Saddam Line

{{Short description|Fortification line during the Gulf War}} alt= An aerial view of a section of Iraqi trench line abandoned during Operation Desert Storm, image shows a dark trench line in a barren desert environment|thumb|Iraqi trench line abandoned during Operation Desert Storm alt=A soldier dressed in forest camouflage wielding an assault rifle inspects a trench built into the sand |thumb|A Coalition soldier inspecting an Iraqi trench The '''Saddam Line''' consisted of defensive fortifications constructed by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Army on Kuwait's border with Saudi Arabia after Iraq had invaded and occupied Kuwait in August 1990.

The Western media presented fears that it would present a formidable obstacle to the liberation of Kuwait, consisting of "flame trenches" (ditches filled with oil to be ignited in case of attack)<ref>{{cite web | author = Staff | date = n.d. | url=http://www.fas.org/irp/gulf/cia/960702/70086_01.htm |title=Iraq and the Gulf War 1990-1991 |publisher=(Directorate of Intelligence document) U.S. Department of Defense (via the Federation of American Scientists) |access-date= February 24, 2012}}</ref><ref name=LATimes>{{cite news |title='Saddam Line' Falls Easily to Marines |author=Drogin, Bob | work =Los Angeles Times |date=February 25, 1991 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-25-mn-1412-story.html | access-date = February 24, 2012|author-link=Bob Drogin }}</ref> and "sand berms, trench works, anti-tank ditches, barbed wire and minefields",<ref>{{cite web | author = Staff | url=http://www.newsweek.com/1991/02/10/breaching-the-saddam-line.html |title=Breaching The 'Saddam Line' |work = Newsweek |date=February 10, 1991 |access-date= February 24, 2012}}</ref> backed by the threat of chemical and biological weapons. The objective of Hussein was to force the coalition to engage in costly trench warfare.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The 'Bulldozer Assault' of Desert Storm Saw the US Army Opt Out of Trench Warfare |url=https://www.military.com/history/bulldozer-assault-of-desert-storm-saw-us-army-opt-out-of-trench-warfare.html |access-date=2022-08-27 |website=www.military.com|date=18 April 2022 }}</ref> However, those fears turned out to be unwarranted. The Coalition assault, beginning at 4 a.m. on February 24, 1991, met "only sporadic resistance", and by 6:45 a.m., troops had broken through the Saddam Line.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/gulfwarch8.pdf |title=The Persian Gulf TV War | author = Kellner, Douglas | year = 1992 | location = Boulder, Colorado | publisher= Westview Press (via the University of California, Los Angeles) | chapter = Chapter 8 – Countdown to the Ground War | access-date= February 24, 2012 | isbn = 978-0-8133-1614-7|author-link=Douglas Kellner }}</ref> The US forces charged the Iraqi lines with M1 Abrams tanks modified with minesweeping plows and M728 Combat Engineer Vehicles which buried the trenchlines, and in many cases, buried Iraqi troops alive, the number of which has been estimated to be "in the thousands",<ref name=":0" /> though the Iraqi government stated after the war that they had found 44 bodies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Appendix - Iraqi Death Toll {{!}} The Gulf War {{!}} FRONTLINE {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/appendix/death.html |access-date=2025-08-04 |website=www.pbs.org}}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Iraq}} * Maginot Line * Mannerheim Line * Trench warfare {{Clear}}

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

Category:Fortification lines Category:Gulf War Category:1990 establishments in Kuwait Category:Saddam Hussein