Desert Storm 25 Years Later

Townhall.com ^ | January 20, 2016 | Austin Bay

[Kaslin]

Twenty-five years ago this week, in the early hours of January 17, 1991, the remarkable Persian Gulf War political coalition assembled, and led by U.S. President George H. W. Bush, moved "from Shield to Storm."

The "Shield" was Operation Desert Shield, code name for the hastily organized political and military response to Saddam Hussein's August 2, 1990 invasion and annexation of oil-rich Kuwait. The "Storm" was, of course, Operation Desert Storm.

The code names were apt professional poetry A shield is a defensive armament designed to block enemy blows and buy time for a counter strike. Desert Shield was defensive. It bought time to create a productive political coalition and build up coalition forces in the Persian Gulf region.

Desert Storm evokes a violent, horizon-dominating sandstorm -- definitely apt for combat in Arabia. It also has a classic military reference. To take a fortification "by storm" means to seize it by swift, ferocious assault.

Desert Storm was indeed swift and ferocious, first in the air and then on the ground. However, it was also politically calculated. Though Desert Storm may have appeared militarily unlimited on television, Desert Storm was part of a limited war. The Persian Gulf War was waged to achieve intentionally limited objectives. Toppling Saddam was never part of the deal made by the 34 nations in the coalition. If he fell, so be it. If a bomb hit a command bunker with the dictator, well, he shouldn't have sacked Kuwait.

Yes, 34 for real war fighting partners, with the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Britain and France key participants. Though their motivations for joining varied -- Saddam's invasion crossed cultural, geopolitical and economic red lines -- coalition members agreed to participate in operations to liberate Kuwait. Bush's Aug. 5, 1990 promise became the coalition's diplomatic glue: "This will not stand. This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait."

Desert Storm was the organized and synchronized offensive military punch that would fulfill Bush's promise.

The air war that began January 17, 1991 was a media. Spectacular media. A CNN news crew in a Baghdad hotel provided live video of the U.S.-led air attacks in and around Iraq's capital. A cameraman filmed a series of explosions that left flickering arcs of light along the horizon. Later in the day, officers in Riyadh and the Pentagon said coalition aircraft were systematically destroying the Iraqi air defenses ringing the city.

Iraq responded by shelling coalition troops in Saudi Arabia and firing Scud ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia and Israel. Saddam bet an Israeli counter-attack would force Arab coalition members to quit. The Bush Administration kept Israel from retaliating, thwarting Saddam.

On January 29, three under-strength Iraqi armored divisions launched a ground attack on the Saudi border town of Kafji. Air attacks had battered the Iraqi divisions. U.S. Marines, Saudis and Qataris defended the Kafji area. One Iraqi armored column managed to fight its way into Kafji. On February 1, a Saudi-Qatari counter-attack re-took it.

"The 100 Hour Ground War" is a public relations fiction. Battles like Kafji, the 1st Cavalry Division's probes along the Saudi-Kuwait border and numerous Special Forces actions occurred before February 24, 1991, the "official start" of Desert Storm's ground phase. But on that day, two U.S. Marine divisions backed by a U.S. Army tank brigade attacked north from Saudi Arabia. U.S. Army VII Corps, led by the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, attacked west of Kuwait. Shaken Iraqi soldiers surrendered en masse. On February 28, President Bush deemed Kuwait liberated and declared a ceasefire. Not everyone got the word. On March 2, U.S. forces fought an Iraqi Republican Guard unit in a still-controversial battle.

Desert Storm will be remembered as a spectacular demonstration of U.S. Cold War-era military capabilities used in a regional conventional war. Historians may conclude that Bush's artful leadership of the diverse coalition was The Persian Gulf War's most remarkable war fighting achievement.

[Slyfox]

25 years ago does not seem as long as these next few months of Barack Obama.

[Kaslin]

Exactly, these 12 month will seem like an eternity

[dfwgator]

Toppling Saddam was never part of the deal made by the 34 nations in the coalition.

Which virtually guaranteed that we would inevitably have to go back.

[Slyfox]

And the Good Lord said that a year is like a thousand years.

[onona]

Yup, I was there. After months of waiting, the evening things kicked off, we weren't told anything, but you could tell.

There was definitely a higher sense of urgency that night.

[MrEdd]

"The 100 Hour Ground War" is a public relations fiction.

True enough. We took Frog Missile fire (immediately silenced by counter battery artillery) a couple months before crossing the berm.

[Snickering Hound]

[TexasCajun]

IF trump is defeating ISIS, where is the nightly war-porn showing such.

This is what victory looks like: ...victory being Iraq out of Kuwait.

[TexasCajun]

Trump on the brain, Obama of course.

[Feckless]

"It's not much of a war but it's all we got"

I was a 1SG in an AIT Bn at Ft Dix, the only reason I was there was because the ol' lady was a Drill Sgt in a BCT Bde. My CO, a TC officer with a Port specialty, was snatched up to work the port of Dhahran. After three weeks of "Pack your crap, you're going" and "Forget it, you're not going" he finally went.

The day he left I went to his Rolodex and got the number for the TRADOC tasking officer he had been dealing with. I told him who I was and what I wanted and he hung up on me. I called him every day for two weeks and finally he found me a spot. A week later I was sitting 6 miles south of Al Khafji with OPM-SANG, advisory group to the King Abdul Aziz Mech Bde.

I say I volunteered, the ol' lady and my Bn Cdr said I "conspired" to go.

[paddles]

38 combat missions. Can’t believe it was 25 yrs ago....

[CPT Clay]

366 Days! I can hardly wait till Jan. 20th 2017, the end of an Error.

[Feckless]

We lost our 7-11 to a Frog weeks before the ground war. We had to drive over 50 miles for propane, water, and veggies after that (un)lucky hit.

[CPT Clay]

I was there. Vulcan platoon leader in 1st Cav.

[nascarnation]

Thanks for your service and God bless.

[Wolfie]

"Once you got to Iraq and took it over and took down Saddam Hussein's government, then what are you going to put in its place? That's a very volatile part of the world. And if you take down the central government in Iraq, you could easily end up seeing pieces of Iraq fly off. Part of it the Syrians would like to have, the west. Part of eastern Iraq the Iranians would like to claim. Fought over for eight years. In the north, you've got the Kurds. And if the Kurds spin loose and join with Kurds in Turkey, then you threaten the territorial integrity of Turkey. It's a quagmire if you go that far and try to take over Iraq."
- Dick Cheney, 4/15/94

[Feckless]

ADA - All Different Army :) Spent 4 years in 13th Ord Co at Ft Bliss IHAWK DS/GS

We had Vulcans on several of our V-150s but the Saudis didn't like them much. Like a lot of early ADA stuff (Quad 50s come to mind) you couldn't dream up a better suppressive fire system for ground targets.

Thank you for your service, Sir.

[dfwgator]

In hindsight we should have not gone in in the first place. What was so great about Kuwait anyway? We should never get involved in intra-Arab/intra-Muslim squabbles.

[Kaslin]

Like I said, it’s like an eternity