Gulf War

The causes

Iraq emerges exhausted from the war with Iran (1980-1988) and owes heavy debts to Gulf Arab states, including Kuwait. It also accuses Kuwait of driving down oil prices by overproducing and of drawing oil from the Rumaila field beneath the border. On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi army invades Kuwait and proclaims its annexation. The UN Security Council immediately condemns the invasion and imposes an embargo.

The dispute has deep roots. Kuwait, an emirate that became independent in 1961, was claimed by Baghdad, which regarded it as part of the former Ottoman province of Basra. During the war against Iran, Iraq had borrowed large sums from the Gulf monarchies, including Kuwait, and demanded their cancellation, as well as compensation for having, in its view, protected the region. On 25 July 1990, Saddam Hussein met in Baghdad with the American ambassador April Glaspie, whose remarks were interpreted in opposing ways. The Jeddah negotiations, on 31 July, failed.

The course of the war

The Security Council then adopts a series of resolutions. In November 1990, Resolution 678 sets an ultimatum for Iraq and authorizes member states to use "all necessary means". A coalition of more than thirty countries forms, led by the United States, with forces from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Kingdom and France. On 17 January 1991, the coalition launches Operation Desert Storm: for more than a month, its aircraft strike Iraqi troops, command centers and infrastructure. Iraq responds by firing Scud missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The ground offensive begins at the end of February 1991. It lasts only a few days: the Iraqi army, already weakened by the bombing, withdraws from Kuwait, and a ceasefire is agreed at the end of the month. As they withdraw, Iraqi troops set fire to some Kuwaiti oil wells. In April 1991, Resolution 687 sets the conditions of the ceasefire: destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, UN inspections, and recognition of the border with Kuwait. Air exclusion zones are also established in northern and southern Iraq.

From 2 August, the Security Council condemned the invasion through Resolution 660, then imposed a complete embargo through Resolution 661 on 6 August. On 7 August, Saudi Arabia accepted the deployment of American forces on its territory: this was Operation Desert Shield. Iraq held thousands of foreigners, whom it presented as "human shields" against possible strikes, before releasing some of them in the following months. The Soviet Union, a long-standing partner of Baghdad, joined the UN resolutions, and Soviet envoy Yevgeny Primakov attempted an unsuccessful mediation in January 1991.

During the air campaign, the coalition struck command centres, radars and communication lines, while Patriot batteries tried to intercept Scud missiles. At the end of January 1991, the Iraqis launched a limited attack on Khafji in Saudi Arabia, which was repulsed by Saudi and Qatari forces, supported by American marines. During the ground offensive, on 26 February, the battle of 73 Easting pitted American tanks against units of the Iraqi Republican Guard, which were heavily damaged in the desert.

On 26 and 27 February, coalition aircraft struck the Iraqi columns leaving Kuwait on the road to Basra, an episode sometimes called the "Highway of Death". The toll of these strikes is debated: some see a legitimate action against an armed column in retreat, others an excessive attack. Operations were suspended at the end of February, without the coalition pushing on to Baghdad. This choice, which left Saddam Hussein in power, remains debated by historians and by the officials of the time.

The consequences

Kuwait regains its independence and its government. Saddam Hussein remains in power, Iraq is subjected to economic sanctions until the 2003 invasion, and Shiite uprisings in the south and Kurdish uprisings in the north, triggered at the end of the war, are suppressed. US forces remain stationed in the region for the long term, notably in Saudi Arabia.

In 1995, the UN established the oil-for-food programme, which allowed Iraq to sell oil in order to buy humanitarian goods; its effects on the population and the conditions of its implementation are debated. From 1991 to 1998, inspectors of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) searched for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction; their withdrawal at the end of 1998 preceded a campaign of American and British bombing. Every 26 February, Kuwait celebrates its liberation, and the American military presence in the Gulf has become a lasting political issue. Historians debate the coalition's choices, between stopping at the border and pushing on to Baghdad.

Timeline

1. 1990Iraq invades Kuwait
2. 1990Resolution 678: ultimatum to Iraq and use of force authorized
3. 1991Operation Desert Storm: start of the air strikes
4. 1991Coalition ground offensive and liberation of Kuwait
5. 1991Resolution 687: ceasefire conditions imposed on Iraq

Key figures

• Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq, who orders the invasion of Kuwait
• George H. W. Bush, president of the United States, who builds and leads the coalition
• Norman Schwarzkopf, commander in chief of the coalition forces
• Fahd of Saudi Arabia, king of Saudi Arabia, who hosts the coalition forces