70 Fun Facts About Gulf War

On what date in 1990 did Iraq invade Kuwait?

Iraqi forces occupied the country within two days and later annexed it as Iraq's 19th province.

How many countries made up the US-led coalition against Iraq?

It was the broadest military alliance since World War II, with the US, Saudi Arabia, the UK and Egypt as its largest contributors.

What was the US operational name for the defensive buildup in Saudi Arabia before the fighting began?

Desert Storm was the name for the air-land war that followed from 17 January 1991.

What name did Iraqi officials give the war?

In Arabic it was Umm al-Ma'arik; Kuwait and the Arab coalition states called the war the Liberation of Kuwait.

What was the British name for its military operations in the Gulf War?

Daguet was the French name, Friction the Canadian and Locusta the Italian.

Iraq's debts to Kuwait at the end of the Iran-Iraq War amounted to roughly how much?

Iraq pressured both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to forgive its war debts, and both refused.

Iraq accused Kuwait of slant-drilling across the border into which oil field?

At the Jeddah talks Iraq demanded $10 billion for lost Rumaila revenue; Kuwait offered $500 million, and the invasion followed.

Which US ambassador told Saddam Hussein the US had 'no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts' in 1990?

Tariq Aziz later insisted Iraq had 'no illusion' about how America would respond, whatever she said.

Which cousin of Saddam Hussein was installed as governor of occupied Kuwait less than a week after the invasion?

He was already notorious for the chemical attacks on the Kurds that earned him the nickname 'Chemical Ali'.

Which UN resolution set Iraq a 15 January 1991 deadline and authorized 'all necessary means'?

Resolution 660 condemned the invasion, 661 imposed sanctions and 665 authorized a naval blockade.

Which British prime minister famously urged President Bush not to 'go wobbly' over Kuwait?

She reminded him that appeasement in the 1930s had led to war and that Saddam would control 65% of the world's oil.

What did the press nickname James Baker's September 1990 tour seeking money for the war?

King Fahd agreed to $15 billion on condition that Baker ask Kuwait's exiled emir for the same amount, which he did the next day.

Which country pledged up to 100,000 troops to the coalition after Baker visited Damascus?

President Hafez Assad had a personal enmity toward Saddam, who 'had been trying to kill him for years'.

Which two countries contributed no troops but paid the largest financial contributions toward the war?

Germany's constitution barred military involvement outside its borders, so Chancellor Kohl paid instead.

Which US Army general commanded the coalition forces?

'Stormin' Norman' had grown up partly in Iran and taken over Central Command in 1988.

Where was the coalition's commanding general born?

He grew up in the US and later in Iran, and won three Silver Stars in Vietnam.

Who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War?

His 'Powell Doctrine' calls for overwhelming force, clear national interest and broad public support before committing troops.

Which PR firm did Citizens for a Free Kuwait pay about $11 million to sway US opinion?

Its most notorious product was the false 'incubator babies' testimony before Congress.

'Nayirah', who told Congress Iraqi soldiers pulled babies from incubators, turned out to be what?

She was the daughter of Kuwait's ambassador to the US, and Amnesty International retracted its own version of the story.

By what margin did the US Senate vote to support military action against Iraq?

Six congressmen said the incubator testimony alone was enough to win their support.

The coalition air campaign lasted how many consecutive days and nights?

More than 100,000 sorties dropped 88,500 tonnes of bombs, and only 75 coalition aircraft were lost.

Which stealth aircraft made its large-scale combat debut in the Gulf War?

Analysts also called it the 'first space war' for its reliance on satellite reconnaissance, communications and navigation.

Which unit's AH-64 helicopters fired the first shots of the Gulf War on 17 January 1991?

The same division later staged the deepest air assault in military history, 249 km behind enemy lines.

How many Scud missiles did Iraq fire during the war's seven weeks?

Two Israeli civilians died directly from Scud hits, while dozens more died from heart attacks and misused gas masks and atropine.

Which Israeli prime minister was pressured by President Bush not to retaliate for the Scud attacks?

Washington feared Israeli involvement would drive Arab states out of the coalition or into Iraq's camp.

How many US soldiers died when a Scud hit a Dhahran barracks a day into the ground war?

The Patriot battery had failed to engage because of a floating-point timing error that had grown over 100 hours of continuous operation.

The 14th Quartermaster Detachment hit at Dhahran was a reserve unit from which state?

It was the largest single loss of life among coalition forces in the war.

Later analysis put the Patriot missile's success rate against Scuds as low as what?

45% of the 158 Patriot launches were against debris or false targets, though the Army maintained it was a 'miracle performance'.

Which lightly defended Saudi city did Iraqi forces attack and briefly occupy on 29 January 1991?

Saudi and Qatari forces backed by US Marines drove them out in two days, and coalition air power shredded the following Iraqi columns.

Which ill-fated SAS patrol was sent into Iraq to hunt Scud launchers?

It was one of three eight-man B Squadron patrols; the launchers hid under bridges and camouflage netting by day.

On what date did the coalition ground assault begin?

The 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions crossed into Kuwait while VII Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps swung into Iraq.

The ground war was halted after roughly how many hours?

The Kuwaiti Theater offensive was officially named Operation Desert Sabre.

The XVIII Airborne Corps' sweeping westward flanking maneuver across southern Iraq was nicknamed what?

Its far left flank was covered by the French Division Daguet, which overran Iraq's 45th Infantry Division.

The Battle of 73 Easting was named after what?

Coalition forces used the UTM 'Easting' lines readable on GPS receivers as phase lines to measure their progress across featureless desert.

Which US unit was the main American formation at the Battle of 73 Easting?

H. R. McMaster's Eagle Troop of that regiment made the famous first contact with the Tawakalna Division on 26 February.

Which battle, fought over two hours near Basra, was the largest tank battle of the Gulf War?

The US 1st Armored Division fought the Republican Guard's Medina Division for over two hours outside Basra.

What was the main battle tank of the American divisions in the ground war?

The Marines mostly still fielded the older M-60, while the British 1st Armoured Division brought about 176 Challenger 1 tanks.

Britain's 1st Armoured Division in the Gulf War was known by what nickname, inherited from World War II?

It covered VII Corps' right flank and drove 217 miles in 97 hours.

Which ground-attack aircraft, nicknamed the Warthog, was credited with destroying 900 Iraqi tanks?

Two A-10s also began the attack on the retreating column that became the Highway of Death.

Which Iraqi Republican Guard division was considered Iraq's most powerful, with about 220 T-72 tanks?

It bore the brunt of VII Corps' assault at 73 Easting.

The 'Highway of Death' is officially known by which route number?

Between 1,400 and 2,000 vehicles were hit or abandoned north of Al Jahra on the night of 26–27 February.

In the 'bulldozer assault', two US brigades buried Iraqi defenders alive using what?

Reporters were banned from witnessing it, and not a single American was killed in the attack.

Roughly how many Kuwaiti oil wells did retreating Iraqi forces set ablaze?

The last fire was not put out until November 1991, at a cost to Kuwait of $1.5 billion in firefighting contracts.

How much crude oil did Iraq dump into the Persian Gulf on 23 January 1991?

It was the largest offshore oil spill in history at the time and was meant to deter a Marine amphibious landing.

According to Boots and Coots, what put out 90% of the 1991 Kuwaiti oil-well fires?

Bechtel, Red Adair, Boots and Coots and Wild Well Control were the first companies on the job.

Which two US battleships shelled Failaka Island to reinforce the idea of an amphibious assault?

They were the last battleships ever to fire in anger.

How many US battle-related deaths did the Department of Defense report for the war?

Thirty-five of those were killed by friendly fire, about 24% of the total.

Nine British soldiers were killed by friendly fire when a USAF A-10 attacked which vehicles?

All nine UK friendly-fire deaths in the war were caused by US forces.

Two USAF stealth bombs on a bunker in which Baghdad district killed 408 Iraqi civilians?

Controversy still surrounds whether it was a civilian shelter or a military command center.

Which network's live broadcasts from Baghdad, notably by Peter Arnett, defined the war's media coverage?

Cockpit-camera footage earned the conflict the nickname 'Video Game War'.

Peter Arnett had earlier won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting from which war?

The New Zealand-born reporter later interviewed Osama bin Laden in 1997.

Two BBC journalists who defied their editors to stay in Baghdad shared what surname?

John and Bob Simpson, no relation, reported the 'infamous cruise missile that travelled down a street and turned left at a traffic light'.

What share of coalition bombs were precision-guided 'smart' munitions?

Cluster bombs and 15,000-pound 'daisy cutters' made up much of the rest.

Which GPS feature was switched off during Desert Storm because most troops used commercial receivers?

Turning it off gave civilian units the same precision as military ones for desert navigation.

Iraq's Scud missiles were originally developed and deployed by which country?

They use inertial guidance that only operates while the engines burn, which is why extreme-range shots at Israel were so inaccurate.

Where did US Secretary of State James Baker hold last-minute talks with Tariq Aziz in January 1991?

Aziz reportedly made no concrete proposals, and a reporter asked him whether Iraq would attack Israel if war started. 'Yes, absolutely, yes.'

The Kuwaiti emir who fled the invasion and returned on 15 March 1991 was which sheikh?

He stayed at a wealthy citizen's home because his palace had been destroyed, and Iraqi troops had killed his youngest brother during the invasion.

One day after the ceasefire, a revolt against Saddam broke out in which southern Iraqi city?

The uprisings spread across the Shia south and the Kurdish north before being crushed by 5 April.

How many people, many of them Palestinians, were eventually expelled from Kuwait after liberation?

The PLO had backed Saddam; Mahmoud Abbas formally apologized on its behalf in 2004.

Which US defense secretary argued in 1992 that taking Baghdad would have left the US 'running the country'?

'How many additional American casualties is Saddam worth? And the answer is, not that damned many.'

Roughly what share of US Gulf War veterans developed Gulf War syndrome?

Bombing and demolition of Iraqi chemical weapons facilities were concluded to be the primary cause.

The 2005 film Jarhead is based on a memoir by a Marine with what name?

The Bollywood film Airlift dramatized the 1990 evacuation of stranded Indians from Kuwait.

Which 2024 video game set partly in the Gulf War was banned in Kuwait?

The earlier Conflict: Desert Storm games also drew on the war.

Weeks after the invasion, what did Saddam Hussein ask British boy hostage Stuart Lockwood about on TV?

He called the hostages 'guests' whose presence was 'meant to prevent the scourge of war'.

Some Iraqi battle plans were produced on American photocopiers that contained what?

The signals let electronic-warfare aircraft pinpoint Iraqi headquarters for bombing.

Which numbered UN Security Council measure condemned the invasion within hours and demanded withdrawal?

Resolution 661 imposed economic sanctions four days later, and 678 set the January 1991 deadline.

Which was the only South American country to take part in the 1991 Gulf War coalition?

The US later designated Argentina a major non-NATO ally for its contribution.

What was the French army force guarding the left flank of the US XVIII Airborne Corps called?

It included French Foreign Legion troops, and France called its whole contribution Opération Daguet.

Where did the US Marine Corps fight the biggest tank battle in its history during the Gulf War?

Task Force Ripper of the 1st Marine Division led the drive to the airport on 27 February 1991.

Which Egyptian president mediated the 31 July 1990 talks in Jeddah on behalf of the Arab League?

The talks left Mubarak believing a peaceful course was possible; Iraq invaded two days later.