Timeline of the Gulf War
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Timeline of the Gulf War Begins in May 1990 and ends in March 1991
[edit] 1990
- May 28-30: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein says that oil overproduction by Kuwait and United Arab Emirates is "economic warfare" against Iraq.
- July 15: Iraq accuses Kuwait of stealing oil from Rumaylah oil field near the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border and warns of military action.
- July 22: Iraq begins deploying troops to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border and building a massive military buildup.
- August 2: About 100,000 Iraqi troops invade Kuwait. Kuwait is in Iraqi control by the end of the day.
- August 6: The U.N. Security Council imposes a trade embargo on Iraq in a 13-0 vote, with Cuba and Yemen abstaining.
- August 7: The United States launches Operation Desert Shield. First U.S. troops arrive in Saudi Arabia.
- August 8: Saddam Hussein proclaims the annexation of Kuwait.
- August 12: Naval blockade of Iraq begins.
- August 28: Iraq declares Kuwait as its 19th province and renames Kuwait City as al-Kadhima.
- September 14: Great Britain and France announce the deployment of troops to Saudi Arabia.
- December 17: The United Nations sets a deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait before January 15, 1991, or face military action.
[edit] 1991
- January 9: Talks in Geneva, Switzerland, between U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz end with no progress.
- January 17: The war begins at 2:38 a.m. Baghdad time when AH-64 Apache attack helicopters destroy Iraqi radar sites, later F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighters bomb Baghdad and Iraqi forces. Operation Desert Storm begins.
- January 18: Iraq strikes with Soviet-made SCUD missiles on Israel. The U.S. deploys Patriot missiles to Israel and Saudi Arabia.
- January 22: Iraqi troops begin blowing up Kuwaiti oil wells.
- January 25: Iraqi troops dump millions of gallons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.
- January 29: Iraqi forces invade the town of Khafji in Saudi Arabia. Iraqi forces are soon engaged by Saudi Arabian and Qatari troops with U.S. Marine artillery.
- January 31: Iraqi forces capture Melissa Rathbun-Nealy, the first female Prisoner of War since World War II.
- February 1: Iraqi forces are driven out of Saudi Arabia. Allied Forces win the Battle of Khafji.
- February 13: A bombing raid by U.S. forces kills 400 Iraqi civilians in an air raid shelter.
- February 22: U.S. President George H. W. Bush issues a 24-hour ultimatum: Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait to avoid start of a ground war.
- February 24: Allied Forces invade Iraq and Kuwait at around 4 a.m. Baghdad time. The U.S. Army is the first to enter Iraqi territory.
- February 25: An Iraqi SCUD missile hits U.S. barracks near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 28 U.S. troops.
- February 26: Saddam Hussein orders the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. About 10,000 retreating Iraqi troops are killed when Allied aircraft bomb them, it is called the "Highway of Death".
- February 27: U.S. Marines and Saudi Arabian troops enter Kuwait City. The U.S. Army engages the Iraqi Republican Guard in several tank battles in Iraq.
- February 28: The Gulf War ends.
- March 1: The cease-fire plan is negotiated in Safwan, Iraq.
- March 17: First U.S. troops arrive home.
