![]() Iraqis would disguise themselves as civilians and then ambush Coalition forces. Among them, they pretended to surrender to U.S. Once Coalition forces and Iraqi forces met in the field, the Iraqis committed more war crimes. Then they rigged the oil wells to explode if they were attacked.Ĭoalition Forces didn’t begin to expel Iraqis from Kuwait until January 1991, after the UN-mandated January 15th withdrawal deadline. Iraqi occupation forces killed at least 1,082 Kuwaiti civilian noncombatants, including women, children, and the mentally handicapped. Kuwaiti women were taken hostage and raped repeatedly. Those crimes include running of at least two dozen torture sites in Kuwait City alone, torturing civilians to the point of death and disfigurement. In that time, the Iraqi forces committed at least sixteen crimes against the Laws of Armed Conflict as outlined in the Geneva and Hague Conventions. Iraq occupied Kuwait between August 1990 and January 1991 - and it was brutal. His body was placed in front of a tank and run over. The Emir’s brother was killed leading the defense of the palace for more than 12 hours, outnumbered by an entire Iraqi division. In trying to capture Kuwait’s Emir, Iraqis assaulted Dasman Palace, even though the Emir had already left. Whenever possible, Kuwaitis resisted fiercely, even establishing an underground resistance movement, though it was largely untrained and incapable. Kuwait had not mobilized for war despite Saddam’s constant threats. They either overran Kuwaitis on the ground or forced them (like 80% of the Kuwaiti Air Force) into neighboring Saudi Arabia or the island of Bahrain. Unlike the Iran-Iraq War (which went on for eight years), Iraq’s Elite Republican Guard (with names which sound like they were made up by an American teenager, like the 1st Hammurabi Armored Division or the 4th Nebuchadnezzar Motorized Infantry Division) swiftly defeated Kuwaiti forces, reaching Kuwait City in an hour. Iraq annexed Kuwait as its 19th province with Ali Hassan al-Majid (aka “Chemical Ali) as governor. Two-thirds of the Arab League states joined the UN in a resolution condemning the invasion as King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Kuwaiti leaders asked NATO for help. His forces invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The Arab League was not okay with this.Įgyptian President Hosni Mubarak tried to negotiate a treaty to avert a war, but Saddam walked out after two hours. He reasoned that the British illegally cut Kuwait out of greater Iraq in the 19th century and he was trying to right a Western wrong. ![]() As Palestinians tried to shake off Israeli occupation, Saddam tried to appeal to pan-Arab nationalism by being the strongman who would stand up to the West and Israel. The invasion happened during the first Palestinian Intifada, which enjoyed wide Arab support. Saddam thought Arab states would be okay with Iraq annexing Kuwait. When asked later why she said that to Saddam, Glaspie said: “We had no idea he would go that far.” friendship, was surprised to find his actions condemned by President Bush. Saddam, frequently emphasizing a desire for U.S. When nothing changed in Kuwait and Egyptian diplomacy failed, Saddam began the invasion. James Baker has directed our official spokesmen to emphasize this instruction.” The instruction we had during this period was that we should express no opinion on this issue and that the issue is not associated with America. I was in the American Embassy in Kuwait during the late 1960s. “But we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait. Saddam reiterated his commitment to peace in the region, so long as the Kuwaitis agree to meet OPEC production standards. President Bush’s Ambassador to Iraq was April Glaspie, who, in a meeting with the Iraqi dictator, stressed to him that the U.S. Saddam thought the United States gave him the okay to invade Kuwait. Even so, Iraq’s Air Force was large but weak and its Navy was “virtually nonexistent.” 3. Iraq conscripted three fourths of men between ages 15 and 49. After the Gulf War started, he concluded Iraq’s peace with Iran and raised his occupying force levels to 300,000. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait with 120,000 of these and 2,000 tanks. It’s true, Iraq’s armed forces boasted more than a million men in uniform in 1991, but only a third of those were skilled professional fighting forces. In 1991, Iraq had the fifth largest army in the world. Since Iraq’s economy depended on oil sales, Saddam hoped to repay its debts by raising the price of oil through OPEC oil production cuts, but instead, Kuwait increased production and repeatedly produced more than its quota, lowering prices in an attempt to leverage a better resolution of its border dispute with Iraq. This also makes Saddam Hussein the first person to think of an idea before the Simpsons.
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