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Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests, Fourth Edition

Kuwait, Iraqi Invasion of

In 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded his neighbor, Kuwait, on the Persian Gulf. He claimed that in Ottoman times, Kuwait had been part of territory controlled by Baghdad, so it should return to Baghdad’s control as the nineteenth province of Iraq. Actually, this had not been the case; Kuwait was a separate sheikhdom under the Ottoman Empire, and Baghdad had merely served as the district capital for the Ottoman governor. It seems likely that Hussein’s real reason for invasion was control of the Kuwaiti oil fields, and he was intent on being the major factor in the pricing of Middle Eastern oil. Kuwait appeared to be the first target of his expansion, and the United States in particular did not want to see other, more friendly oil producers come under Hussein’s control. Hussein had made threatening gestures toward Kuwait for weeks, but the United States thought it was nothing more than saber-rattling.

Earlier, when Hussein waged war against Iran, the United States had opened its military largesse to him. In addition, when Iraq first complained about Kuwait’s oil-pricing policies, the United States told Hussein that any Middle East “border dispute” was none of America’s business. Once the invasion took place, however, American President George Bush became the leader of an international coalition not only to resist further Iraqi expansion, but also to restore Kuwait’s independence. In response to calls for aid from other Arab countries, notably Saudi Arabia, Bush sent American troops and cajoled the United Nations into aiding him in dealing with Hussein. European allies joined in with troops, but other nations dependent on Middle East oil, such as Japan and Germany, were barred by their post-World War II constitutions from sending troops outside their borders; they instead offered financial aid. Operation Desert Shield, organized under the command of American general Norman Schwarzkopf, put almost half a million men along the Saudi-Iraqi border by January 1991.

Much has been made of Bush’s motives for Desert Shield and its successor, Operation Desert Storm. Certainly American and world dependence on a stable Middle East oil supply was a factor. As a member of the generation that had fought in World War II, Bush saw Saddam Hussein as a latter-day Adolf Hitler who needed to be stopped rather than appeased. Stories of Iraqi brutality in Kuwait further increased his resolve to resist totalitarian aggression. Also, because communism was collapsing in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Bush saw an opportunity for what he called a “New World Order,” where peace-loving nations would cooperate to maintain sovereign borders against flagrant expansionism. The international response to Bush’s pleas was remarkable. Even such hostile nations as Cuba and Libya voted to condemn Iraqi aggression. Hussein tried to court Arab assistance by attacking Israel, but only the Palestinians gave him any support.

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Lion of Babylon main battle tanks, common Iraqi battle tank used in the Gulf War by the Iraqi Army.

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Photo via Wikimedia Commons. [Public domain.]

Throughout the second half of 1990, the coalition forces massed along the Iraqi and Kuwaiti borders. Rather than launch a preemptive strike, Hussein allowed the forces to grow while he began building a defensive line along the border, and dared the coalition to attack it. Schwarzkopf gave the impression that he would do just that, then planned a major turning movement through the desert along the Iraqi right flank. Economic attempts to pressure Hussein to leave proved futile, and by the end of December, President Bush gave Iraq a 15 January deadline to withdraw from Kuwait. Last-minute negotiations proved fruitless, and Schwarzkopf received word to turn Desert Shield into Desert Storm.

Shortly after 3:00 a.m. local time on 17 January, a massive air assault struck the Iraqi capital and key locations across the country. Cruise missiles, Stealth fighters, and laser-guided “smart” bombs took out military installations with pinpoint precision. Iraqi command, communication, and control were paralyzed and then destroyed by 38 days of air attack. Hussein responded by launching “Scud” missiles against Israel, hoping to provoke an Israeli response that would attract Arab support to his side. Israel took relatively light damage, and did not respond militarily. That restraint effectively isolated Iraq, as did the Scud attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Hussein still refused to accede to international demands, so the land war finally began. It lasted a mere 100 hours until President Bush called it to a halt. The Iraqi army displayed what was possibly the poorest performance in all of military history. Anecdotes are told of soldiers surrendering to drone observation aircraft and news correspondents. Thousands died, and tens of thousands surrendered; coalition casualties numbered less than 800 dead and wounded. Kuwait was liberated in hours, and the massive defenses the Iraqis had spent months constructing were first outflanked and then easily pierced when the defenders gave up.

Many around the world believed that Bush stopped the war too soon, that the coalition should have completely destroyed the Iraqi military, driven to Baghdad, and removed Hussein from power. Because none of those things happened, the defeat of the Iraqi army accomplished little. Saddam Hussein retained power and the core of his military, and soon he was persecuting Arabs around Basra and Kurds in the north. Hussein had ordered oil spilled into the Persian Gulf to thwart an amphibious attack, and retreating Iraqi forces set fire to most of the Kuwaiti oil wells. The environmental damage was huge, but quick response by fire-fighting teams put the fires out sooner than expected. An international embargo remained for years as the United Nations awaited the extremely slow revelation of Iraq’s atomic and chemical warfare capabilities. Through the middle 1990s, Hussein retained power, while the people of Iraq suffered extreme economic hardship because minimal imports were allowed and no Iraqi oil was exported.

In Kuwait, the political administration of the emir suffered some discontent from Kuwaitis who had remained in the country during the occupation and conducted resistance action. They demanded some representation in the government, which came about by 1994. The large resident population of Palestinians, who had worked as laborers in Kuwait, was persecuted because the Palestine Liberation Organization had supported Iraq. Almost all were driven from the country in a matter of months.

See also: Hitler, Adolf.

References:

1 

Blackwell, James, Thunder in the Desert (New York: Bantam Books, 1991); Friedman, Norman, Desert Victory (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1991); Woodward, Bob, The Commanders (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991).

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MLA 9th
, . "Kuwait, Iraqi Invasion Of." Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests, Fourth Edition, edited by Paul K. Davis, Salem Press, 2023. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GHInv4e_0223.
APA 7th
, . (2023). Kuwait, Iraqi Invasion of. In P. K. Davis (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests, Fourth Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
,. "Kuwait, Iraqi Invasion Of." Edited by Paul K. Davis. Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests, Fourth Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2023. Accessed October 15, 2025. online.salempress.com.