Those dismantling his nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs which the U.S. and its allies needed to make sure he didn’t again threaten his neighbors - especially Kuwait and Saudi Arabia - and that he complied with terms of the 1991 cease-fire. With Saddam entrenched in Baghdad, the U.S. Iraqi Kurds fared better, rising up in the north and carving out a self-ruled region in three northern provinces, protected by a U.S.-managed no fly zone. “We sat there and right in front of our eyes saw him regaining control,” McCaffrey said. even refused to intervene in support of Iraqi Shiites, who rose up against a weakened Saddam and were slaughtered in the tens of thousands. mandate to liberate Kuwait - not force regime change or occupy Iraq - measures none of his major coalition partners would have accepted. Two weeks later, victorious coalition troops began leaving the region.ĭespite losing Kuwait, crippling blows to its infrastructure and up to 400,000 of its troops killed, wounded or captured, Saddam’s regime remained in power. 24 and President George Bush declared a cease-fire on Feb. Coalition ground attacks kicked off on Feb. Undeterred, Saddam threatened to resist with “the Mother of All Battles.”Īir attacks on Baghdad and other targets began on Jan. won United Nations blessing for military action to free Kuwait. With only Yemen, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization standing by Saddam, the U.S. Months of sanctions, threats and diplomacy failed to convince Saddam to leave Kuwait. The Iraqis also accused Kuwait of slant-drilling which drew oil from pools across the border in Iraq. Moreover, Saddam had accused Kuwaiti of pumping too much oil and dampening oil prices that he needed to keep high to finance his recovery. After the war with Iran, that Saddam himself had started, ended in a stalemate, he needed to demonstrate strength to his opponents, both domestic and foreign. However, Saddam had different priorities. Saddam’s move stunned the West, especially since it came less than two years after the end of Iraq’s eight-year, devastating war against Iran that left his country exhausted, politically divided and deeply in debt. 2, 1990 and incorporated the U.S.–backed kingdom as Iraq’s 19th province. The drama unfolded after Saddam invaded Kuwait on Aug. Yet, the way the aftermath was managed as well as the decisions to limit the objectives and leave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in power would put in motion a chain of events, whose effects are still being felt 25 years later. “Desert Storm was probably the single most successful military campaign in the history of warfare,” McCaffrey said. It was a force of more than a half million Americans, at war with the United Nation’s blessing, a broad coalition of 34 allies including Arabs and Europeans, and minimal allied losses, with just 146 battle-related U.S. with pre-eminent ground combat capability. It showcased new technology such as smart bombs and the Army’s “Big Five” - the Abrams main battle tank, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the Apache attack helicopter, the Black Hawk utility helicopter, and the Patriot air defense missile system - modernizations that provided the U.S. armed forces, said McCaffrey, who commanded the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) that famously executed the “left hook” attack 230 miles into Iraq during Desert Storm. Operation Desert Storm - America’s first armed conflict after the Cold War - was a clear demonstration of the battlefield prowess of the U.S. “It was an astonishing display by the country.” “It was a watershed also in the way the country looked at the armed forces,” retired Gen.
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