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The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an operation conducted by Iraq on 2 August 1990, whereby it invaded the neighboring State of Kuwait, consequently resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. The invasion and Ira ...
. Spearheaded by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the coalition's efforts against
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
were carried out in two key phases: Operation Desert Shield, which marked the military buildup from August 1990 to January 1991; and Operation Desert Storm, which began with the aerial bombing campaign against Iraq on 17 January 1991 and came to a close with the American-led
Liberation of Kuwait The Liberation of Kuwait was a U.S.-led military operation to retake Kuwait from Iraq after the massive air campaign, between 24–28 February 1991. U.S. troops and the Coalition entered to find the Iraqis surrendering en masse; however, pocket ...
on 28 February 1991. On 2 August 1990, Iraq invaded the neighbouring
State of Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
and had fully occupied the country within two days. Initially, Iraq ran the occupied territory under a puppet government known as the "
Republic of Kuwait The Republic of Kuwait was a short-lived and self-styled republic formed in the aftermath of the invasion of Kuwait by Ba'athist Iraq during the early stages of the Gulf War. During the invasion, the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council stated t ...
" before proceeding with an outright annexation in which Kuwaiti sovereign territory was split, with the "
Saddamiyat al-Mitla' District Saddamiyat al-Mitla' ( ar, قضاء صدامية المطلاع) was a district in Basrah Governorate during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait 1990–1991. The formation of the district was announced on August 28, 1990. The name sought to honour the ...
" being carved out of the country's northern portion and the "
Kuwait Governorate The Kuwait Governorate ( ar, محافظة الكويت) was the 19th governorate of Iraq established in the aftermath of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990. It was preceded by the brief puppet state of the Republic of Kuwait. The Kuwait G ...
" covering the rest. Varying speculations have been made regarding the true intents behind the Iraqi invasion, most notably including Iraq's inability to repay the debt of more than that it had borrowed from Kuwait to finance its military efforts during the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
. Kuwait's demands for repayment were coupled with its surge in petroleum production levels, which kept revenues down for Iraq and further weakened its economic prospects; throughout much of the 1980s, Kuwait's oil production was above its mandatory quota under
OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...
, which kept international oil prices down."OPEC pressures Kuwait to moderate quota demand", ''New Straits Times'', 7 June 1989 Iraq interpreted the Kuwaiti refusal to decrease oil production as an act of aggression towards the Iraqi economy, leading up to the hostilities. The invasion of Kuwait was immediately met with international condemnation, including by the
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
, which unanimously imposed economic sanctions against Iraq. British prime minister
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
and American president
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
deployed troops and equipment into
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and openly urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. In response to the joint call, an array of countries joined the American-led coalition, forming the largest military alliance since
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The bulk of the coalition's military power was from the United States, with Saudi Arabia, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, and
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
as the largest lead-up contributors, in that order; Saudi Arabia and the Kuwaiti government-in-exile paid around of the cost to mobilize the coalition against Iraq. Initial efforts to dislodge the Iraqi presence in Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991, which continued for five weeks. During this time, as the Iraqi military found itself unable to ward off the coalition's attacks, Iraq began to fire missiles at Israel. While the coalition itself did not include
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, the Iraqi leadership had launched the campaign under the expectation that the missile barrage would provoke an independent Israeli military response, and hoped that such a response would prompt the coalition's
Muslim-majority countries The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...
to withdraw (see
Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is an ongoing intercommunal phenomenon involving political tension, military conflicts, and other disputes between Arab countries and Israel, which escalated during the 20th century, but had mostly faded out by the ...
). However, the jeopardization attempt was ultimately unsuccessful as Israel did not respond to any Iraqi attacks, and Iraq continued to remain at odds with most Muslim-majority countries. Iraqi missile barrages aimed at coalition targets stationed in Saudi Arabia were also largely unsuccessful, and on 24 February 1991, the coalition launched a major ground assault into Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. The offensive was a decisive victory for American-led coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait and promptly began to advance past the
Iraq–Kuwait border The Iraq–Kuwait border is 254 km (158 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Saudi Arabia in the west to the Persian Gulf coast in the east. Description The border starts in the west at the Saudi tripoint on the Wadi Al-Batin, and ...
into Iraqi territory. A hundred hours after the beginning of the ground campaign, the coalition ceased its advance into Iraq and declared a ceasefire. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and areas straddling the
Iraq–Saudi Arabia border The Iraq–Saudi Arabia border is 811 km (504 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Jordan in the west to the tripoint with Kuwait in the east. Description The border starts on the west at the tripoint with Jordan, and consists ...
. The conflict marked the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the American network
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
. It has also earned the nickname ''Video Game War'', after the daily broadcast of images from cameras onboard American bombers during Operation Desert Storm. The Gulf War has gained notoriety for including three of the largest tank battles in American military history.


Names

The war is also known under other names, such as the Persian Gulf War, First Gulf War, Kuwait War, First Iraq War, or Iraq War before the term "Iraq War" became identified instead with the
2003 Iraq War The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
(also referred to in the U.S. as "
Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
"). The war was named "the mother of all battles أمّ المعارك" by Iraqi officials.


Background

Throughout the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, Iraq had been an ally of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, and there was a history of friction between Iraq and the United States. The US was concerned with Iraq's position on Israeli–
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
politics. The US also disliked Iraqi support for
Palestinian militant Palestinian fedayeen (from the Arabic ''fidā'ī'', plural ''fidā'iyūn'', فدائيون) are militants or guerrillas of a nationalist orientation from among the Palestinian people. Most Palestinians consider the fedayeen to be " freedom fig ...
groups, which led to Iraq's inclusion on the developing US list of
State Sponsors of Terrorism "State Sponsors of Terrorism" is a designation applied by the United States Department of State to countries which the Department alleges to have "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism". Inclusion on the list imposes ...
in December 1979. The US remained officially neutral after Iraq's invasion of Iran in 1980, which became the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
, although it provided resources, political support, and some "non-military" aircraft to Iraq. In March 1982, Iran began a successful
counteroffensive In the study of military tactics, a counter-offensive is a large-scale strategic offensive military operation, usually by forces that had successfully halted the enemy's offensive, while occupying defensive positions. The counter-offensive i ...
(
Operation Undeniable Victory Operation Fath-ol-Mobin ( fa, عملیات فتح‌المبین, a Quranic phrase meaning "Undeniable Victory" or "Manifest Victory") was a major Iranian military operation conducted during the Iran–Iraq War, in March 1982. The operation was ...
), and the US increased its support for Iraq to prevent Iran from forcing a surrender. In a US bid to open full diplomatic relations with Iraq, the country was removed from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Ostensibly, this was because of improvement in the regime's record, although former US Assistant Defense Secretary Noel Koch later stated: "No one had any doubts about
he Iraqis' He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
continued involvement in
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
 ... The real reason was to help them succeed in the war against Iran." With Iraq's newfound success in the war, and the Iranian rebuff of a peace offer in July, arms sales to Iraq reached a record spike in 1982. When Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
expelled
Abu Nidal Sabri Khalil al-Banna (May 1937 – 16 August 2002), known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Nidal, was the founder of Fatah: The Revolutionary Council, a militant Palestinians, Palestinian splinter group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal ...
to Syria at the US's request in November 1983, the
Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...
sent
Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Presi ...
to meet Saddam as a special envoy and to cultivate ties. By the time the ceasefire with Iran was signed in August 1988, Iraq was heavily debt-ridden and tensions within society were rising. Most of its
debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
was owed to
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and Kuwait. Iraq's debts to Kuwait amounted to $14 billion. Iraq pressured both nations to forgive the debts, but they refused. The Iraq–Kuwait dispute also involved Iraqi claims to Kuwaiti territory. Kuwait had been a part of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
's province of Basra, something that Iraq claimed made Kuwait rightful Iraqi territory. Kuwait's ruling dynasty, the
al-Sabah family The House of Sabah ( ar, آل صباح ''Āl Ṣubāḥ'') is the ruling family of Kuwait. History Origin The Al Sabah family originate from the Bani Utbah confederation. Prior to settling in Kuwait, the Al Sabah family were expelled from Umm ...
, had concluded a
protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...
agreement in 1899 that assigned responsibility for Kuwait's foreign affairs to the United Kingdom. The UK drew the border between Kuwait and Iraq in 1922, making Iraq almost entirely landlocked. Kuwait rejected Iraqi attempts to secure further provisions in the region. Iraq also accused Kuwait of exceeding its
OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...
quotas for oil production. In order for the cartel to maintain its desired price of $18 per barrel, discipline was required. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait were consistently overproducing; the latter at least in part to repair losses caused by Iranian attacks in the Iran–Iraq War and to pay for the losses of an economic scandal. The result was a slump in the oil priceas low as with a resulting loss of $7 billion a year to Iraq, equal to its 1989
balance of payments In international economics, the balance of payments (also known as balance of international payments and abbreviated BOP or BoP) of a country is the difference between all money flowing into the country in a particular period of time (e.g., a ...
deficit. Resulting revenues struggled to support the government's basic costs, let alone repair Iraq's damaged infrastructure.
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and Iraq both looked for more discipline, with little success. The Iraqi government described it as a form of economic warfare, which it claimed was aggravated by Kuwait slant-drilling across the border into Iraq's
Rumaila oil field The Rumaila oil field is a super-giant oil field located in southern Iraq, approximately from the Kuwaiti border. Discovered in 1953 by the Basrah Petroleum Company (BPC), an associate company of the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), the field is e ...
. According to oil workers in the area, Iraq's slant drilling claim was fabricated, as "oil flows easily from the Rumaila field without any need for these techniques." At the same time, Saddam looked for closer ties with those Arab states that had supported Iraq in the war. This move was supported by the US, who believed that Iraqi ties with pro-Western Gulf states would help bring and maintain Iraq inside the US' sphere of influence. In 1989, it appeared that Saudi–Iraqi relations, strong during the war, would be maintained. A pact of non-interference and non-aggression was signed between the countries, followed by a Kuwaiti-Iraqi deal for Iraq to supply Kuwait with water for drinking and irrigation, although a request for Kuwait to lease Iraq
Umm Qasr Umm Qasr ( ar, أم قصر, also transliterated as ''Um-qasir'', ''Um-qasser, Um Qasr'') is a port city in southern Iraq. It stands on the canalised Khawr az-Zubayr, part of the Khawr Abd Allah estuary which leads to the Persian Gulf. It is sep ...
was rejected. Saudi-backed development projects were hampered by Iraq's large debts, even with the
demobilization Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...
of 200,000 soldiers. Iraq also looked to increase arms production so as to become an exporter, although the success of these projects was also restrained by Iraq's obligations; in Iraq, resentment to OPEC's controls mounted. Iraq's relations with its Arab neighbors, particularly Egypt, were degraded by mounting violence in Iraq against expatriate groups, who were well-employed during the war, by unemployed Iraqis, among them demobilized soldiers. These events drew little notice outside the Arab world because of fast-moving events directly related to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. However, the US did begin to condemn Iraq's human rights record, including the well-known use of torture. The UK also condemned the execution of
Farzad Bazoft Farzad Bazoft ( fa, فرزاد بازفت; 22 May 1958 – 15 March 1990) was an Iranian journalist who settled in the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s. He worked as a freelance reporter for ''The Observer''. He was arrested by Iraqi authoritie ...
, a journalist working for the British newspaper ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
''. Following Saddam's declaration that "binary chemical weapons" would be used on Israel if it used military force against Iraq, Washington halted part of its funding. A UN mission to the
Israeli-occupied territories Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...
, where riots had resulted in Palestinian deaths, was
vetoed A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto pow ...
by the US, making Iraq deeply skeptical of US foreign policy aims in the region, combined with the reliance of the US on Middle Eastern energy reserves. In early July 1990, Iraq complained about Kuwait's behavior, such as not respecting their quota, and openly threatened to take military action. On the 23rd, the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
reported that Iraq had moved 30,000 troops to the Iraq-Kuwait border, and the US naval fleet in the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
was placed on alert. Saddam believed an anti-Iraq conspiracy was developingKuwait had begun talks with Iran, and Iraq's rival Syria had arranged a visit to Egypt. On 15 July 1990, Saddam's government laid out its combined objections to the
Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
, including that policy moves were costing Iraq $1 billion a year, that Kuwait was still using the Rumaila oil field, and that loans made by the UAE and Kuwait could not be considered debts to its "Arab brothers". He threatened force against Kuwait and the UAE, saying: "The policies of some Arab rulers are American ... They are inspired by America to undermine Arab interests and security." The US sent
aerial refuelling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...
planes and combat ships to the Persian Gulf in response to these threats. Discussions in
Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
, Saudi Arabia, mediated on the Arab League's behalf by Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...
, were held on 31 July and led Mubarak to believe that a peaceful course could be established. It was revealed during Saddam Hussein's 2003-2004 interrogation following his capture that in addition to economic disputes, an insulting exchange between the Kuwaiti
emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
Al Sabah The House of Sabah ( ar, آل صباح ''Āl Ṣubāḥ'') is the ruling family of Kuwait. History Origin The Al Sabah family originate from the Bani Utbah confederation. Prior to settling in Kuwait, the Al Sabah family were expelled from Umm ...
and the Iraqi foreign minister - during which Saddam claimed that the emir stated his intention to turn "every Iraqi woman into a $10 prostitute" by bankrupting the country - was a decisive factor in triggering the Iraqi invasion. On the 25th, Saddam met with
April Glaspie April Catherine Glaspie (born April 26, 1942) is an American former diplomat and senior member of the Foreign Service, best known for her role in the events leading up to the Gulf War. Early life Glaspie was born in Vancouver, British Columbi ...
, the US Ambassador to Iraq, in Baghdad. The Iraqi leader attacked American policy with regards to Kuwait and the UAE: Glaspie replied: Saddam stated that he would attempt last-ditch negotiations with the Kuwaitis but Iraq "would not accept death." According to Glaspie's own account, she stated in reference to the precise border between Kuwait and Iraq, "... that she had served in Kuwait 20 years before; 'then, as now, we took no position on these Arab affairs'." Glaspie similarly believed that war was not imminent. On 26 July 1990, only a few days before the Iraqi invasion, OPEC officials said that Kuwait and the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
had agreed to a proposal to limit their oil output to per day, "down from the nearly 2 million barrels a day they had each been pumping," thus potentially settling differences over oil policy between Kuwait and Iraq.


Invasion of Kuwait

The result of the Jeddah talks was an Iraqi demand for $10 billion to cover the lost revenues from Rumaila; Kuwait offered $500 million. The Iraqi response was to immediately order an invasion, which started on 2 August 1990 with the bombing of Kuwait's capital,
Kuwait City Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...
. Before the invasion, the Kuwaiti military was believed to have numbered 16,000 men, arranged into three armored, one mechanized infantry and one under-strength artillery brigade. The pre-war strength of the
Kuwait Air Force The Kuwait Air Force ( ar, القوات الجوية الكويتية , al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Kuwaitiya) is the air arm of the Armed Forces of Kuwait. The Air Force headquarters is located at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, with the remaining f ...
was around 2,200 Kuwaiti personnel, with 80 fixed-wing aircraft and 40 helicopters. In spite of Iraqi
saber rattling {{Short pages monitor Gulf War, Cold War conflicts 1990 in the United States 1991 in the United States 1990 in Iraq 1991 in Iraq 1990 in Saudi Arabia 1991 in Saudi Arabia 1990 in Kuwait 1991 in Kuwait 20th-century military history of the United States Operations involving special forces Proxy wars Presidency of George H. W. Bush United States Marine Corps in the 20th century Gulf Cooperation Council Wars involving Argentina Wars involving Australia Wars involving Bahrain Wars involving Bangladesh Wars involving Belgium Wars involving Canada Wars involving Czechoslovakia Wars involving Denmark Wars involving Egypt Wars involving France Wars involving Greece Wars involving Hungary Wars involving Iraq Wars involving Israel Wars involving Italy Wars involving Kuwait Wars involving Morocco Wars involving the Netherlands Wars involving New Zealand Wars involving Niger Wars involving Norway Wars involving Oman Wars involving Pakistan Wars involving Poland Wars involving Qatar Wars involving Saudi Arabia Wars involving Senegal Wars involving South Korea Wars involving Spain Wars involving Sweden Wars involving Syria Wars involving the United Arab Emirates Wars involving the United Kingdom Wars involving the United States