25 Years ago – 16th January 1991 – Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait
Twenty-five years ago, former President George H.W. Bush took to the airwaves to announce the launch of what is now known as Operation Desert Storm.
US-led military operation to drive Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait. “Just two hours ago, allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait,” Bush said on the evening of January 16, 1991. “These attacks continue as I speak.” For five weeks, coalition forces bombarded Iraqi positions from the air and sea. When a ground invasion followed in February, it took only 100 hours to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.
Operation Desert Storm marked a shift in how Americans experience combat when the US military deploys in far-flung countries.
For the first time, the beginning of a conflict played out on live TV, and viewers could “watch the war” from the comfort of home as it unfolded.
It was billed as a smashing success: an “accurate” bombing campaign, followed up by a swift, four-day ground assault that led to Iraq’s expulsion from Kuwait and a ceasefire.
Then again, how does one define success in Iraq? Coalition losses reached the hundreds, while Iraqi troop deaths reached into the tens of thousands, and another 2,000-plus civilians were killed.
The anniversary of Operation Desert Storm is a reminder of the unfinished history of the United States at war in Iraq. After all, here we are 25 years later, still dropping bombs there.
Kuwait News
- Events in Kuwait
- Kuwait ranks 33rd in ‘World Giving Index’
- Ethiopian maid found dead
- PACI opened new branch to collect the Civil IDs
- An Arab woman arrested
- Data of 1,800,000 Expats and Kuwaitis in 200 Kuwaiti Dinars
- Baby abandoned in front of a building
- KD 1,800 annual fees for private nurseries
- Kuwait and India discussed the Indian Engineers issues in Kuwait
- Police Officer Kidnapped
- New Heavy fines and New License Fees proposal
- Arrested a Kuwaiti woman for stealing a car
- Fake currency in Ahmadi
- Son stabs mother and throws her out of the house
- Woman arrested for swindling Kuwaitis and Expats
- Court orders Kuwaiti to pay KD 20,000 to victim
- Domestic workers from 41 countries should be referred for medical test
- Truckloads of foodstuff, clothes confiscated
- Many arrested as MoI dept raids domestic labour offices
- Five expats under interrogation
- 100 ‘illegal’ expats set for deportation
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