gulf war timeline

By ginevra.merlini
  • Iraq invades Kuwait

    Iraq invades Kuwait

    Saddam Hussein dispatched soldiers to Kuwait, claiming that Kuwait was plundering Iraqi oil.
  • U.N. imposes a trade embargo with Iraq

    U.N. imposes a trade embargo with Iraq

    Saddam Hussein was warned by the United Nations that he needed to withdraw his soldiers from Kuwait. Iraq has been sanctioned by the United Nations.
  • Operation Desert Shield begins

    Operation Desert Shield begins

    President George W. Bush dispatches US troops to Saudi Arabia to guard against an Iraqi invasion.
  • U.K. and France send 10,000 troops to the Gulf

    U.K. and France send 10,000 troops to the Gulf

    The United Kingdom and France are sending more troops to help the United Nations and the United States.

  • U.N. tells Iraq to get out of Kuwait by Jan. 15, 1991

  • Operation Desert Storm begins

    Operation Desert Storm begins

    The air attack against the Iraqi military kicked off Operation Desert Storm. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf of the United States Army is in charge of the coalition campaign.
  • Iraq bombs Israel

    Iraq bombs Israel

    Iraq shoots scud missiles at Israel, a U.S. ally.
  • Iraq attacks Kuwaiti oil wells

    Iraq attacks Kuwaiti oil wells

  • Iraq starts pumping Kuwait's oil into the Gulf

    This was a form of environmental warfare. Iraq purposefully dumped oil into the Persian Gulf.
  • 1st ground battle in Khafji, Saudi Arabia

    1st ground battle in Khafji, Saudi Arabia

    Allied forces won. There were more than 2,000 Iraqi soldiers killed and about 400 taken prisoner.

  • U.S. troop numbers > 500,000

    U.S. has over one-half million soldiers in the Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm.
  • Allied forces bomb Baghdad

    Allied forces bomb Baghdad

  • President Bush gives Iraq 24 hrs to leave Kuwait

    President Bush gives Iraq 24 hrs to leave Kuwait

    President George W. Bush tells Suddam Hussein that if he doesn't leave Kuwait within 24 hours, he will order the start of a ground war.
  • Ground war against Iraq begins

    Ground war against Iraq begins

    This image shows the four phases of the Allied advance against the Iraqi troops.
  • Iraq withdraws from Kuwait

    Iraq withdraws from Kuwait

    As they retreated, the Iraqi military ignited over 600 oil wells and dumped 400 million gallons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf. Damage done to Kuwait was estimated at over $30 billion.
  • Gulf War ends

    Gulf War ends

    President Bush declares Gulf War over. The cease-fire plan was drafted on March 1, 1991 and accepted by Saddam Hussein on March 3, 1991. The entire war lasted about 100 hours.

  • Saddam Houssein aplogizes for the Kuwait invasion