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
- Departures to increase upto 2,500 per day
- 120,000 Residency violators still in Kuwait
- The Cabinet decides to start fourth phase from Tuesday
- New residency bill for expats
- Inbound flights … end of August
- Plan completed to resume the commercial flights at Kuwait Airport
- Temporary law permitting ‘Salary Cuts’ in Private Sector
- List of shops which are allowed to operate
- 120,000 expats will not be able to ‘renew’ residency
- 3 months extension for all expiring visas; Expats standard abroad grace period of 1 yr instead of 6 months
- Maidan Hawally (Block 11) will not be under Isolation
- Flights Reservations open for Kuwaitis along with domestic workers
- 5 phases to get back to normal Kuwait
- Following services will start from 31.05.2020
- Full lockdown in Farwaniya, Mahboula, Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, Khaitan, Hawally areas and Partial Curfew from 6pm to 6am
- Guidelines for Banks set for the resumption of work and customers services
- 10 deaths, 845 new infections of coronavirus in Kuwait, total 24,112
- Jleeb, Mahboula isolation to end
- 3 deaths, 692 new infections of coronavirus in Kuwait, total 23,267
- 7 deaths, 608 new infections of coronavirus in Kuwait, total 22,575
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