OPERATION DESERT STORM: A STUDY OF ITS TERMINATION

Abstract

On August 2, 1990, Iraq launched an operation to invade neighboring Kuwait, resulting in a 7-month long occupation. The conflict began when Iraq first accused Kuwait of side-drilling across the Iraq-Kuwaiti border and stealing oil from Iraq in the 1980s. When the over-producing OPEC quotas drove the price of oil down, Iraq found it challenging to fully recover from earlier Iran-Iraq war debt. The Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein saw the invasion of Kuwait as the solution. Within 2 days of the invasion, the Iraqi Republican Guard managed to successfully annex Kuwait. The annexation was unanimously condemned by the international community, who convened in the UN Security Council on August 3, 1990, condemning the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and demanding unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces deployed in Kuwait. When sanctions, blockades and negotiations fell through, the Security Council sanctioned the use of force to restore Kuwaiti sovereignty. A Coalition force comprising 35 member-states led by the United States, sought to eradicate Iraqi presence in Kuwait. In its combat phase, Operation Desert Storm, the Coalition engaged in aerial and naval bombardment, followed by the launch of ground combat to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Within the first 100 hours of ground combat, Iraq had announced its withdrawal. As the Iraqi army retreated to Baghdad, the Coalition terminated the war. Although the Coalition had managed to fulfil the outlined strategic objectives, critics argued that the termination had been premature. The Coalition did not manage to completely destroy the Republican Guard, a key source of Iraqi capacity and will to perpetuate war. Hence, this study of the termination of Operation Desert Storm analyzes why the leaders had ultimately decided to terminate the war at the end of 100 hours, despite possessing tactical capacity and ability to continue fighting.