at Iraqi bunkers half-mile away in Kuwait. There were no U.S. casualties.
On January 30 thousands of Iraqi troops and tanks advanced into Saudi Arabia. U.S., Saudi and Qatari troops, countered these attacks. The Iraqis took the Saudi town of Khafji, just eight miles from the border.
The town had been evacuated two weeks previously when it came under heavy artillery fire. Part of the oil storage facility in the town had been set on fire and the town was covered by black smoke. Khafji was empty and the pictures were shown in Europe, America and Iraq. The Iraqis knew that the town was deserted and undefended. The Iraqis had no sophisticated means of gathering intelligence but the allies knew what was happening all the time. So when the Iraqis heard the news about Khafji being deserted on Iraqi television, they struck.
The allies were well south of the town to remain out of artillery range. Saddam Hussein’s forces moved too fast for the allies to make a meaningful counter move.
General Schwarzkopf said that the town would be retaken by the Saudi army with the support of the Qatari troops in the area. It was Saudi soil, therefore it is the Saudis who must defend it and there should be no unnecessary loss of coalition life.
The Iraqi force in Khafji was equipped with T54/T55 tanks and BMP armoured personnel carriers. They were in range of their supporting artillery to the north of the Kuwaiti border and could be reinforced by Iraqi naval forces as Khafji was near the coastline. Therefore there could be a great loss of life to the coalition.
An Iraqi T-54 tank
British and US aircraft were sent to stop the lines of communication between Khafji and the Kuwaiti border, ensuring that no further Iraqi columns enter the battle. British Jaguar ground attack and US A-10 Thunderbolt tank killers in particular took on Iraqi forces north of Khafji. The Saudi and Qatari troops launched an attack late on 30 January. They used the cover of darkness to gain a lodgement on the southern edge of the town. The layout of Khafji is open and the town consists of low modern buildings so it was easier to gain entry. Also, the civilian population had been evacuated so there was no risk for innocent loss of life. The leading AMX-30 Qatari and M-60 Saudi tanks moved forward supported by infantry in armoured personnel carriers as well as by artillery fire and attack helicopters. They met light resistance but it was inaccurate and sporadic. A lodgement was achieved quite quickly but the Iraqis provided stiff opposition. Groups of Iraqi infantrymen had to be removed from mostly single-story buildings. Whilst some caused serious delay to the progress of the coalition forces, many more surrendered. The resistance was fierce though. The Saudis lost several armoured personnel carriers, 32 were wounded and 15 were killed. The Iraqis though lost 42 tanks, all T54s and 40 were killed. 500 Iraqi prisoners of war were taken.
The town was declared clear on 1 February, although it took until the 3rd to eliminate the odd lone sniper who refused to surrender.
On 2 February, two Scuds hit central Israel with no casualties and one Scud was downed over Saudi Arabia, injuring two people. The allies bombed a 10-mile-long Iraqi armoured column headed into Saudi Arabia.
On 4 February the Battleship Missouri fired at Iraqi troops in Kuwait. Iraq suspended fuel sales to civilians, worsening heating and transportation problems.
The Battleship Missouri before fighting in the Gulf
In an attempt to save their air force, Iraq had been sending their planes into Iran, however they never got these back.
On 11 February the last Iraqi patrol craft was destroyed.
On 12 February allied forces began an artillery bombardment of Iraqi defensive positions along the whole length of the front. This attack increased in intensity as February progressed. This was the largest battlefield action to date.
U.S. Stealth fighters dropped two bombs on a fortified underground facility in Baghdad. Iraqi officials claimed that at least 500 civilians were killed in the facility, which they described as a public bomb shelter. U.S. military officials released information they say proved underground facility was a military command centre.
On 15 February Iraq said that it’s prepared to withdraw from Kuwait, but added conditions, including Israeli pullout from occupied Arab territories, forgiveness of Iraqi debts and allied payment of costs of rebuilding Iraq. President Bush dismissed Iraqi offer as "cruel hoax." Allied forces continued moving supplies towards front in preparation for the launch of the ground war.
On 16 February U.S. attack helicopters made the first night time raids on Iraqi positions. Iraq fired two Scuds at Israel, hitting the southern part of the country for the first time but there were no injuries. Iraq's ambassador to the U.N., Abdul Amir al-Anbari, said Iraq will use weapons of mass destruction if U.S. bombing continued.
On 17 February Iraq's foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, arrived in Moscow for talks with the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. He was quoted en route as saying it's up to allies to act on Iraq's peace proposal. U.S. and Iraqi troops also clashed in seven incidents along Saudi-Kuwait border; 20 Iraqis surrendered to Apache helicopter fire.
Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister
On 18 February floating mines struck two U.S. warships in the gulf. USS Tripoli and USS Princeton were damaged but still operational.
On 19 February Tariq Ariz returned to Baghdad with the Soviet peace proposal but the Americans said it fell well short of what was needed to end the war. The U.S. Marines bombarded Iraqi targets inside Kuwait with heavy artillery fire for the second consecutive day.
On 20 February there was fighting along the Saudi border. One American was killed and seven were wounded. U.S. helicopters destroyed an Iraqi bunker complex. Up to 500 Iraqi troops were taken prisoner. U.S. planes attacked 300 Iraqi vehicles 60 miles into Kuwait, destroying 28 Iraqi tanks.
On 21 February seven Americans were killed in a helicopter crash. This was war’s deadliest non-combat accident ever at the time. Soviet spokesman Vitaly Ignatenko announced that Iraq and the Soviet Union had agreed on a plan that could lead to Iraqi withdrawal. President Bush rejected this peace plan and said that Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait by noon on 23 February to avoid the ground war.
On 22 February Iraq burned a sixth of Kuwaits 950 oil wells.
The allies began the ground offensive at 8p.m. on 23 February (4a.m. 24 February Saudi time). The U.S. officials claimed that Iraqi soldiers were rounding up Kuwaiti’s for torture. 200 oil wells and facilities were ablaze in Kuwait.
On 25 February, Kuwaiti independence day, allied troops were on the outskirts of Kuwait city. An Iraqi Scud missile hit Allied barracks in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. 28 soldiers were killed and 90 wounded. 81 scuds had been fired throughout the whole war.
A US A-10 bomber that fought in Operation Desert Storm
6. Operation Desert Sabre
In the weeks before the ground offensive the allies had tricked the Iraqis by using airpower, offensive patrolling, artillery bombardment, troop deployments and bogus radio traffic to suggest that the main allied attack was going to be across the Saudi/Kuwait border supported by an amphibious landing in the Northern Gulf. However, what the allies were secretly planning was an invasion of a grand scale 100miles to the west on the Iraq/Kuwait border. In effect General Schwarzopf had designed a strategy based on U.S. doctrine that relied heavily on the flanking manoeuvre. Allied forces occupied Iraqi frontline forces while more mobile units encircled the enemy from the left, cutting lines of supply and retreat. This movement proved to be highly effective.
On 24 February 1991 Marine divisions started the ground campaign with an attack on the Iraqi forces in central Kuwait. The Saudi and Muslim Joint attacked up the Kuwaiti coastline. They cut through southern Iraq to within 150miles of Baghdad within hours. The British 1st Armoured Division played a crucial role in this outflanking movement. Its role was to strike north across the Saudi/Iraq border with US and French forces to the west. Supporting the British 1st Armoured Division the U.S. 18th Airborne Corps and the French 6th Armoured Division rushed into Iraq on the far left, making good use of their speed and mobility.
These initial attacks rolled over Iraqi positions and on 25 February were followed by the US VII Corps with the US 1st Infantry Division and the British 7th Armoured Division. The US VII Corps and the US 1st Infantry Division attacked Iraqi Republican Guard divisions along the western Kuwaiti border throughout 25 and 26 February. On 27 February coalition forces entered Kuwait City in triumph.
Meanwhile, the 1st Armoured Division continued to engage retreating Republican Guard divisions into the desert.
Throughout 27 February. British ground forces were engaged in heavy fighting as the Challenger Regiments chased the retreating Iraqis in a northeasterly direction towards the Iraqi city of Basra. The Challenger 120mm guns proved highly effective and extremely accurate. The Soviet-built T-72 tanks manned by the Republican Guard were no match for the allied APFSDs (Armour Piercing Fin Stabalized Discarding Sabot). The British tanks were supported by US A-10 tank-busting aircraft as well as RAF Jaguar ground attack jets. The MLRS (Multi Launch Rocket System) manned by the Royal Artillery was devastatingly effective.
The ground assault by the allies precipitated a general route on the Iraqi forces positioned in Kuwait. There was only one highway out of Kuwait that led from Kuwait city to the Al Jahra’ pass. As Iraqi resistance weakened the highway became jammed with vehicles trying to escape. The allies bombed this highway, and thousands of fleeing Iraqi’s were killed or wounded.
As coalition forces moved to completely cut off this last avenue of retreat, allied leaders ordered a stop to the offensive. Whilst the Iraqi’s and Allies negotiated, the Iraqi’s fled from Kuwait.
On 28 February Tariq Ariz said that Iraq was ready to comply fully with Resolution 660 and all UN Resolutions on Kuwait. President Bush ordered a ceasefire to take place at 0800 hours Kuwaiti time, 100hrs after the launch of the ground offensive. The permanent ceasefire was agreed on 6 April 1991.
Over 4000 Iraqi tanks had been destroyed, 42 divisions captured or destroyed and 80000 prisoners of war were taken. The exact number of Iraqi troops killed in the war will never be shown but it is estimated at about 100000 but is likely to be higher rather than lower.
Allied troops fighting in Operation Desert Sabre
7. Why Was Iraq Defeated So Easily?
First, allied air supremacy had taken a massive toll on the Iraqis during the first six weeks of the air offensive. Second, coalition intelligence arising from this air supremacy was a crucial asset. Third, the technological edge held by the allies in terms of equipment, command and control facilities and logistic support meant that the Iraqis were fighting in a different league with systems that were for the most part a generation out of date. Fourth, the level of training and expertise amongst the professional armies of the coalition allowed them to outthink, outmanoeuvre and outfight the Iraqi army. Last, the most important reason, the style of warfare fought by a western military machine as compared to the Soviet style adopted by the Iraqis gave the coalition a massive advantage. The Iraqis favoured static warfare behind fixed defences controlled by a rigid hierarchical command structure whereas the western system was based on the Air Land Battle concept of manoeuvre warfare. Instead of rigid orders obeyed to by the letter, Air Land Battle visualizes the issue of broad directives which can be interpreted as more junior commanders see fit for that particular moment of the battle.
Coalition troops fighting in the Gulf
A Coalition plane bombing Iraq
8. Gulf War Syndrome
Years after the troops came home from the gulf, a veteran died for no known reason. Then another veteran suffered an enormous tumour and another had a child who was severely malformed. People believed this to be the cause of the gulf war syndrome. 45,000 gulf war veterans reported a disease that they believe to be linked to their service. The Pentagon found out that 85% of these people had diseases with known causes and were not linked to the gulf war.
The symptoms for gulf war syndrome are chronic fatigue, skin rashes, hair loss, headaches, muscle pain, memory loss, sleep disturbances, diarrhoea and constipation.
The gulf war syndrome is believed to be cause by biological and chemical weapons but this is not certain. In fact, there may well not be a gulf war syndrome at all. No evidence has come out proving that there is.
A Gulf War veteran who suffered from the Gulf War Syndrome
A poster about the Gulf War Syndrome
9. Why Wasn’t Saddam Removed?
In an article in TIME Magazine, Bush said: "While we hoped that popular revolt or coup would topple Saddam, neither the U.S. nor the countries of the region wished to see the breakup of the Iraqi state. We were concerned about the long-term balance of power at the head of the Gulf. Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in "mission creep," and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. We had been unable to find Noriega in Panama, which we knew intimately. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under those circumstances, furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-cold war world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the U.N.'s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different--and perhaps barren--outcome."
Although these are very good reasons, why didn’t they do it then instead of doing it now, twelve years after. In those twelve years, the people of Iraq would have incurred just as much human and political costs as an army going in to conquer Iraq. Saddam has used chemical weapons against his own people in that time, many Iraqi’s died, so removing Saddam then would have saved thousands of civilian lives. Also, the troops were already in Iraq then, the Iraqi army had been seriously weakened and Iraq had sent its planes over to Iran who didn’t return them. In that time the Iraqi weapons, troops and technology will have improved greatly.
Saddam Hussein in a speech saying the
Allies would never remove him from power
10. Conclusion
The crisis preceding the war happened on 2 August 1990 when Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait, on the pretext that Kuwait was a historical part of Iraq. The actual reason was because Kuwait had been over producing oil to bring the price down, causing Iraq to lose billions of dollars, which Iraq needed to rebuild its country.
To prevent Saudi Arabia from invasion Operation Desert Shield was launched, where the coalition army guarded the Saudi border to stop Iraq invading. The UN passed a series of resolutions stating that Iraq must withdraw unconditionally from Kuwait by 15 January 1991. Iraq refused.
Immediately after the UN deadline expiry the coalition forces began a massive air campaign against Iraq. This was called Operation Desert Storm. In this Iraqi command and control centres were destroyed and many Iraqi troops were killed.
On 24 February Operation Desert Sabre was launched. In this the coalition ground forces stormed into Kuwait and retook and liberated the country within 100 hours. In this time hundred of thousands of Iraqi troops had either been killed or captured whereas the coalition losses were relatively light.
A permanent ceasefire was signed on 6 April 1991.
Books:
- The Gulf War: A Photographic History
- The Gulf War
- In the Eye of the Storm
- Conflicts in the Middle East
- Operation Desert Storm
Websites:
- www.desert-storm.com
- www.pbs.org
- www.guardian.co.uk
- www.history.navy.mil
- www.americanhistory.about.com
- www.historyguy.com
- www.es.rice.edu
- www.centcom.mil
- www.suite101.com
- www.odci.gov
- www.usatoday.com
A US M-60A3 tank used in the Gulf War
