First Gulf War (Kuwait Invasion)

Aug. 02, 1990 - Feb. 28, 1991

The Persian Gulf War began on Aug. 2, 1990, when approximately 100,000 Iraqi Army troops stormed across the Kuwaiti border. Three armored and mechanized divisions of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard initiated the assault at 1:00 a.m. local time, soon followed by Iraqi special operations and tank forces. The Iraqi Army took control of the country in just two days, forcing the Kuwaiti royal family and some Kuwaiti military forces to flee to safety in neighboring Saudi Arabia. Indications that the Iraqi Army was regrouping at the Saudi-Kuwait border and might launch an invasion of Saudi Arabia strengthened the determination of the United States, Western Europe, the Soviet Union, and most Arab states to counter Hussein's aggression.

The United Nations Security Council swiftly condemned Iraq, passing Resolution 660 demanding an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Within days, the Arab League also condemned the attack. Several Western nations froze Iraqi assets and the U.N. Security Council passed another resolution initiating economic and military sanctions.

After consulting with Saudi King Fahd, on August 6, 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered the deployment of U.S. ground, air, and naval forces to the Arabian Peninsula. Named Desert Shield, the initial phases of operations focused on deterring an invasion of Saudi Arabia and preparing to liberate Kuwait. Led by General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, United States Central Command and coalition partners planned over the next several months for the liberation of Kuwait.

Although U.S. troops represented nearly three-fourths of the total force, coalition partners made significant contributions. More than 30 countries, including Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and France, committed more than 200,000 troops, 60 warships, 750 aircraft, and 1,200 tanks. Almost $54 billion of the total $61 billion cost of the operations came from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Germany, and South Korea.

Saddam Hussein's failure to comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 678 of November 1990, which set Jan. 15, 1991, as the deadline for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, provided the impetus for the next phase of the campaign. The offensive war, Operation Desert Storm, began on Jan. 17, 1991, with air operations against Iraqi forces in Kuwait and selected targets inside Iraq. On Feb. 28, 1991, a mere 100 hours after the coalition launched its ground offensive, Central Command determined that all objectives for Operation Desert Storm had been met and halted offensive operations. With the approval of the U.N. Security Council, a formal cease-fire took effect on April 11, thus ending the Persian Gulf War.

CHRONOLOGY

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/cron/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/gulfguide/gwtimeline.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/cron/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/gulfguide/gwtimeline.html

Second Gulf War (Iraq Invasion):

March 20, 2003 -

In response to terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, the administration of President George W. Bush launched a campaign against al Queda, the Taliban, and other terrorist groups. In context of the Global War on Terror, Iraq was stronger of the most immediate "rogue state" threats suspected of harboring or aiding Islamist terrorists. Saddam Hussein and his government had been in nearly continuous conflict with the United States and its allies since 1990. The Bush administration determined to remove Iraq as an ongoing threat to stability in the Persian Gulf and eliminate its remaining weapons of mass destruction, capture or drive out terrorists, and collect intelligence related to terrorist networks and illicit global proliferation of WMD. By dismantling Saddam Hussein's brutal dictatorship, the administration hoped to encourage the emergence of a representative pluralistic regime in Iraq and diminish the forces of radicalism in the Middle East.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 (2002) called on Iraq to cooperate unconditionally with U.N. weapons inspectors to verify that Iraq was not in possession of WMD and ballistic missiles. President Bush assembled a coalition of about forty nations, deployed U.S. forces to the region, and threatened military action if Iraq did not abide by all of the numerous UN resolutions of the past ten years. The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) found no evidence of WMD, but could not verify the accuracy of Iraq's weapons declarations. Given Saddam's behavior over the previous decade, including the gassing of his own citizens, most Western governments in 2003 suspected that Saddam Hussein's Iraq still harbored weapons of mass destruction and threatened regional security and stability.

In the face of Iraq's continued recalcitrance on open inspections, U.S. and coalition forces on March 20, 2003, launched Operation Iraqi Freedom, a combined air and ground assault on the country. Army and Marine Corps forces drove toward Baghdad, while British troops assaulted Basra. Additional U.S. forces were airlifted into the Kurdish north. After twenty-one days of hard fighting amid sand storms and irregular attacks on supply lines, U.S. troops seized Baghdad. Toppling a grandiose statue of Saddam Hussein in the city's center, they were met initially as liberators by large and enthusiastic crowds. Mopping up pockets of resistance and by-passed enemy units took about another week. With his conventional forces defeat and his government shattered, Saddam was forced into hiding. Eventually captured by U.S. troops, he was tried and executed by the Iraqi government. Unfortunately, the victory could not forestall uncontrolled lawlessness and looting, followed by a crippling insurgency of hard-core regime survivors and jihadist foreign fighters. The insurgency challenged efforts to create a democratic Iraqi government and threatened open sectarian warfare between minority Sunni and majority Shia, with northern Kurds aspiring to regional autonomy amid the unrest.

DPMO ACCOUNTING HISTORY

The U.S. had very good success in its efforts to account for Americans who played a part in Operations Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Desert terrain, improved means of communication, and domination of the battlefield contributed to this success.

During Operation Desert Storm, past lessons guided the Department of Defense in how it established the "Joint Search and Rescue Center." The center ran very effectively. In addition, officials made sure that the Defense Intelligence Agency, the POW Information Center of the Department of Defense, the casualty offices, and others coordinated their efforts.

Drawing from Vietnam War POW/MIA lessons, the unified effort contributed greatly to the successful accounting efforts of the U.S. In addition, the value of dedicated units trained to conduct search, rescue, and recovery operations was reinforced.

Forty-nine Americans were listed as POW/MIAs during Operation Desert Storm. DoD has accounted for all 49, the last being U.S. Navy Captain Michael Scott Speicher, whose remains were located in Iraq, and who was identified and returned to his family in August 2009. Regretably, two naval aviators accounted-for as KIA-BNR are at-sea losses and will likely never be recovered.

The U.S. government significantly improved its recovery and accounting procedures on the battlefield, resulting in the smallest post-war accounting effort. Our success has continued during the recent Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/gulf_war/