[ChicagoConservative27]

I remember this. He had a 89 percent approval after the war ended and you know the rest.

[ChuckHam]

I remember this day well. Watched our aircraft launch out of Saudi Arabia on those first day missions.

[No name given]

It ended with Slick Willy defeating him in 1992.

[irishjuggler]

A dark day in retrospect. An opening salvo by the NWO-neocon gang.

[Orosius]

I recall (out of curiosity) attending a lefty protest rally in LA at which featured speaker Daniel Ellsberg (remember him?) predicted dire consequences for US troops invading Iraq. Turned out he overestimated the capabilities of Saddam’s army. But then Bush snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by letting Saddam remain in power.

[mairdie]

News - Desert Storm: Desert Victory - A&E - 1991
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOdFveB-vwk

[Retain Mike]

When George Bush made the announcement, he did so as the commander in chief chosen by the UN. It began with the United Nations Security Council passing Resolution 678, which did not order the coalition to simply expel Saddam’s forces from Kuwait but used a more expansive term for which precedence exited. The term” restore international peace and security in the area” used language the UN and our Congress understood from the Korean War and after the Inchon landing to authorize the invasion of Iraq as it had then affirmed military operations above the 38th parallel to invade North Korea.

A point to emphasize is that the resolution language was accepted by all five permanent members of the Security Council who had veto powers. Great Britain and often France could be relied upon to support United States initiatives, but Russia and the PRC could have promised a veto and demanded the more restrictive language to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Therefore, at the margin those two countries made the later invasion of Iraq possible. To believe invasion was not authorized in the case of Iraq requires breathtaking, premeditated ignorance, because each phrase of Resolutions 678, 687, and 1441 were laboriously parsed by diplomats and politicians whose lives are dedicated to precise meaning of words and precedents. In the debate about 687 and 1441, Bush's authorization could have again been restricted.

[Zathras]

My dad was excited because after 20 years getting the fire control system working on the Apache, we were finally going to see how it worked in combat.

[Georgia Girl 2]

I was sitting on my couch watching TV when it started.

[dakine]

In a tent on Taif AB SA... Listening to EF-111s taking off 200 yards away..

[Aeneas2112]

6 trillion of our dollars spent, hundreds of thousands killed. for nothing.

[Retain Mike]

Obama says it cost a trillion dollars and Wikipedia says $1.1 trillion.

Iraq war has cost US $1 trillion, says Obama

https://www.smh.com.au/world/iraq-war-has-cost-us-1-trillion-says-obama-20100901-14l0r.html

[lurk]

It was an impressive moment in military history. On the other hand, it was a waste of money, men and hardware.

[FrankRizzo890]

I was coming home from work in a ‘76 Mercury Comet and when I heard this on the radio I stopped and filled my tank as I was *SURE* this was going to cause gas prices to skyrocket. (As that’s what the news had been telling us for months).

[Seruzawa]

Every knowledgeable person knew in advance that the middle east would be a tar baby and would guarantee foreverwar. The FR was overwhelmed with jingoism, but some knew it would be a quagmire. Of course those freepers were “traitors” and couldn’t understand that we had to fight them over there or they would come here or something. The USSR had to be replaced with something, too. Raytheon needs contracts!!! Saddam was convenient to the NWO so he was suckered by the StateDept/CIA. The rest we know.