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One of the reasons
the war began is because Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait of lowering the
world price of oil. He said they were selling too much so he ordered an
attack on August 2, 1990. Troops had taken control within hours. Iraq claimed
Kuwait to be a providence of Iraq.
For a while, the United Nations tried to convince Iraq to pull out of Kuwait. They agreed to an embargo with Iraq. The United States and many other countries sent 1,000 of their troops over to Saudi Arabia to enforce the embargo. On November 29,1990 the United Nations said that they would use their power if Iraq did not withdraw by January 15, 1991. As January 15 rolled along no word came, so you know what that means. War! War began on January 15, 1991 with General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. leading what today is known as Desert Storm. Allied planes flew more than 110,000 individual combat missions. The Allied team used a weapon called “smart bombs.” They were called this because lasers lead to the object with a straight hit! Iraq tried to fight back by shooting scud missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia but many of the poorly manufactured missiles broke up during flight or were shot down by the United States with their patriot missiles. The ground war began on February 24, 1991. Over 200,000 Allied Troops attacked Iraqi Forces in Kuwait and Iraq. (Remember Iraq had control of Kuwait). Soon Iraqi troops began leaving. As they left, they set fire to hundreds of oil wells. |