Operation Desert Storm was a coded military operation led by The United States of America against the Iraq forces. On 2nd August 1990, the Iraqi government invaded and fully occupied Kuwait within two days under the leadership of President Saddam Hussein. The invasion was instigated by allegations from Iraq that Kuwait was participating in slant oil drilling into Iraq’s Rumaila oil fields, as well as to cancel the debt they owed Kuwait from the recently completed Iraq-Iran war.

The unlawful invasion of Kuwait by the Iraqi government in 1990 sparked a global outcry. The United States, along with 42 other countries, formed a significant and formidable military coalition. The United Nations (UN) also demanded the immediate retreat of the Iraqi forces and imposed heavy sanctions. The swift deployment of troops by the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and the President of The United States, George Bush, to Saudi Arabia and their call for other countries to follow suit marked a significant moment in history, demonstrating the impact and historical importance of the Operation Desert Storm.

The military coalition that formed was a formidable force, one of the most significant since World War II. The battle was fought in two campaigns. The first was an aerial military bombing, followed by a ground campaign that swiftly brought victory to Kuwait. The air campaign, which lasted 42 consecutive days and nights, subjected the Iraqi forces to one of the most intense air force combats in history. More than 100,000 sorties dropped about 85,500 tonnes of bombs, destroying both military and civil infrastructure. The subsequent ground operation, an artillery of about 90,000 rounds of fire for 2.5 hours, destroyed over 50 tanks of Iraq’s defense forces. The ground campaign lasted less than 100 hours before Kuwait was fully liberated, showcasing the efficiency and success of the operation.

The terms of peace were agreed upon in 1991 when Iraq acknowledged the sovereignty of Kuwait and divested itself of all weapons of mass destruction, and a ceasefire was declared. More than countries participated in Operation Desert Storm, with about 697,000 American troops participating in the battle.