PERSIAN "GULF WAR" WAS ACTUALLY THE LIBERATION OF KUWAIT

 The so-called "Persian Gulf War" (named after the beautiful sea with clear water and white sand beaches) was really the Liberation of Kuwait, that was really three missions: "Desert Shield" [largest overseas deployment since World War 2], "Desert Storm" [ground actions "Desert Sabre"], and "Desert Calm" ["Desert Farewell"]. I was part of all three campaigns with the 82nd Airborne leaving first because they arrived first. 

On paper, the Iraqi military looked formidable. Its army was the fifth largest in the world, with some 950,000 personnel, 5,500 main battle tanks, 10,000 additional armoured vehicles, and nearly 4,000 artillery pieces. The Iraqi air force consisted of some 40,000 personnel and 689 combat aircraft. Both the army and air force had extensive combat experience from the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88), including the large-scale use of chemical weapons. Iraq was believed to also have a significant stockpile of biological agents, most notably weaponized botulinum toxin and anthrax. In addition, Iraq had a force of modified Soviet-made Scud surface-to-surface missiles mounted on mobile launchers. These missiles had an effective range of 185 miles (300 km) and were capable of carrying a payload of conventional explosives as well as chemical or biological weapons.

By mid-November the U.S. had more than 240,000 troops in the Gulf and another 200,000 on the way, and the United Kingdom had sent more than 25,000, Egypt 20,000, and France 5,500. Some 25 other countries, including Canada, Syria, Bangladesh, and Morocco, had committed troops and weapons to the military buildup that was designated Operation Desert Shield.

On November 29, 1990, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 678 by a vote of 12 to 2, sanctioning the use of force if the Iraqis had not left Kuwait by January 15, 1991. Only Cuba and Yemen voted against the resolution, with China abstaining.

Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander in chief of U.S. Central Command(CENTCOM), directed the coalition military campaign, and his staff had devised a two-part operation that was designed to wear down Iraqi defenses before rapidly enveloping and destroying them. The two phases of Operation Desert Storm were a coalition air operation (January 17–February 24, 1991) and a ground offensive dubbed Operation Desert Sabre (February 24–28).

On January 18 Iraq responded to the Allied air offensive by launching Scud missiles at the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa in an effort to draw Israel into the conflict and splinter the Arab coalition. Two days later Scuds were fired at targets in Saudi Arabia. Between January 18 and February 25 Iraq fired 39 missiles at Israel, killing at least 3 Israeli civilians and injuring as many as 200. 

CENTCOM took every opportunity to convince Saddam that a seaborne assault on the Kuwaiti coast would be a major part of the inevitable allied offensive, and Schwarzkopf himself made a highly publicized visit to marine amphibious units in the Persian Gulf to enhance that deception. 

The actual attack enveloped the Iraqi, who had been sent scrambling from Kuwait City (area in this photo). 

Operation Desert Sabre, the coalition ground offensive, began on February 24, 1991, with an advance to the Euphrates by the U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps (82nd and 101st Airborne and 24th Infantry divisions, plus the French Daguet Division).

Meanwhile, the 1st and 2nd Marine divisions, along with Egyptian, Saudi, and other allied units, attacked Kuwait to tie down Iraqi forces. The main coalition attack was launched on February 25 by the U.S. VII Corps (1st and 3rd Armored, 1st Cavalry, and 1st Infantry divisions, as well as the 1st British Armoured Division). My Fort Ord, Big Red One, 1st/4th Cavalry commander was one of the units who led the armored and air cavalry charge. 

U.S. Marines with POWs with Oil fields burning

 The actual war lasted 100 hours. Large numbers of troops surrendered, some of them coming out of the desert with no food, water or sometimes no boots. Many of them had been literally recruited off the streets with no notification to their families. Some, as in one case were Iraqi American immigrants who were visiting family and was recruited in similar manner. I remember one Iraqi captured in our POW facility [operated by U.S. Army MPs] was wearing a T-Shirt with Chicago Cubs printed on it.    

Estimates of the number of Iraqi troops in the Kuwait theatre range from 180,000 to 630,000, and estimates of Iraqi military deaths range from 8,000 to 50,000. Just 147 U.S. personnel and 47 British troops were killed in action; for the duration of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, U.S. noncombat deaths actually exceeded combat fatalities in the Kuwaiti theatre. Approximately 1,000 coalition troops were wounded. 

One of the worst things I saw was what Saddam ordered his retreating Republican Guard to do. Iraqi troops set fire to oil storage installations and more than 700 of Kuwait’s 950 oil wells, creating an environmental disaster that affected the entire region. A pall of dense smoke covered Kuwait, causing a slight fall in temperature and blotting out sunlight in Kuwait city. The fires emitted a toxic mixture of hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. Below the smoke, pollution was severe, with the number of soot particles about 1,000 times higher than normal. 

When I returned to Fort Huachuca, after the war, I went to local logistics to get a new set of web gear because the oil stains would not come out. The jerk warrant officer made me pay for a new one. 

As many as 300,000 of the 700,000 troops who served in the Middle East during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm complained of a variety of symptoms that included fatigue, anxiety, muscle and joint pain, headaches, memory loss, and post-traumatic stress reactions. It took Congress 10 years to recognize things caused by environment and certain vaccines Gulf soldiers received - and they refused to pay retroactive from when symptoms appeared. Which reinforces the idea that Congress doesn't mind sending us to hell holes across the globe, but refuses to take care of problems caused by those missions for veterans. 

Researchers eventually concluded that Gulf War syndrome was likely caused by exposure to a class of extremely toxic chemicals known as anticholinesterases. Anticholinesterases to which Gulf War veterans could have been exposed include nerve toxins such as sarin, the prophylactic anti-nerve-toxin drug carbamate pyridostigmine bromide, and organophosphate- or carbamate-containing insecticides. It was the Vietnam "Agent Orange" event all over again. I remember one soldier who was working at the local clinic when I returned. He would pick up someone's records, in this case mine, and stand there looking at it confused and put in the wrong holder next to door. The poor guy had memory problems and he was too young to have gray hair. I of course corrected it with the nurse and found he was a victim with serious malady dubbed "Gulf War Syndrome" because initially the Army/Congress thought it was all psychosomatic. Just as they hid the fact they had given experimental autoimmune vaccines (2-shot booster). I know because our unit had no medics, so they assigned me (because I had been certified Combat First Aid & EMT class at Fort Huachuca] to the Air Force nurse unit who administered any vaccines (like Anthrax vaccine being the first). With the help of the Operations NCO we set up triage and commandeered a Saudi city bus to be converted into an ambulance. When I returned I reported this to my senator in Georgia who was a disabled veteran. Nothing. Some time later I gave up. 

(1934-2012)

General Schwarzkopf wanted to continue to Baghdad to take out Saddam, but President Bush Sr. asked him to stop at border because Kuwait had been liberated. Later I would find out it was because the Saudi asked Bush to stop because the mission had been accomplished. Schwarzkopf was a soldier's general and wise in ways of strategy & tactics. It would have saved time and expense of returning if he was allowed to take Baghdad with his armored units and air superiority. It ended up that the Butcher of Baghdad would reign terror longer and orchestrating his end because he didn't hold true with the treaty agreement. General Powell, a politician general, wasn't any help in convincing President Bush. 

The rest is history.