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Between Immersion and Ignorance
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This year marks the 30th anniversary of one of America’s shortest wars: the Persian Gulf War. Lasting only 7 months, it could join Kosovo, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Spanish-American War at the kids’ table of military conflicts.
On August 2, 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the neighboring Kuwait. He had always believed Kuwait should be part of Iraq, though gaining control of Kuwait’s oil fields was his primary motive. He assumed no other nation would try to stop him.
He was wrong.
President George H. W. Bush immediately vowed to repel the invaders. Backed by Congress and the United Nations, he ordered U.S. forces into combat on January 17, 1991.
It was over quicker than you can write “tomatoe.” Iraq’s antiquated Scud missiles were no match for American weaponry. Moreover, Hussein expected his Middle East neighbors to join the war on his side. They did not.
In February, with Baghdad in rubble, U.S. forces drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait. On March 3, they surrendered.
Despite its brevity, the Gulf War was significant.
It gave us the term “smart bomb.” It made Saddam Hussein into a global big bad…
