TheWorld,AmericaandtheGulfWar

By Ben LaFrombois .

August 1990: IraqrolledintoKuwait.January1991: the U.S. triumphantlymoved intoKuwait,shatteringthe Iraqi presence and liberatingtheoil-rich nation.

Displaying America's military strength, troops moved intoKuwait City, thecapital of Kuwait A massiveattack on Iraq was launched,with Gen.Norman Schwartzkoff leadingthe way. An unexpectedlyquickand easymilitary victorywas completed within45 days.

Itwasthe firsttimeournationwas at war sinceVietnam, whichended in the early1970s. Theoverpoweringvictory raised America's hopes and renewed its confidence.The militarywas raised up from theashesofearlier defeats.

ThisvictorywaslikefewAmericahas everexperienced, nor similar to what was expected. America dominated fromthe moment her planesbeganto fly untilthe lastIraqi was captured or killed.

Fighting, especiallyinthedesert, was second natureto theIraqiswho had been atwar with Iranduring most of the1980s TheIraqiarmy was Sovietsupplied and trained and had yearsofdesertcombatexperience.

On paper,Americaand its allieswereevenat a loss. Iraq had 545,000troopsin the regionwhilethe U.S. had'530,000. Iraq had 4,230 tanks;the U.S. had 3,360.Iraq had 3,110 artillerypieces; theU.S. had 3,633.

On ground, thenumbers were equal, butintheair and at sea America outnumbered Iraq, having 1,800 more aircraft intheregion, 1,800more helicoptersand 60 more ships

The U.S build-up of troops began shortly after the August invasionby Iraq By January, theallies' presence exceeded one-halfmillion President Bush had garnered thesupport ofmost oftheworld's nations

The U.S Congress had voted tosupport theGulfconflict, first calledOperation DesertShieldand thenOperation Desert Storm, once fighting began The American people were behind the president Even 45 percent of Americans supported theuseof tactical nuclear weapons if needed.

The U.S assumed it was going tohave tofightagreat power Estimates of Iraq's total army were as high as 1,000,000troopswith greatquantitiesofchemical weapons, longrangeshellingcapabilities and the possibility of nuclearweapons.

Anotherthreatto victorywasthatIsraelwould enterthe war, causing the Arab nations to unite against Israel. A holy war would ensue, leavingAmerica inthemiddle of religious warfare.

Israelwas attacked during thewar by SCUD missiles, but did notfight back sincetheU.S. was alreadycarrying out thewar. A U.S. patriotmissilesystem was setup to protectIsrael from incomingmissiles

Thepatriotsystemwas oneof the heroesof the war, and displayed thetechnology theU.S. had acquired since the Vietnam conflict.The patriot would track an incoming missilefrom thetimeit left theground until it wasclose enough to shootdown.Thesystemwould firea missileat the incomingtargetand destroyitin the airbeforeitcould damage anything on theground.

Many heroes came out of the war,which began on January 15, 1991.The firstphase of the war displayed America's air power. Thirty-nine days of continual air attacks crushed the Iraqi army, allowing the ground forcestocleanup.

The first night of the war, America destroyed Iraqi communications and airports, not allowing Iraqi planes toeven getinthe air.

Overall, 35,000sortieswere flown.Fiftypercentwere combat missions Amazingly, only20planeswerelostin theentirewar, a casualty rateof .06percent. This figure was wellbelow the3 percent planned.

The victoryin theair paved theway for groundtroops toclean up in 100 hours war. On February 23, ground troopsmoved intoundefended Iraqbehind Iraq's army, encirclingthem and leaving them withoutescape.

By February 28 Kuwait City was freeand U.S. forces began thecleanup. The allies only lost149 troops, while Iraq's losses were estimated at over100,000. Totals could not be determined since saturation bombing of the entrenched buried many Iraqi soldiers.

Iraqlost4,000 of their tanks; theU.S. lost four. Iraqlos 2,140 artillerypieces; theU.S. lost one.