Persian Gulf War 1990-1991

Iraq had claims on the entire territory of Kuwait dating back to the turn of the century; it also had lesser claims or ambitions concerning islands and oilfields. In the wake of the Iran-Iraq War 1980-88, Iraq also had massive debts owing to Kuwait (and the other Gulf states which had financed the war. From an Iraqi perspective, those debts had been paid in blood defending the Arab world against Iran and its Islamic Revolution. Negotiations proved futile and Iraq made accusations and threats against Kuwait. At a meeting between the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, and the US ambassador, April Catherine Glaspie, on July 25, 1990, there may have been a misinterpretation of the American opinion on the possibility of Iraq using military force in its escalating confrontation with Kuwait. A war did not seem imminent.

On August 2, 1990, an overwhelming Iraqi military force invaded Kuwait and occupied the country encountering only minimal resistance from most of the Kuwaiti armed forces, some of which fled to Saudi Arabia. International reaction was swift. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) first called for an Iraqi withdrawal on August 3rd and imposed an economic embargo on August 6th. The following day, American troops began to be deployed in Saudi Arabia, as part of Operation Desert Shield, in what was described as a defensive mission; it would be substantially reinforced by the British and French as well as several Arab and other countries. On August 8th, Iraq formally annexed Kuwait as its nineteenth province.

An Anglo-American effort to build a coalition in support of a war on Iraq to restore Kuwaiti sovereignty carried on until November. The international context in which these events unfolded bears noting: the Two Plus Four talks concerning German unification had already produced a draft treaty which demanded a united Germany accept existing borders and implicitly required it renounce seeking territorial change by military force; the final treaty was signed on September 12th. Response to Iraqi annexation of Kuwait, then, represented a demonstration of international resolve (specifically that of the four: France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the USA) on the question of the use of force to settle territorial disputes at a critical moment in European history. On November 29, 1990, the UNSC approved, by a vote of 12 to 2, Resolution 678 which required Iraq to withdraw from Kuwaiti territory by January 15, 1991 and authorized the use of force if Iraq failed to comply.

Coalition forces in and around Saudi Arabia grew to about 800,000 troops during Operation Desert Shield. Many doubts existed about the willingness of the coalition to attack the well-entrenched Iraqi veterans deployed in Kuwait and expected casualty estimates for coalition forces ranged as high as 30,000. The Iraqi leadership responded to the coalition military buildup in Saudi Arabia by deploying even more troops into Kuwait, threatening to use chemical weapons and making peace with Iran, on Iranian terms, to secure its rear. As the UNSC deadline approached, and then passed, there was no indication that Iraq would comply.

On January 17, 1991, the US-led coalition launched massive airstrikes on Iraqi positions in Kuwait and throughout Iraq marking the beginning of Operation Desert Storm; the air war involved everything from ground attack aircraft like the A-10 to strategic bombers like the B-52 and cruise missiles. The Iraqi air force did little to challenge the bombing and aircraft losses were minimal. Iraq mainly responded by launching intermediate-range missiles against targets in Israel (which was not a party to the war) and Saudi Arabia as well as setting fire to the oilfields but the military impact was minimal. Iraqi military and civilian casualties were believed to be significant as were desertions from the army holding the front. The massive bombing effort continued until the end of the war.

On February 24th, the ground war was launched. The American plan of attack, Operation Desert Sabre, called for a feigned amphibious assault by US Marines and limited assault on the Iraqi defenses in Kuwait – the Saddam Line – while the bulk of the coalition forces carried out an envelopment maneuver from the west. The speed and firepower of the attacking coalition forces destroyed what little was left of the Iraqi will to fight as the relentless assault and the threat of being cutoff resulted in the complete collapse of the Iraqi army holding Kuwait. Losses from air and ground attacks during the rout likely contributed to the heavy casualties Iraq sustained. Coalition casualties were stunningly low, considering the size of the forces engaged, with friendly fire constituting 23% of the mere hundreds killed (compared, for example, to the 2% to 3% experienced by Americans in wars like World War II, Korea and Vietnam). The United States, leading the coalition, declared a cease-fire on February 28, 1991 by which time Iraqi resistance had completely collapsed. The "100 Hour War" was over.

The results of the Persian Gulf War were far-reaching and dramatic. This was the first war the UNSC had ever collectively approved (Korea being the result of a technicality). It justified the US president, George H. W. Bush, speaking about a new world order of superpower cooperation, on September 11, 1990. Talk of asymmetric warfare began with the incredibly uneven casualties resulting from the war which, for Americans, were literally a magnitude lower than reputable prewar estimates (although the meaning would change drastically over the next decade). And American confidence in its military superiority grew immensely. The war restored Kuwaiti sovereignty (and its absolute monarchy). The hoped for postwar overthrow of Hussein never happened; the government of Iraq remained intact, although under severe international supervision, and the problem of Iraq persisted for more than a decade because diplomats could not find a consensus on what was to be done.

Notes

[1] By convention, this war began with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. However, Clodfelter reports the casualties from the invasion amounted to about 200 Iraqi battle deaths and an unknown number of Kuwaiti battle deaths although it is unlikely the number was anywhere near the implied 800, necessary to satisfy the Correlates of War (CoW) definition of war, given the minimal resistance noted. Battle deaths for the rest of the year would probably have been minimal considering there was no actual combat. Most of the battle deaths, military and civilian, likely resulted from the US-led intervention which began on January 17, 1991 and continued to February 28th (43 days).

[2] According to CoW, Iraqi battle deaths amounted to 40,000. Clodfelter reports this is a British estimate and seems to support it. High estimates range up to 120,000 military plus 15,000 civilian battle deaths. However, even the British estimate may be high considering the high disertion rate and the number of prisoners of war. Certainly casualties would have been massive during the rout as Iraqi soldiers fled under fire. Exactly how many is not known. Heidenrich, working from postwar information and evaluation of known facts, and emphasizing the lack of wounded among the captured Iraqis, estimates 1,500 to 9,500 military and no more than 1,000 civilian battle deaths.

[2] Barring any information to the contrary, it is assumed Kuwaiti battle deaths reported are mainly civilians killed during the invasion and the intervention. High estimates claim up to 5,000 Kuwaiti civilians killed during the entire period.

References

Clodfelter, 1078-86; COW211; EB - Persian Gulf War; Heidenrich, 108-25; Iraq - A Country Study; Kohn, 363-4.

John G Heidenrich. The Gulf War: How Many Iraqis Died? Foreign Policy, 90. 1993.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

West Asia

Belligerents

Iraq, Kuwait, USA, Saudi Arabia, UK, Egypt, UAE, France, Canada, Italy, Oman, Morocco, Qatar, Syria

Dispute

Territory, Governance

Initiation Date

August 2, 1990^[1]

Termination Date

February 28, 1991

Duration

6 months, 27 days
(210 days)

Outcome

Unresolved Truce
(Coalition victory)

Fatalities

Total: 11,966
Iraq:10,500^[2]
Kuwait: 1,000^[3]
USA: 376
Saudi Arabia: 44
UK: 24
Egypt: 14
UAE: 6
France: 2
Canada: 0
Italy: 0
Oman: 0
Morocco: 0
Qatar: 0
Syria: 0

Magnitude

4.1