{{Short description|Beginning of the 1990–1991 Gulf War}} {{Redirect|Invasion of Kuwait|3=List of wars involving Kuwait}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}} {{Use British English|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox military conflict | partof = the [[Gulf War]] | image = File:Tankskuwait.jpg | caption = Iraqi [[T-72]] tanks in [[Kuwait City]] | conflict = Iraqi invasion of Kuwait | date = 2–4 August 1990<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1= 8|day1= 2|year1= 1990|month2= 8|day2= 4|year2= 1990}}) | place = [[Kuwait]] | result = Iraqi victory | combatant1 = {{flagicon image|Flag of Iraq (1963–1991).svg}} [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] | combatant2 = {{flag|Kuwait}} | commander1 = {{ubli|{{flagicon image|Flag of Iraq (1963–1991).svg}} [[Saddam Hussein]]|{{flagicon image|Flag of Iraq (1963–1991).svg}} [[Ra'ad al-Hamdani]]|{{flagdeco|Ba'athist Iraq}} [[Tariq Aziz]]|{{flagdeco|Ba'athist Iraq}} [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]]|{{flagdeco|Ba'athist Iraq}} [[Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri]]|{{flagdeco|Ba'athist Iraq}} [[Hussein Kamel al-Majid]]}} | commander2 = {{ubli|{{flagdeco|Kuwait}} [[Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah|Jaber III]]|{{flagdeco|Kuwait}} [[Saad Al-Salim Al-Sabah|Saad I]]| {{flagdeco|Kuwait}} [[Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah|Sabah IV]]|{{flagdeco|Kuwait}} [[Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah|Fahad IV]]{{KIA}}}} | units1 = {{Tree list}} *{{nowrap|{{flagdeco|Ba'athist Iraq}} [[Iraqi Armed Forces]]}} ** [[Iraqi Ground Forces|Iraqi Army]] ** {{flagicon image|Iraqi_Republican_Guard_Symbol.svg|border=}} [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]] ** {{air force|Ba'athist Iraq|border=}} ** {{Navy|Ba'athist Iraq}} {{Tree list/end}} | units2 = {{Tree list}} *{{flagdeco|Kuwait}} [[Kuwait Armed Forces]] ** [[Kuwait Army]] ** [[Kuwait Air Force]] ** [[Kuwait Naval Force]] ** [[Kuwait National Guard]] {{Tree list/end}} | strength1 = 88,000 men<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mokatel.com/openshare/Behoth/IraqKwit/9/tab03.doc_cvt.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714180721/http://www.mokatel.com/openshare/Behoth/IraqKwit/9/tab03.doc_cvt.htm|url-status=dead|title=Al Moqatel – التحضير العسكري العراقي لغزو الكويت (التخطيط ـ إعداد مسرح العمليات ـ الفتح "الانتشار" الإستراتيجي)|archivedate=14 July 2014|website=www.mokatel.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=1990: Iraq invades Kuwait |newspaper=BBC On This Day|publisher=BBC |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/2/newsid_2526000/2526937.stm|access-date=20 April 2010|date=2 August 1990}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=1990 The Invasion of Kuwait|last=Johns|first=Dave|date=24 January 2006|work=Frontline/World|publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]|url=https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq501/events_kuwait.html|access-date=20 April 2010}}</ref> | strength2 = {{Tree list}} *20,000 men ** 16,000 ([[Kuwait Army|Army]])<ref name="Library of Congress">{{cite journal|title=Kuwait Organization and Mission of the Forces|date=January 1993|journal=Country Studies|publisher=Library of Congress|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kw0058)|access-date=20 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110113100/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+kw0058)|archive-date=10 January 2009}}</ref> ** 2,200 ([[Kuwait Air Force|Air Force]])<ref name="Library of Congress"/> ** 1,800 ([[Kuwait Naval Force|Navy]])<ref name="Library of Congress"/> {{Tree list/end}} | casualties1 = {{Tree list}} * 295 killed * 361 wounded (unconfirmed Kuwaiti claims) ** 120 tanks and AFVs destroyed ** 4 ships sunk (unconfirmed Kuwaiti claims) {{Tree list/end}} | casualties2 = {{Tree list}} * 420 killed * 12,000 captured<ref>{{cite web |title=Kuwaiti casualties |url=http://kkamcm.org/public/Content.aspx?PageID=3 |website=kkackm |access-date=27 June 2018 |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318154002/https://www.kkamcm.org/public/Content.aspx?PageID=3 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ** c. 250 tanks destroyed/captured ** 850+ AFVs destroyed/captured<ref>''Jane's Armour and Artillery 2003–2004''</ref><ref>Gordon L. Rottman (1993), ''Armies of the Gulf War'', pp. 48–49</ref><ref>Aleksei Brusilov, Leonid Karyakin (August 2003), {{lang|ru|Танки в операции «Шок и трепет»}} [''Tanks in Operation Shock and Awe''], Tankomaster {{in lang|ru}}</ref> ** 57 aircraft destroyed<ref>{{cite BAILII |juris=auto |courtname=auto |court=UKHL |year=2002 |num=19 |litigants=Kuwait Airways Corporation v Iraqi Airways Company and others |parallelcite=[2002] 3 All ER 209, [2002] 2 WLR 1353, [2003] 1 CLC 183, [2002] 2 AC 883, [2002] 1 All ER (Comm) 843}}</ref> ** 8+ [[Dassault Mirage F1|Mirage F1s]] captured ** 17 ships sunk ** 6 ships captured<ref>{{cite web |title=Kuwaiti Casualties |url=http://kkamcm.org/public/Content.aspx?PageID=3 |website=kkamkm |access-date=27 June 2018 |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318154002/https://www.kkamcm.org/public/Content.aspx?PageID=3 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/declassdocs/dia/19981113/0000001.html|title=Iraq: Naval Threat to US Forces|access-date=19 December 2014|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225161815/https://gulflink.health.mil/declassdocs/dia/19981113/0000001.html}}</ref><ref>المبحث الرابع, إعادة بناء القوات المسلحة لكل من دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي، بعد الحرب, Al Moquatel</ref> ** 24 [[MIM-23 Hawk|I-Hawk SAMs]] destroyed/captured ** 36 [[M109 howitzer|M109 155mm]] destroyed/captured ** 20–80 [[Mk F3 155 mm|AMX-F3 155mm SPHs]] destroyed/captured<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.csis.org/programs/emeritus-chair-strategy/us-strategic-and-defense-efforts/lessons-war/gulf-war |first1=Anthony H. |last1=Cordesman |first2=Abraham R. |last2=Wagner |title=The Lessons of Modern War |volume=IV: The Gulf War |chapter=Chapter Three: The Forces Engaged – Opposing Military Cultures and The Human Element |publisher=Routledge |chapter-url=https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/160628_GW-3_Forces_Engaged_10-1-94.pdf |date=October 15, 1994 |access-date=1 October 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813214646/https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/media/csis/pubs/941015lessonsgulfiv-chap03.pdf |archive-date=13 August 2017 }}</ref><ref>"Kuwait had loaned a battery of French 155mm Mk F3 SP guns to Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War and a further 80 fell into Iraqi hands after the invasion." Gordon L. Rottman, Ronald Volstad (1993). ''Armies of the Gulf War''. Osprey. p. 49</ref> {{Tree list/end}} | territory = {{Tree list}} *Iraq establishes the [[Republic of Kuwait]] on 2 August and annexes it on 28 August ** Northern Kuwait becomes the [[Saddamiyat al-Mitla' District]] within Iraq's [[Basra Governorate]] ** Southern Kuwait becomes Iraq's [[Kuwait Governorate]] {{Tree list/end}} | image_size = 280px | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Gulf War}} {{Campaignbox Persian Gulf Wars}} }} {{Saddam Hussein series}} The '''Iraqi invasion of Kuwait''', codenamed '''Project 17''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://elaph.com/Web/NewsPapers/2007/8/257524.htm|title=''رعد الحمداني'' وحكاية.. الغزو!!|first=فؤاد|last=الهاشم|date=21 August 2007|website=Elaph – إيلاف}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kitabat.com/%d8%a3%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%af-%d9%81%d8%aa%d9%8a%d8%ad-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%88%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%aa%d8%b5%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%aa%d9%87-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d8%b1/|title=أياد فتيح الراوي.. بين انتصاراته في الحرب.. وبين القضاء على انتفاضة 1991..وتجفيف الاهوار - كتابات|date=15 November 2021}}</ref> began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the [[Gulf War]]. After defeating the [[Kuwait|State of Kuwait]] on 4 August 1990, [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] went on to militarily occupy the country for the next seven months.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/1/thirty-years-on-iraqs-invasion-of-kuwait-still-haunts-region | title=Thirty years on, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait still haunts region |date=1 August 2020}}</ref> The invasion was condemned internationally, and the [[United Nations Security Council]] (UNSC) adopted numerous resolutions urging Iraq to withdraw from Kuwaiti territory. The Iraqi military, however, continued to occupy Kuwait and defied all orders by the UNSC. After initially establishing the "[[Republic of Kuwait]]" as a puppet state, Iraq annexed the entire country on 28 August 1990; northern Kuwait became the [[Saddamiyat al-Mitla' District]] and was merged into the existing [[Basra Governorate]], while southern Kuwait was carved out as the all-new [[Kuwait Governorate]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fineman |first=Mark |date=29 August 1990 |title=Iraq Remaps Kuwait as Province 19 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-29-mn-176-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123210545/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-29-mn-176-story.html |archive-date=23 January 2021 |access-date=23 January 2021 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> By November 1990, the adoption of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 678|UNSC Resolution 678]] officially issued Iraq an ultimatum to withdraw unconditionally by 15 January 1991 or else be removed by "all necessary means" from Kuwaiti territory. In anticipation of a war with Iraq, the UNSC authorized the assembly of an [[Coalition of the Gulf War|American-led military coalition]].
After Iraq failed to meet the UNSC's deadline, the coalition pursued the directive to forcefully expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait by initiating the [[Gulf War air campaign|Gulf War aerial bombardment campaign]] on 17 January 1991. As the bombardment campaign continued over the next month, [[Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel|Iraq fired missiles at Israel]]; the Iraqi government had hoped that an Israeli retaliation would prompt the coalition's Muslim-majority states to rescind their support for the campaign against Iraq. However, no such retaliation took place, and the coalition began a ground invasion of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait and parts of Iraq on 23 February 1991. As Iraqi troops retreated from Kuwait, they [[Kuwaiti oil fires|set fire to over 700 Kuwaiti oil wells]], but this strategy was ultimately unsuccessful in thwarting the coalition's advance. By 28 February 1991, the Iraqi military had been devastated and Kuwaiti independence was restored.
Though the true intent behind Iraq's decision to attack Kuwait is disputed, a variety of speculations have been made. One possible motive concerned Iraq's inability to repay the {{Currency|14 billion|USD|linked=no|passthrough=yes}} that it had borrowed from Kuwait during the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref name="airCombatInformationGroup" /> Proponents of this theory point to Kuwait's surge in petroleum production, which kept Iraq's revenues down; Kuwait's oil production levels were above the mandatory quota that was specified by the [[OPEC|Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries]] (OPEC), which had consequently urged the country to moderate production amidst a sharp decrease in global oil prices.<ref name="OPEC2" /> Iraq interpreted the Kuwaiti government's refusal to decrease oil production as an act of aggression against the Iraqi economy. In early 1990, Iraq accused Kuwait of [[Directional drilling|slant drilling]] to steal Iraqi petroleum across the [[Iraq–Kuwait border]], though some Iraqi sources indicated that [[Saddam Hussein]] had already made the decision to attack Kuwait a few months before the actual invasion.<ref name="Fawcett">{{cite book|last=Gause|first=F. Gregory III|chapter=The International Politics of the Gulf|title=International Relations of the Middle East|editor=Louise Fawcett|publisher=Oxford: The University Press|year=2005|isbn=0-19-926963-7|pages=263–274}}</ref> Within two days of the invasion, most Kuwaiti military units had been overrun by the Iraqis and most Kuwaiti officials had gone into exile in [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Bahrain]].
==Background==
=== Iran–Iraq War and Iraqi debt to Kuwait === When the [[Iran–Iraq War]] broke out, [[Kuwait]] initially stayed neutral and also tried mediating between Iran and Iraq. In 1982, Kuwait along with other [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf]] supported Iraq to curb the Iranian Revolutionary government. In 1982–1983, Kuwait began extending significant financial loans to Iraq. Kuwait's large-scale economic assistance to Iraq often triggered hostile Iranian actions against Kuwait. Iran repeatedly targeted Kuwaiti oil tankers in 1984 and fired weapons at Kuwaiti security personnel stationed on [[Bubiyan]] island in 1988.<ref>"Iran reportedly fires on Kuwaiti island", ''Lakeland Ledger'', 30 March 1988.</ref> During the Iran–Iraq War, Kuwait functioned as Iraq's major port once [[Basra]] was shut down by the fighting.<ref name=stork>{{cite journal|last1=Stork|first1=Joe|last2=Lesch|first2=Ann M.|title=Background to the Crisis: Why War?|journal=Middle East Report|volume=167|issue=November–December|pages=11–18|year=1990|jstor=3012998|doi=10.2307/3012998}}</ref> However, after the war ended, the friendly relations between the two neighbouring [[Arab]] countries turned sour for several economic and diplomatic reasons that culminated in an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
By the time the Iran–Iraq War ended, Iraq was not in a financial position to repay the [[United States dollar|US$]]14 billion it had borrowed from Kuwait to finance its war and requested that Kuwait forgive the debt.<ref name="airCombatInformationGroup">{{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Tom |author-link1=Tom Cooper (author) |last2=Sadik |first2=Ahmad |title=Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait; 1990 |date=6 August 2007 |journal=Air Combat Information Group Journal |url=http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=1 |access-date=27 October 2016 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130706142817/http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=47 |archive-date=6 July 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> Iraq argued that the war had prevented a possible rise of Iranian hegemony over Kuwait. Kuwait's unwillingness to write off the debt strained the relationship between the two countries. In late 1989, several official meetings were held between Kuwaiti and Iraqi leaders, but did not result in an agreement.
=== Kuwaiti economic warfare and slant drilling === In 1988, Iraq's Oil Minister, [[Issam Al-Chalabi]], strove for a reduction in the crude oil production quota of [[Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries]] (OPEC) members to end the [[1980s oil glut]].<ref name=OPEC1>"Iraq strains OPEC consensus", ''New Straits Times'', 8 October 1988</ref> Chalabi argued that higher oil prices would help Iraq to pay back its US$60 billion debt by increasing its revenues.<ref name=OPEC1/> However, given its large [[Downstream (petroleum industry)|downstream petroleum industry]], Kuwait was less concerned about the prices of [[crude oil]] and in 1989, Kuwait requested OPEC to increase the country's total oil production ceiling by 50% to {{convert|1.35|e6oilbbl|m3}} per day.<ref name=OPEC2>"OPEC pressures Kuwait to moderate quota demand", ''New Straits Times'', 7 June 1989</ref> Throughout much of the 1980s, Kuwait's oil production had already been considerably above its mandatory OPEC quota and this had prevented a rise of crude oil prices.<ref name=OPEC2/> A lack of consensus among OPEC members undermined Iraq's efforts to end the oil glut and consequently prevented the recovery of its war-crippled economy.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hindy|first=Lily|title=Interrogator: Invasion surprised Saddam|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|agency=Associated Press|date=25 January 2008|url=https://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2008/01/25/interrogator_invasion_surprised_saddam/|access-date=17 April 2010}}{{dead link|date=May 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> According to former Iraqi Foreign Minister [[Tariq Aziz]], "every US$1 drop in the price of a barrel of oil caused a US$1 billion drop in Iraq's annual revenues, triggering an acute financial crisis in Baghdad".<ref name=stork/> Iraq interpreted Kuwait's refusal to decrease its oil production as an act of aggression.
The increasingly tense relations between Iraq and Kuwait were further aggravated when Iraq alleged that Kuwait was [[Directional drilling|slant-drilling]] across the [[Iraq–Kuwait border|border]] into Iraq's [[Rumaila field]]. The dispute over the Rumaila field started in 1960 when an [[Arab League]] declaration marked the Iraq–Kuwait border {{convert|2|mi|km|order=flip|sigfig=1}} north of the southernmost tip of the Rumaila field.<ref name=hayes>{{cite news|last=Hayes|first=Thomas C.|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=3 September 1990|title=Confrontation in the Gulf; The Oilfield Lying Below the Iraq-Kuwait Dispute|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/03/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-the-oilfield-lying-below-the-iraq-kuwait-dispute.html}}</ref> During the Iran–Iraq War, Iraqi oil drilling operations in Rumaila declined while Kuwait's operations increased. In 1989, Iraq accused Kuwait of using "advanced drilling techniques" to exploit oil from its share of the Rumaila field. Iraq estimated that US$2.4 billion worth of Iraqi oil was "stolen" by Kuwait and demanded compensation.<ref name=gregory>{{cite book|last=Gregory|first=Derek|author-link=Derek Gregory|title=The Colonial Present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq|year=2004|page=156|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|place=Malden, MA, USA|isbn=1-57718-090-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DejCbO1mvCYC&q=Kuwait+slant+drilling&pg=PA156}}</ref> According to oil workers in the area, Iraq's slant drilling claim was fabricated, as "oil flows easily from the Rumaila field without any need for these techniques."<ref name=hayes/>
On 26 July 1990, only a few days before the Iraqi invasion, OPEC officials said that Kuwait and the [[United Arab Emirates]] had agreed to a proposal to limit their oil output to {{convert|1.5|e6oilbbl|m3}} per day, "down from the nearly 2 million barrels a day they had each been pumping", thus potentially settling differences over oil policy between Kuwait and Iraq.<ref name=NY>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/26/world/iraq-said-to-prevail-in-oil-dispute-with-kuwait-and-arab-emirates.html?pagewanted=1|work=The New York Times|first=Youssef M.|last=Ibrahim|title=Iraq Said to Prevail in Oil Dispute With Kuwait and Arab Emirates|date=26 July 1990}}</ref>
=== Iraqi irredentism === [[File:Basra Province 1897.png|thumb|The [[Basra Vilayet (Ottoman Empire)|Basra ''Vilayet'']] of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1897. After the [[Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913]], Kuwait was established as an autonomous ''[[kaza]],'' or district, of the Ottoman Empire and a ''[[de facto]]'' protectorate of [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]].]]
Iraq had a history of [[irredentist]] claims to [[Kuwait]]. After gaining independence in 1932, the [[Kingdom of Iraq]] immediately declared that the [[Sheikhdom of Kuwait]] was rightfully a territory of Iraq, claiming it had been part of an Iraqi territory until being created by the British.<ref>Duiker, William J; Spielvogel, Jackson J. ''World History: From 1500''. 5th edition. Belmont, California, USA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007. Pp. 839.</ref> The [[Iraqi Republic (1958–1968)|Iraqi Republic]] under [[Abd al-Karim Qasim]] also held irredentist claims to Kuwait.<ref>Raymond A. Hinnebusch. ''The international politics of the Middle East''. Manchester, England, UK: Manchester University Press, 2003 Pp. 209.</ref>
The [[Ba'athist Iraq|Saddam government]] also believed this and justified the invasion by claiming that Kuwait had always been an integral part of Iraq and only became an independent state due to the interference of the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]]. After signing the [[Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913]], the British government planned to split Kuwait from the Ottoman territories into a separate ''[[sheikhdom]]'', but this agreement was never ratified. The Iraqi government also argued that the Kuwaiti Emir was a highly unpopular figure among the Kuwaiti populace. By overthrowing the Emir, Iraq claimed that it granted Kuwaitis greater economic and political freedom.<ref name="R. Stephen Humphreys 1999, p. 105">R. Stephen Humphreys, ''Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age'', University of California Press, 1999, p. 105.</ref>
Kuwait had been loosely under the authority of the Ottoman vilâyet of [[Basra Governorate|Basra]], and although its ruling dynasty, the [[House of Sabah|Al Sabah]] family, had concluded a protectorate agreement in 1899 that assigned responsibility for its foreign affairs to Britain, it did not make any attempt to secede from the [[Ottoman Empire]]. For this reason, its borders with the rest of Basra province were never clearly defined or mutually agreed upon.<ref name="R. Stephen Humphreys 1999, p. 105"/>
Following the proclamation of the puppet state, the 'Republic of Kuwait', the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council released a statement stating, "The free provisional Kuwaiti government has decided to appeal to kinsfolk in Iraq, led by the knight of Arabs and the leader of their march, President Field Marshal Saddam Hussein, to agree that their sons should return to their large family, that Kuwait should return to the great Iraq—the mother homeland—and to achieve complete merger unity between Kuwait and Iraq."<ref>Quoted in Lawrence Freedman. ''A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East''. New York: PublicAffairs. 2008. pp. 217–218. See also Rabinovich and Shaked, pp. 403–404.</ref>
=== Iraq–United States correspondence === On 25 July 1990, [[April Glaspie]], the [[U.S. ambassador to Iraq]], asked the Iraqi high command to explain the military preparations in progress, including the massing of Iraqi troops near the border.<ref name="Sciolino 1990">{{Cite news|last1=Gordon|first1=Elaine Sciolino With Michael R.|date=1990-09-23|title=CONFRONTATION IN THE GULF; U.S. Gave Iraq Little Reason Not to Mount Kuwait Assault|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/23/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-us-gave-iraq-little-reason-not-to-mount-kuwait-assault.html|access-date=2021-05-08|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In turn, Saddam attacked American policy with regard to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE):<ref name="nytimes1990">[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/23/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-excerpts-from-iraqi-document-on-meeting-with-us-envoy.html? "CONFRONTATION IN THE GULF; Excerpts From Iraqi Document on Meeting With U.S. Envoy"], ''The New York Times'', 23 September 1990</ref>
: {{Blockquote|text=So what can it mean when America says it will now protect its friends? It can only mean prejudice against Iraq. This stance plus maneuvers and statements which have been made has encouraged the UAE and Kuwait to disregard Iraqi rights. If you use pressure, we will deploy pressure and force. We know that you can harm us although we do not threaten you. But we too can harm you. Everyone can cause harm according to their ability and their size. We cannot come all the way to you in the US, but individual Arabs may reach you. We do not place America among the enemies. We place it where we want our friends to be and we try to be friends. But repeated American statements last year made it apparent that America did not regard us as friends.}}
Glaspie replied:<ref name="nytimes1990" />
: {{Blockquote|text=I know you need funds. We understand that and our opinion is that you should have the opportunity to rebuild your country. But we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait. ... Frankly, we can only see that you have deployed massive troops in the south. Normally that would not be any of our business. But when this happens in the context of what you said on your national day, then when we read the details in the two letters of the Foreign Minister, then when we see the Iraqi point of view that the measures taken by the UAE and Kuwait is, in the final analysis, parallel to military aggression against Iraq, then it would be reasonable for me to be concerned.|author=[[April Glaspie]]}}
The American ambassador declared to her Iraqi interlocutor that Washington, "inspired by the friendship and not by confrontation, does not have an opinion" on the disagreement between Kuwait and Iraq, stating "we have no opinion on the Arab–Arab conflicts".<ref name="Sciolino 1990" /> Glaspie also indicated to Saddam Hussein that the United States did not intend "to start an economic war against Iraq". These statements may have caused Saddam to believe he had received a diplomatic green light from the United States to invade Kuwait.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/23/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-excerpts-from-iraqi-document-on-meeting-with-us-envoy.html?pagewanted=7&src=pm/ "Confrontation in the Gulf"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804151055/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/23/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-excerpts-from-iraqi-document-on-meeting-with-us-envoy.html?pagewanted=7&src=pm%2F|date=4 August 2016}}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 25 September 1990.</ref> Saddam and Glaspie later disputed what was said in this meeting. Saddam published a transcript but Glaspie disputed its accuracy before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March 1991.<ref>[https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1991-03-24-1991083133-story.html "Did the U.S. Encourage Iraq to Invade?"], ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'', 24 March 1991.</ref>
[[File: April Glaspie, Sadoun al-Zubaydi and Saddam Hussein.jpg|thumb|right|April Glaspie's first meeting with Saddam Hussein]]According to [[Richard E. Rubenstein]], when Glaspie was later asked by British journalists why she had said that, her response was "we didn't think he would go that far" meaning invade and annex the whole country. Although no follow-up question was asked, it can be inferred that what the U.S. government thought in July 1990 was that Saddam Hussein was only interested in pressuring Kuwait into [[debt forgiveness]] and to lower oil production.<ref>"Leonard Lopate Show", [[WPKT|WNPR]], [http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2010/nov/11/why-americans-choose-war/ Why Americans Choose War] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117012249/http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2010/nov/11/why-americans-choose-war/ |date=17 November 2010}} 11 November 2010</ref>
In addition, only a few days before the invasion, the [[Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs|Assistant Secretary of State]], [[John Hubert Kelly]], told the U.S. [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] in a public hearing that the United States had no treaty obligations to defend Kuwait. When asked how the U.S. would react if Iraq crossed the border into Kuwait, Kelly answered that it "is a hypothetical or a contingency, the kind of which I can't get into. Suffice it to say we would be concerned, but I cannot get into the realm of 'what if' answers."<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Kelly |work=historycommons.org |access-date=12 September 2021 |url=http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=john_kelly_1#a073190kellynotreaty |archive-date=12 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912120650/http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=john_kelly_1#a073190kellynotreaty }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZL34J_HbcJAC&pg=PA14 |title=Developments in the Middle East – House of Representatives |date=1990-07-31 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington D.C. |pages=14 |language=en}}</ref>
However, Saddam's foreign minister [[Tariq Aziz]] later told [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' in 1996 that the Iraqi leadership was under "no illusion" about America's likely response to the Iraqi invasion: "She [Glaspie] didn't tell us anything strange. She didn't tell us in the sense that we concluded that the Americans will not retaliate. That was nonsense you see. It was nonsense to think that the Americans would not attack us."<ref>"The Gulf War", PBS ''Frontline''. January 9, 1996.</ref> And in a second 2000 interview with the same television program, Aziz said:<blockquote>There were no mixed signals. We should not forget that the whole period before August 2 witnessed a negative American policy towards Iraq. So it would be quite foolish to think that, if we go to Kuwait, then America would like that. Because the American tendency ... was to untie Iraq. So how could we imagine that such a step was going to be appreciated by the Americans? It looks foolish, you see, this is fiction. About the meeting with April Glaspie—it was a routine meeting...She didn't say anything extraordinary beyond what any professional diplomat would say without previous instructions from his government...what she said were routine, classical comments on what the president was asking her to convey to President Bush. He wanted her to carry a message to George Bush—not to receive a message through her from Washington.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/interviews/aziz.html "The survival of Saddam"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808105053/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/interviews/aziz.html|date=2017-08-08}}, PBS ''Frontline''. January 25, 2000.</ref></blockquote>
==Invasion== {{Main|Timeline of the Gulf War (1990–1991)}}
[[File:Ex-Iraqi Type 69 tank on display in Kuwait.jpg|thumb|right|An Iraqi [[Type 69]] tank on display at the site of the [[Al-Qurain|Al-Qurain Martyrdom]]]] On 2 August 1990 at 2:00 am,<ref>{{cite news|location=Kuwait|date=3 August 1990|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=The Iraqi Invasion; In Two Arab Capitals, Gunfire and Fear, Victory and Cheers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/03/world/the-iraqi-invasion-in-two-arab-capitals-gunfire-and-fear-victory-and-cheers.html|access-date=<!--14 April 2010-->}}</ref> local time, by Saddam Hussein's order Iraq launched an invasion of Kuwait with four elite [[Iraqi Republican Guard]] [[Division (military)|divisions]] (the [[1st Hammurabi Armoured Division]], [[2nd Al Medina Armored Division|2nd al-Medinah al-Munawera Armoured Division]], the [[Tawakalna Division|Tawakalna ala-Allah Division]] ([[mechanized infantry]]) and [[4th Nebuchadnezzar Division]] ([[motorized infantry]]) and [[special forces]] units equivalent to a full division.
In support of these units, the Iraqi Army deployed a [[Squadron (aviation)|squadron]] of [[Mil Mi-25]] [[helicopter gunship]]s, several units of [[Mil Mi-8]] and [[Mil Mi-17]] transport helicopters, as well as a squadron of [[Bell 412]] helicopters. The foremost mission of the helicopter units was to transport and support Iraqi commandos into Kuwait City, and subsequently to support the advance of ground troops. The [[Iraqi Air Force]] (IQAF) had at least two squadrons of [[Sukhoi Su-22]], one of [[Su-25]], one of [[Mirage F1]] and two of [[MiG-23]] [[fighter-bomber]]s. The main task of the IQAF was to establish [[air superiority]] through limited air strikes against two main air bases of the [[Kuwaiti Air Force]], whose aircraft consisted mainly of [[Mirage F1]]s and Douglas (T)A-4KU [[A-4 Skyhawk|Skyhawks]].
Despite months of Iraqi sabre-rattling, Kuwait did not have its forces on alert and was caught unaware. The first indication of the Iraqi ground advance was from a [[radar]]-equipped [[aerostat]] that detected an Iraqi armour column moving south.<ref>[http://countrystudies.us/gulf-states/98.htm Gulf States – Kuwait – Regional and National Security Considerations]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Countrystudies.us. Retrieved on 12 June 2011</ref> [[Military of Kuwait|Kuwaiti air, ground, and naval forces]] resisted, but were vastly outnumbered. In central Kuwait, the 35th Armoured [[Brigade]] deployed approximately a [[battalion]] of [[Chieftain (tank)|Chieftain tanks]], [[BMP development|BMPs]], and an [[artillery battery]] against the Iraqis and fought delaying actions near [[Al Jahra]] (see [[Battle of the Bridges]]), west of Kuwait City.<ref>[http://users.lighthouse.net/danvaught/eyewitness01.html Eyewitness, Col. Fred Hart 1] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818141800/http://users.lighthouse.net/danvaught/eyewitness01.html |date=18 August 2009 }}. Users.lighthouse.net. Retrieved on 12 June 2011.</ref> In the south, the 15th Armoured Brigade moved immediately to evacuate its forces to Saudi Arabia.
[[Kuwait Air Force]] aircraft were [[scrambling (military)|scrambled]], but approximately 20% were lost or captured. The remaining 80% were then evacuated to [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Bahrain]], some aircraft even taking off from the highways adjacent to the bases as the runways were overrun. While these aircraft were not used in support of the subsequent Gulf War, the "Free Kuwait Air Force" assisted Saudi Arabia in patrolling the southern border with [[Yemen]], which was considered a threat by the Saudi Arabians because of Yemen–Iraq ties.<ref name="airCombatInformationGroup"/>
[[File:A kuwaiti M-84.JPEG|thumb|left|A Kuwaiti [[M-84]] tank during [[Operation Desert Shield (Gulf War)|Operation Desert Shield]] in 1990. Kuwait continues to maintain strong relations with the [[coalition of the Gulf War]].]] Iraqi troops attacked Dasman Palace, the Royal Residence, resulting in the [[Battle of Dasman Palace]]. The Kuwaiti Emiri Guard, supported by local police and [[Chieftain (tank)|Chieftain tanks]] and a platoon of [[Alvis Saladin|Saladin armoured cars]] managed to repel an airborne assault by Iraqi special forces, but the Palace fell after a landing by Iraqi marines (Dasman Palace is located on the coast). The [[Kuwait National Guard|Kuwaiti National Guard]], as well as additional Emiri Guards arrived, but the palace remained occupied, and Republican Guard tanks rolled into Kuwait City after several hours of heavy fighting.<ref>Kenneth M. Pollack, ''Arabs at war: Military Effectiveness (1948–91)'', University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002 p. 97</ref>
The [[Emir of Kuwait]], [[Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah|Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah]] had already fled into the Saudi Arabian desert. His younger [[half brother]], [[Sheikh]] [[Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah]], was shot and killed by invading Iraqi forces as he attempted to defend Dasman Palace, after which his body was placed in front of a tank and run over, according to an Iraqi soldier who was present and deserted after the assault.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq501/events_kuwait.html FRONTLINE/WORLD. Iraq – Saddam's Road to Hell – A journey into the killing fields. PBS] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515114041/http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/iraq501/events_kuwait.html |date=15 May 2016 }}. PBS (24 January 2006). Retrieved on 12 June 2011</ref>
Towards the end of the first day of the invasion, only pockets of resistance were left in the country. By 3 August, the last military units were desperately fighting delaying actions at [[choke point]]s and other defensible positions throughout the country until out of ammunition or overrun by Iraqi forces. [[Ali Al Salem Air Base|Ali al-Salem Air Base]] of the Kuwaiti Air Force was the only base still unoccupied on 3 August, and Kuwaiti aircraft flew resupply missions from Saudi Arabia throughout the day in an effort to mount a defense. However, by nightfall, Ali al-Salem Air Base had been overrun by Iraqi forces.
=== Causes === The invasion occurred during a period of comparatively low oil prices, which scholars cite as a primary example of an 'oil gambit'—a conflict fought out of economic desperation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Blankenship |first=Brian |last2=Hasan |first2=Qaraman |last3=Mohtadi |first3=Soran |last4=Overland |first4=Indra |last5=Urpelainen |first5=Johannes |date=2024-05-03 |title=Oil Prices and International Conflict: Why Low Oil Revenue May Not Pacify Petrostates |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03050629.2024.2352486 |journal=International Interactions |language=en |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=478–505 |doi=10.1080/03050629.2024.2352486 |issn=0305-0629|doi-access=free |hdl=11250/3155095 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Faced with declining revenues, the Iraqi regime sought to seize Kuwaiti resources to reverse its economic fortunes and gain a greater share of global production to influence market prices unilaterally.<ref name=":0" />
=== Kuwaiti resistance === Kuwaitis founded a local armed resistance movement following the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.<ref name=sh>{{cite web|url=http://www.netanya.ac.il/ResearchCen/StrategicDialogue/AcademicPub/Documents/IRAN%20STUDY%20book-full.pdf|title=Iran, Israel and the Shi'ite Crescent|work=S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue|pages=14–15|access-date=5 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106055548/http://www.netanya.ac.il/ResearchCen/StrategicDialogue/AcademicPub/Documents/IRAN%20STUDY%20book-full.pdf|archive-date=6 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/1022103 |title=Saddam's Security Apparatus During the Invasion of Kuwait and the Kuwaiti Resistance |journal=The Journal of Intelligence History |date=Winter 2003 |pages=74–75|last1=Al-Marashi |first1=Ibrahim }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/730/1/Taqi10.pdf |title=Two ethnicities, three generations: Phonological variation and change in Kuwait |work=Newcastle University |date=2010 |access-date=5 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019130212/https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/730/1/Taqi10.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2013 }}</ref> Most of the Kuwaitis who were arrested, tortured, and executed during the occupation were civilians. The Kuwaiti resistance's casualty rate far exceeded that of the coalition military forces and Western hostages.<ref name="resist">{{cite journal |last1=Levins |first1=John M. |date=March 1995 |title=The Kuwaiti Resistance |url=http://www.meforum.org/238/the-kuwaiti-resistance |journal=[[Middle East Forum]]}}</ref>
At first, Iraqi forces did not use violent tactics. Iraqi soldiers instructed Kuwaitis to replace their Kuwaiti license plates with Iraqi ones, and also set up an extensive system of security checkpoints to patrol the Kuwaiti population.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{Cite news |last=Tyler |first=Patrick E. |date=1990-08-31 |title=U.S. SAID TO BE AIDING KUWAITI RESISTANCE |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/08/31/us-said-to-be-aiding-kuwaiti-resistance/1fde7859-b358-463d-aace-2928fd0a3ea8/ |access-date=2023-08-07 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Within a few weeks of the invasion, however, Kuwaitis began participating in mass actions of nonviolent resistance. People stayed home from work and school en masse. Kuwaitis also began printing informational pamphlets about the invasion from their home computers and printers and distributed the pamphlets to neighbors and friends. After that wave of nonviolent resistance, the Iraqi military turned to repression in order to maintain control over Kuwait.
Pamphlets with anti-war slogans were printed and the resistance provided hiding places and false identification cards for Kuwaitis who were sought by the [[Iraqi secret police]].<ref>Chicago Tribune. "Kuwaiti Resistance Showed Extraordinary Bravery, Cunning Men, Women, Children Who Stayed Behind Helped Foil Iraqi Occupation." The Baltimore Sun, 19 March 1991, http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-03-19/news/1991078147_1_kuwait-iraqi-occupation-malik {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509151207/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-03-19/news/1991078147_1_kuwait-iraqi-occupation-malik |date=9 May 2018 }}.</ref> Resistance cells held secret meetings at mosques.<ref name="Tétreault, Mary Ann 1992">Tétreault, Mary Ann. "Kuwait: The morning after." Current History 91, no. 561 (1992): 6.</ref> Kuwaiti women like Asrar al-Qabandi, a prominent female resistance leader, was seen as a martyr of the Iraqi invasion. During the occupation she helped people flee to safety, smuggled weapons and money into Kuwait as well as disks from the Ministry of Civil Information to safety, cared for many wounded by the war, and destroyed monitoring devices used by the Iraqi troops. She was captured and subsequently killed by Iraqi troops in January 1991.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 'Tomboy' Who Took On Takrit|url=http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/165411/reftab/96/Default.aspx|publisher=Arab Times|access-date=15 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="hrw.org">"Iraq and Occupied Kuwait." Human Rights Watch Report, Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/MEW1-02.htm.</ref> Other women staged street protests and carried signs with slogans like "Free Kuwait: Stop the Atrocities Now."<ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite web|last=Perry|first=Tony|title=Kuwait Works to Preserve History of Its Resistance to Iraq|work=Los Angeles Times|date=23 February 2003|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-feb-23-fg-martyrs23-story.html|access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> [[Iraqi police]] searched the homes of those suspected of hiding foreigners or covertly smuggling money to the resistance movement. Money that was smuggled to the resistance was often used to bribe Iraqi soldiers to look the other way.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite web|last=Hedges|first=Chris|title=After The War: Kuwait; At Home Among the Enemy, Kuwaitis Learned to Survive|work=The New York Times|date=5 March 1991|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/05/world/after-the-war-kuwait-at-home-among-the-enemy-kuwaitis-learned-to-survive.html|access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> Resistance tactics included [[car bomb]]s<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> and sniper attacks<ref name="Tyler, Patrick E 1990">{{cite news|last=Tyler|first=Patrick E.|title=Kuwaitis Scale Back Resistance Effort|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=5 October 1990|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/10/05/kuwaitis-scale-back-resistance-effort/5f04b295-cb4b-455f-88ef-783191343cea/|access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> that caused a considerable number of Iraqi casualties.
By August 1990, the resistance movement was receiving support from the U.S. government in the form of intelligence, materials, and other types of covert assistance. Both the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and the U.S. [[United States Army Special Forces|Green Berets]] were involved. The U.S. government, however, would neither confirm nor deny its support of the resistance on record. On the topic of the resistance, President Bush stated, "... in a broad way I support the Kuwaiti underground. I support anybody that can add a hand in restoring legitimacy there to Kuwait and to getting the Iraqis out of Kuwait." Operation Desert Storm, which included U.S. forces, also aided the resistance movement out of its base in [[Taif]], Saudi Arabia.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/>
The Kuwaiti government went into exile in [[Taif]] and supported the resistance movement from there.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> The exiled Kuwaiti government explicitly supported the resistance and commented on its strategies.<ref name="Tyler, Patrick E 1990"/> Although Iraqi forces curtailed almost all forms of communication within and outside the country, the resistance movement managed to smuggle satellite phones across the Saudi Arabian border in order to establish a line of communication with the exiled Kuwaiti government in Taif, Saudi Arabia.<ref>Wheeler, Deborah. "New Media, Globalization and Kuwaiti National Identity." The Middle East Journal (2000): 432–444. </ref> Kuwaitis also printed informational pamphlets and distributed them to other citizens. This was especially important because the flow of information was severely restricted in Kuwait during the occupation; radio channels played transmissions from Baghdad and many Kuwaiti TV channels were shut down. A resistance newspaper titled Sumoud al-Sha'ab (Steadfastness of the People) was printed and circulated in secret.<ref name="hrw.org"/> Informational pamphlets became one of the only sources of news from the outside world. Foreigners and Kuwaitis of different genders and classes participated in the resistance, breaking down Kuwait's traditional social barriers.<ref name="Tétreault, Mary Ann 1992"/>
==== Iraqi crackdown ==== In October 1990, Iraqi officials cracked down on the resistance by executing hundreds of people it suspected were involved in the movement as well as conducting raids and searches of individual households. After the crackdown, the resistance began to target Iraqi military bases in order to reduce retaliation against Kuwaiti civilians.<ref name="Tyler, Patrick E 1990"/> In October 1990, the Iraqi government opened the borders of Kuwait and allowed anyone to exit. This resulted in an exodus of both Kuwaitis and foreigners, which weakened the resistance movement.<ref name="nytimes.com"/>
[[File:DesertStormMap v2.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|right|Ground troop movements, 24–28 February 1991, during Operation Desert Storm.]] [[File:3 AD Iraq.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|right|American tanks from the [[3rd Armored Division (United States)|3rd Armored Division]] during Operation Desert Storm.]] Another crackdown occurred in January and February 1991. Iraqi forces publicly executed suspected members of the Kuwaiti resistance. Kuwaitis were kidnapped, their corpses later deposited in front of their family homes. The bodies of executed Kuwaiti resistance members showed evidence of different kinds of torture, including beating, electrical shock, and fingernail removal.<ref name="hrw.org"/> Some 5,000 Palestinians living in Kuwait were arrested for their activities in support of the resistance, and Palestinian support was enough to cause Iraqi officials to threaten Palestinian leaders. Some Palestinians, however, supported Saddam's regime because of sympathies with the Ba'ath party's pugnacious anti-Israel stance. Palestinian members of the resistance sometimes disagreed with resistance tactics such as the boycott of government offices and commercial activity. The Kuwaiti resistance movement was suspicious of this Palestinian ambivalence, and in the weeks after Iraqi forces withdrew, the Kuwaiti government cracked down on Palestinians suspected of sympathizing with the Saddam regime.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mattar |first=Philip |date=1994 |title=The PLO and the Gulf Crisis |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4328660 |journal=Middle East Journal |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=31–46 |jstor=4328660 |issn=0026-3141}} </ref>
Iraqi forces also arrested over two thousand Kuwaitis suspected of helping the resistance and imprisoned them in Iraq. Many of those arrests were made during the Iraqi retreat from Kuwait in February 1991. Hundreds escaped from prisons in southern Iraq after the retreat and over one thousand were repatriated by the Iraqi government,<ref name="hrw.org"/> but hundreds remain missing. The fate of 605 Kuwaitis arrested during the occupation remained unknown until 2009, when the remains of 236 of them were identified. Initially, Iraq claimed it had recorded the arrests of only 126 of the 605 missing Kuwaitis.<ref name="theglobeandmail.com">{{cite web|last=Koring|first=Paul|title=The Missing Kuwaitis of Baghdad's Gulag|work=The Globe and Mail|date=23 December 2002|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/the-missing-kuwaitis-of-baghdads-gulag/article4142930/|access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> The names of 369 other missing Kuwaitis are stored in files maintained by the International Committee of the Red Cross.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kuwaitis Mourn the Missing in Iraq|work=BBC News|date=14 May 2009|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8048477.stm|access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> Seven of those missing Kuwaitis are women and 24 were under the age of 16 at the time. Iraq has made little effort to address the hundreds of missing Kuwaitis, despite trying to mend diplomatic relations with Kuwait in other ways.<ref name="theglobeandmail.com"/>
===Resistance and legitimacy===
Yahya F. Al-Sumait, Kuwait's housing minister, said in October 1990 that the resistance movement helped undermine the occupation's legitimacy and dispel the idea that Iraq invaded to assist with a popular uprising against the Kuwaiti government. The movement also protected Americans, Britons and other foreigners trapped in Kuwait during the occupation.<ref name="Tyler, Patrick E 1990"/> Some have cited the resistance movement as part of the foundation for a more robust civil society in Kuwait after the occupation.<ref>Augustus Richard Norton, "The Future of Civil Society in the Middle East," Middle East Journal 47.2 (1993): 205–216. </ref><ref name="Tétreault, Mary Ann 1992"/>
At the Al Qurain Martyrs Museum, Kuwait remembers its citizens slain during the resistance to Iraqi occupation. The families of those martyrs received material benefits from the Kuwaiti government such as cars, homes, and funding for trips to Mecca for the hajj. Since most accounts of the liberation of Kuwait focus on U.S.-led coalition forces, part of Kuwait's goal in memorializing the resistance is to emphasize Kuwaiti citizens' role in liberating their own country.<ref name="Los Angeles Times"/>
==Aftermath== [[File:Kuwait burn oilfield.png|thumb|More than 600 [[Kuwaiti oil fires|Kuwaiti oil wells were set on fire]] by retreating Iraqi forces, causing massive environmental and economic damage to Kuwait.<ref>[https://fas.org/irp/gulf/cia/960702/70076_01.htm Damage Assessment – Kuwait Oil] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102172544/https://fas.org/irp/gulf/cia/960702/70076_01.htm |date=2 November 2013 }}. [[Federation of American Scientists]].</ref>]] [[File:BrennendeOelquellenKuwait1991.jpg|thumb|The oil fires caused were a result of the [[scorched earth]] policy of [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]]i [[Military of Iraq|military forces]] retreating from [[Kuwait]]]] [[File:KuwaitiOilFires1.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of oil wells on fire]] After the Iraqi victory, Saddam Hussein installed [[Alaa Hussein Ali]] as the [[prime minister]] of the "[[Republic of Kuwait|Provisional Government of Free Kuwait]]" and [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]] as the de facto [[governor]] of Kuwait.<ref>al-Marashi, Ibrahim (9 April 2003). [https://web.archive.org/web/20030609225032/http://cns.miis.edu/research/iraq/almajid.htm The Significance of the "Death" of Ali Hassan al-Majid]. [[James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies]].</ref> The exiled Kuwaiti royal family and other former government officials began an international campaign to persuade other countries to pressure Iraq to vacate Kuwait. The [[UN Security Council]] passed 12 resolutions demanding immediate withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, but to no avail.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Items relating to the situation between Iraq and Kuwait: Initial proceedings |url=https://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/89-92/Chapter%208/MIDDLE%20EAST/item%2022_Iraq-Kuwait_.pdf |access-date=26 March 2024 |work=United Nations |page=622}}</ref>
Following the events of the Iraq–Kuwait war, about half of the Kuwaiti population,<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/325644/Kuwait/93657/History Kuwait Britannica] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111064443/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/325644/Kuwait/93657/History |date=11 November 2013 }}. Britannica.com (19 June 1961). Retrieved on 2011-06-12.</ref> including 400,000 Kuwaitis and several thousand foreign nationals, fled the country. The [[Indian government]] [[1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait|evacuated]] over 170,000 [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|overseas Indians]] by flying almost 488 flights over 59 days.<ref name="scoll">{{cite web | author=Rohan Venkataramakrishnan|title=The Berlin airlift was remarkable, but the largest civilian evacuation in history is by India| website=Scroll.in|date=2 July 2014 |url=http://scroll.in/article/668866/the-berlin-airlift-during-ww-ii-was-remarkable-but-the-largest-civilian-airlift-was-by-india | access-date=11 April 2015}}</ref>
A 2005 study revealed that the Iraqi occupation had a long-term adverse impact on the health of the Kuwaiti populace.<ref>[http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/26891.php Public health impact of 1990 Iraq invasion of Kuwait] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091214094850/http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/26891.php |date=14 December 2009 }}. ''Medical News Today''. 4 July 2005.</ref>
===International condemnation=== {{Main|Operation Desert Storm|Operation Desert Shield (Gulf War)}}
After Iraqi forces invaded and annexed Kuwait and [[Saddam Hussein]] deposed the Emir of Kuwait, [[Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah|Jaber Al-Sabah]], he installed [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]] as the new governor of Kuwait.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cns.miis.edu/research/iraq/almajid.htm|title=CNS – The Significance of the "Death" of Ali Hassan al-Majid|date=9 June 2003|access-date=28 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030609225032/http://cns.miis.edu/research/iraq/almajid.htm|archive-date=9 June 2003}}</ref>
The Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait was unanimously condemned by all major [[Power in international relations|world powers]]. Even countries traditionally considered to be close Iraqi allies, such as [[France]] and [[India]], called for immediate withdrawal of all Iraqi forces from Kuwait.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1990/aug/03/iraq.davidhirst|location=London|work=The Guardian|first1=David|last1=Hirst|first2=Simon|last2=Tisdall|title=Superpowers unite on Iraq| date=3 August 1990}}</ref> Several countries, including the [[Soviet Union]] and [[China]], placed arms embargoes on Iraq.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} [[NATO]] members were particularly critical of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and by late 1990, the [[United States]] had issued an ultimatum to Iraq to withdraw its forces from Kuwait by 15 January 1991 or face war.<ref name=friedman>{{cite news|last=Friedman|first=Thomas L.|author-link=Thomas Friedman|date=17 December 1990|title=Standoff in the Gulf; A Partial Pullout By Iraq is Feared as Deadline 'Ploy'|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/18/world/standoff-in-the-gulf-a-partial-pullout-by-iraq-is-feared-as-deadline-ploy.html|access-date=17 April 2010}}</ref>
On 3 August 1990, the UN Security Council passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 660|Resolution 660]] condemning the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and demanding that Iraq unconditionally withdraw all forces deployed in Kuwait.<ref name="www1.umn.edu">[http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/peace/docs/scres660.html United Nations Security Council Resolution 660 (Condemning the Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq), S.C. Res. 660, 45 U.N. SCOR at 19, U.N. Doc. S/RES/660 (1990)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520130858/http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/peace/docs/scres660.html|date=20 May 2016}}. umn.edu. Retrieved on 12 June 2011</ref> The United States and the [[Soviet Union]] issued a joint statement condemning Iraq.<ref>{{cite web|title=Text of U.S.-Soviet statement on Iraq|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/08/03/Text-of-US-Soviet-statement-on-Iraq/6803649656000/|date=3 August 1990|website=[[United Press International]]}}</ref>
After a series of failed negotiations between major world powers and Iraq, the [[Coalition of the Gulf War|United States-led coalition forces]] launched a massive military assault on Iraq and Iraqi forces stationed in Kuwait in mid-January 1991. By 16 January, Allied aircraft were targeting several Iraqi military sites and the [[Iraqi Air Force]] was destroyed.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1991/jan/17/iraq.davidfairhall|location=London|work=The Guardian|first1=David|last1=Fairhall|first2=Martin|last2=Walker|title=Allied planes bomb Iraq: Kuwait's liberation begun, says US|date=17 January 1991}}</ref> Hostilities continued until late February and on 25 February, Kuwait was officially liberated from Iraq.<ref>[http://sify.com/news/feb-25-1991-iraq-withdraws-from-kuwait-news-international-jegmKUdfebd.html 25 February 1991: Iraq withdraws from Kuwait] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817072311/http://sify.com/news/feb-25-1991-iraq-withdraws-from-kuwait-news-international-jegmKUdfebd.html |date=17 August 2016 }}. Sify Retrieved on 12 June 2011</ref> On 15 March 1991, the Emir of Kuwait returned to the country after spending more than 8 months in exile.<ref>{{cite news|last=Murphy|first=Kim|date=15 March 1991|title=Emotional Emir Returns to Kuwait Royalty: He covers his face and stoops to kiss the ground. But not many citizens turn out to greet him|newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|location=Kuwait City|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-15-mn-200-story.html|access-date=17 April 2010}}</ref> During the Iraqi occupation, about 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians were killed and more than 300,000 residents fled the country.<ref>[http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/3.html The Use of Terror during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050124091425/http://www.jafi.org.il/education/actual/iraq/3.html |date=24 January 2005 }}. Jafi (15 May 2005). Retrieved on 12 June 2011</ref>
===Post–Gulf War=== {{See also|United Nations Compensation Commission}}[[File:Airborne-612x338.jpg|thumb|US troops in Kuwait, 2015]] In December 2002, Saddam Hussein apologized for the invasion shortly before being deposed in the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref>[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200212/08/eng20021208_108121.shtml Saddam Sends Apology to Kuwait for Invasion] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731034625/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200212/08/eng20021208_108121.shtml |date=31 July 2013 }}. ''[[People's Daily]]''. 8 December 2002.</ref> Two years later, the [[State of Palestine|Palestinian]] leadership also apologized for its wartime support of Saddam.<ref>[http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1634930,00.html PLO apologises over Kuwait] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202040020/http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0%2C%2C2-10-1462_1634930%2C00.html |date=2 February 2007 }}. 12 December 2004.</ref> In 1990, Yemen's president, [[Ali Abdullah Saleh]], a longtime ally of Saddam Hussein, backed [[Saddam Hussein]]'s invasion of Kuwait. After Iraq lost the Gulf War, Yemenis were deported en masse from Kuwait by the restored government.
The US military continued a strong presence adding 4,000 troops in February 2015 alone.<ref> {{cite web |url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2015/02/15/More-than-4000-troops-will-be-deployed-to-Kuwait-possibly-to-fight-Islamic-State/2061424019948/ |title=More than 4,000 troops will be deployed to Kuwait, possibly to fight Islamic State |access-date=20 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430205919/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2015/02/15/More-than-4000-troops-will-be-deployed-to-Kuwait-possibly-to-fight-Islamic-State/2061424019948 |archive-date=30 April 2016 }} ''[[UPI.com]]''. 15 February 2015.</ref> There is also a very strong US civilian presence with an estimated 18,000 American children in Kuwait being taught by 625 US teachers.<ref> {{cite web |url=http://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/625-american-teachers-teaching-kuwait-schools-civilian-state-employees-total-331077-csc/ |title=625 American teachers teaching in Kuwait schools – Civilian State employees total 331,077: CSC |date=17 September 2016 |access-date=20 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918144821/http://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/625-american-teachers-teaching-kuwait-schools-civilian-state-employees-total-331077-csc/ |archive-date=18 September 2016 }} ''[Arab Times Online]''. September 2016.</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Iraq|Kuwait}} * [[Operation Vantage]] (1961) * ''[[Airlift (film)|Airlift]]'', a Bollywood film based on the Indian evacuation right after the invasion * [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 660]] * [[Foreign nationals held by Iraq during the 1990–1991 Gulf crisis]] * [[Persian Gulf war rationale]] * [[Nayirah testimony]] {{Clear}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://www.evidence.org.kw Aftermath photographs taken by a Kuwaiti journalist in 1991] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424022745/http://evidence.org.kw/ |date=24 April 2017 }} {{Iraq topics}} {{Gulf War}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Invasion Of Kuwait}} [[Category:1990 in Iraq]] [[Category:1990 in Kuwait]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1990]] [[Category:Gulf War|+]] [[Category:Iraq–Kuwait military relations]] [[Category:Military history of Iraq]] [[Category:Wars involving Iraq]] [[Category:Wars involving Kuwait]] [[Category:Invasions by Iraq|Kuwait]] [[Category:Iraqi invasion of Kuwait| ]] [[Category:Annexation]] [[Category:Invasions]] [[Category:August 1990 in Asia]] [[Category:August 1990 in Iraq]] [[Category:History of Kuwait]] [[Category:Iraq–Kuwait relations]]