Coalition forces were established for only six weeks, had seen a mere 100 hours of combat, (as well as completely routed Iraqi forces) and minimal casualties when already talks of a cease-fire were heard. Partly due to Saddam's inabilities to marshal armies, and partly due to the coalition forces' extensive training, Iraq was forced to give in. Although the war was somewhat insinigicant as wars go, there were some incredible accomplishments that deserve recognition.
On August 2, 1990, over 100,000 Iraqi troops stormed Kuwait's capital, Kuwait City. An estimated 300 to 600 civilians were killed, some by violent and grotesque methods. After a decade long investment in weapons, Iraq developed the fourth largest fighting force in the world. While the United States Navy held a strict presence in the Gulf since the Iran-Iraq war, ground and air forces were nowhere nearby.
The unification of American forces for an advanced tactical strike rested on the shoulders of four-star army general H. Norman Shwarzkopf, Commander-in-Chief of Central Command, a United States planning staff. This endeavor required extreme logistical calculations for four main reasons: water was scarce, desert was plentiful, mines were deadly, and Iraq possessed chemical weapons.
Shwarzkopf, a two-tour Vietnam veteran, had already planned with his staff ways in which Iraq could be dealt with. This resulted in Desert Shield, which was an operation that trained and refreshed troops for possible combat situations. It also placed many United States naval vessels in the area, which were ready for combat on August 7, the day of which president Bush ordered American troops be called in to defend Saudi Arabia.
Saddam Hussein, although not a great military tactician, believed that tactics used in the Iran-Iraq war would help lead him to victory in "The Mother of all Battles." These simple tactics were as follows: bait enemy forces into position with a smaller fighting force. Then, the force would fall back and draw the enemy into a "killing zone" in the range of bunkers and artillery. This tactic, although effective in their previous battles, did not allow for the massive flanking attack by Shwarzkopf's tanks.
Shwarzkopf's first move was to line the coalition's divisions along the Kuwaiti border, not even considering the Iraqi western flank. U.S. marines, along with Arab forces, attacked the Iraqi front on Kuwait's border, allowing French, British, and American forces to sweep west undetected and destroy Iraq's flank. Eventually, they boke through into Kuwait, taking about 65,000 prisoners. After they break into Kuwait, they retook Kuwait City, and covered the Iraqi border with a line of tanks. Although it was in General Shwarzkopf's power to eliminate the rest of the Iraqi forces, President Bush called off all offensives and gave Iraq the option for retreat. This gave way to a suspension of fire exactly one hundred hours since ground forces engaged in battle. On March 3, 1991, Iraqi officials signed a cease-fire: Operation Desert Storm had ended.
Throughout the entire strife, America's losses were minimal: 150 lives, 4 tanks, and 41 airplanes, all of the last coming from Iraq's dense anti-aircraft guns and surface to ground missles established by Iraq. However, many of the losses were due to friendly fire, often during heavy combat. United States military personnel, through many press conferences, have denounced this as "extremely wrong," and that there was "no excuse for [it]".
All material � 1999 Luke Murray.