Reference Timeline for the Gulf War 1979 - 2000
by
Charles Brown

1979

• Ross, Wolfowitz and Kemp draft "Capabilities for Limited Contingencies in the Persian Gulf," a report on the growing Iraqi military threat.

• Iraq invades Iran, provoking the Iran-Iraq War, or First Gulf War

1981

• Israel attacks Iraq’s Osirak Nuclear Facility. Iraq invests heavily in anti-aircraft defenses.

1982

• Iraq’s ground forces are estimated to be 350,000 men in 12 divisions.

1983

• CENTCOM created. Headquartered in Tampa, FL. No troops to be assigned to CENTCOM; in case of war, it will have to borrow troops from other commands.
• US Navy establishes Strike Protection Evaluation and Anti-Air Research group (SPEAR). This group improves the USN’s tactical intelligence on Soviet and Third World threats after two USN aircraft are lost in Lebanon.

1984

• Turkey engages in war against PKK, making further influxes of Kurds patently unwelcome in Turkey.

• 10 of the 25 Finnish-built air raid shelters in Baghdad are reinforced for use by the Iraqi military.
• Bandar arranges Saudi funds to be channeled to Nicaraguan contras.

1986

• Iraq begins extensive biological weapons research (anthrax and botulinum) at Salman Pak.
• As soon as Iraqi military leadership establishes some autonomy from political leadership in directing military operations for the Iran-Iraq War effort, they are purged by the Hussein regime. Some were executed, others forcibly retired. This resulted in a political vacuum in Iraq that left no one able to stand up to Hussein.

1988

• Bandar secretly purchases Chinese medium range missiles for Saudi Arabia.

• Neither Saudis nor Kuwaitis allow CENTCOM Special Forces helicopters to land at ports during US re-flagging of Kuwaiti tankers.
• Construction of KARI anti-air defense system completed in Iraq by French contractors.
• Iraqi debt to Turkey is approximately $2 billion.

• 5,000 Kurds are arrested in Kirkuk alone. All remaining Kurds (mostly women and children) are expelled from the city.
• 55,000-60,000 Iraqi Kurdish refugees are allowed into Turkey to flee from the Anfal Campaign.

• Hussein orders use of mustard gas on Kurdish city of Halabja. 4,000 are killed.
• In the War of the Cities, Iraq and Iran lob more than 200 Scuds at one another.

• Iran-Iraq War ends. The day after the cease-fire comes into effect, Iraqi planes drop chemical bombs on the Kurds.
• Iraq’s ground forces estimated to be 1.1 million men in 56 divisions. This estimate was to be the official estimate of Iraqi ground strength until October 1990, but by then the numbers had grown stale and out of date.

• Several thousand Kurds are killed in Iraqi chemical attacks.

1989

• Vuono and Armitage nominate Schwarzkopf to head CENTCOM. Mustin is dismissed as candidate since he was not in favor of re-flagging Kuwaiti tankers.

• Powell appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• CIA and other intelligence agencies issue National Intelligence Estimate for Iraq that states that Iraq is not a threat to its neighbor states.
• Amnesty International reports that hundreds of Iraqi children had their eyes gouged out to elicit confessions from their parents.
• Iraqi Defense Minister Adnan Khairallah Tulfah is killed in a helicopter crash. It is widely believed in Iraq that this was a political assassination orchestrated by the Hussein regime. (Tulfah was Hussein’s first cousin.)
• Iraq pays $600 million of its Turkish debt in return for further credits.

• CENTCOM portrays Iraq as the enemy during Operation Internal Look exercises. State complains, fearing the political ramifications. A cover story is developed that the Iraq portrayed by CENTCOM is a future unfriendly Iraqi regime, not the current Iraqi regime.

• Crowe offers "National Military Strategy" that denigrates the importance of the Persian Gulf and CENTCOM. Cheney upgrades the importance of the Persian Gulf in his first "Defense Planning Guidance."

• Baker successfully presses White House to approve $1 billion worth of agricultural credits to Iraq despite a human rights record that was "abysmal."

1990

• Hussein states need for 50 infantry and armor divisions to protect Iraqi interests. (This is the same level of military build-up during the Iran-Iraq War.)

• Iraq demands that the US Navy leave the Persian Gulf.
• Iraq pays off its trade debt to Jordan by giving Jordan a substantial price break for oil imports.

• Iraq deploys Scud launchers within range of Israel and Syria.

• Hussein threatens Israel with chemical attack if it attacks Iraq.
• Bandar makes clandestine visit to Hussein.
• Sting operations catch Iraqi agents trying to purchase trigger mechanisms for the "Supergun."
• Iraq hangs London Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft as a British spy despite international protests.

• Allegations of corruption lead to a US investigation of the commodities credit program to Iraq. $500 million in grain sales canceled. Haass and John Kelly travel to Baghdad personally to inform Iraqi regime of cancellation.

• Israel warns Soyster, head of the DIA, about Iraq. Soyster in turn notified Powell that, "The Israelis want us to be aware that Iraq has a huge military force looking for something to do."

• Schwarzkopf assembles a secret battle plan, Operations Plan 1002-90: Defense of the Arabian Peninsula which is designed to protect Saudi Arabia from possible Iraqi attack. Operation Internal Look, a US war game, shows that Saudi Arabia could be defended against an Iraqi attack, but at a cost of nearly half of the troops deployed to Saudi Arabia.
• Arens and Mossad chief arrive in Washington to give Cheney detailed intelligence on Iraqi efforts in Europe to procure centrifuges needed to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

• Tariq Aziz sends letter to Arab league that equates Kuwait’s overproduction of oil with armed aggression against Iraq. The UAE is targeted in letter as well.
• Iraqi Ambassador al-Mashat assures David Mack that Iraq will not make war upon another Arab state.

• Hussein publicly threatens to use force to solve Iraq-Kuwait crisis.
• American diplomatic staff in the Persian Gulf ordered to inquire about GCC contingency plans for an Iraqi attack; Cairo and Amman embassies to determine what Iraq is to gain from its aggressive stand.

• Baker cables Glaspie to inquire about Iraq’s future intentions. Iraq gives no indications.
• CENTCOM circulates "Operations to Counter an Iraqi Regional Threat to the Arabian Peninsula," a defense plan for Saudi Arabia. Comments are due by 14 September.

• RG units arrive in Basra; DIA declares WATCHCON III.

• RG build-up in Basra reaches corps-level; DIA declares WATCHCON II.
• CENTCOM military recommendations ignored by JCS.
• Deputies Committee accelerates deployment of an aircraft carrier to Persian Gulf.
• Arab states reassure White House that Iraq-Kuwait crisis can be diffused within the Arab family; the matter is not pressed by White House.
• Operation Ivory Justice (US-UAE military exercises) launched.
• Saudi Arabia and Egypt complain at increased American military presence in Persian Gulf: worry that it will inflame the Iraq-Kuwait crisis.

• Glaspie meets with Hussein. Informs Hussein that "disputes should be settled by peaceful means, not through intimidation" but also says, "[the US has] no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait." Final diplomatic exchange between US-Iraq before Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
• Allen issues "Warning of War" between Iraq and Kuwait. Probability: 60%.
• Iraq orders satellite photos of Kuwait and northern Saudi Arabia from SPOT, a French commercial satellite reconnaissance firm.

• Allen & Thomas Lewis visit Haass to underscore "Warning of War."
• Glaspie recommends against tough stand against Iraq. This reinforces White House habit of underestimating Iraqi intentions.

• Eagleburger sends Glaspie a three-paragraph message to Iraq that in no way warns against invasion of Kuwait. Glaspie is to deliver the message orally by 30 July. Department of Defense is irate at the lightness of the message.

• CIA assessment of Iraq-Kuwait crisis states that Iraqi invasion is likely, but that the annexation of all of Kuwait is unlikely.

• Bush’s aides meet to consider a sterner warning to Baghdad.

• UN Security Council condemns Iraq’s invasion.
• The DIA creates a "Scud cell" to analyze and plan against Iraq’s Scuds.
• Bush was to announce in a speech in Aspen a 25% cut in the US military.
• Schwarzkopf meets with Cheney and JCS to discus military recommendations. Schwarzkopf thought that Iraqi attack would stop at Rumailia and Bubiyan Island.
• Kimmitt receives memo stating that the JCS oppose sending an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf.
• Cheney & Powell meet to discuss options. Cheney blows up at Powell when pressed to clearly state the political objectives of the US response to Iraq.
• Ross & Schevardnadze aide draft a joint US-USSR condemnation of the invasion.
• Bush prepares an executive order freezing Kuwaiti assets before Iraq can use them.
• United Nations Security Council passes resolution condemning invasion and calling for unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
• At National Security Council meeting Powell recommends against liberation of Kuwait as policy. Instead, he suggests that Saudi Arabia be defended. Pickering disagrees, worrying that US credibility would be harmed if annexation of Kuwait were accepted by US.
• Bush meets with Thatcher in Aspen. Thatcher the first to raise the comparison of Saddam to Hitler. Thatcher argues against Arab diplomatic initiatives.
• Bush offers Saudi Arabia a fighter plane squadron for protection, but offer is not responded to.
• Schwarzkopf wishes to deploy the 82^nd Airborne as a symbol of American resolve. Estimates 8-10 months to assemble a large enough force to successfully defend Saudi Arabia. Presidential advisors are shocked at the length of time necessary to assemble 100,000 troops.

• Plan known as "Punishment Air Tasking Order" drafted that would plan retaliation against Iraq for any use of chemical weapons against Israel or the coalition. A nuclear response is considered, but dismissed.
• The pentagon begins to deliberately play up US preparations for chemical warfare in effort to halt any Iraqi plans for using chemical weapons. Cheney hints at an Israeli nuclear response to any Iraqi chemical attack.
• Bush authorizes the CIA to help Iraqi dissidents overthrow Hussein.

• At National Security Council meeting Eagleburger calls for a rollback of the Iraqi invasion. Bush, Scowcroft and Cheney agree. Powell does not. Priority becomes to convince the Saudis to host an American expeditionary force.
• Bandar meets with Scowcroft. Bandar reluctant to recommend receiving American troops on Saudi soil. Reassured when Bush makes appearance at meeting.
• Mubarak informs Bush that Saudis would find American deployment of 100,000 troops on Saudi soil difficult to swallow.
• Webster advises Bush that that Iraqi forces are about to invade Saudi Arabia.

• Schwarzkopf presents defense plan to Bush and advisors at Camp David.

• UNSC imposes economic sanctions on Iraq. (Resolution 661)

• 5 Iraqi armored, 2 mechanized, and 4 infantry divisions are inside Kuwait by this time. 1 armored, 1 mechanized division are positioned along the Kuwait-Saudi Arabia border.
• Iraq cuts the "hot-line" between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Seen as a threatening gesture toward Saudi Arabia.

7 August: Operation DESERT SHIELD

• C-Day. Units deployed to Saudi Arabia.
• Schwarzkopf proposes "Operation Peninsula Shield" as name for staging operation. Later changed to "Operation Desert Shield."
• Israel asks for a command-and-control link to be set up between Washington and Tel Aviv.
• NSC and State refuse to allow Defense officials from meeting with Israeli officials out of fear of Arab reaction to US-Israeli cooperation.

• Initial USAF planes arrive in Saudi Arabia.
• Warden & Checkmate begin to plan an air offensive against Iraq that could be executed by the end of August. (Instant Thunder) Saddam Hussein himself is seen as a target whose removal would restore the peace in the region.

• Warden meets with Schwarzkopf in Tampa to propose Instant Thunder.
• Order to activate 17 transport ships in Ready Reserve Fleet given to transport war materiel to Saudi Arabia.

• Warden proposes Instant Thunder to Powell. Powell wants it refined to include all branches of the military, not just the USAF.

• 24^th mechanized Infantry begins to load its transport ships in Savannah, GA.

• 7^th Marine Expeditionary Force arrives in Saudi Arabia.

• First USMC MPS unload in Saudi Arabia with arms and equipment for the 7^th MEF.
• Iraq offers a proposal to Iran that offers to give up land won from Iran during the Iran-Iraq War in exchange for Iran not abiding by the UN sanctions regime.

• US to start enforcing sanctions by establishing a naval blockade of Iraq. France, Canada and the USSR all criticize the United States for unilaterally enforcing sanctions.

• Warden proposes the revised Instant Thunder to Schwarzkopf, who is so impressed that he asks Warden to present the plan to Horner.
• 101^st Airborne dispatches an aviation task force and an air assault brigade (totaling 3,000 soldiers) to Saudi Arabia.

• Five ships challenge the Iraqi embargo. The Bush cabinet is split over whether or not to interdict shipping without further mandate from the UNSC. Baker persuades Bush that they should wait for further authorization so they don’t alienate the Soviets.

• Warden and his aides arrive in Riyadh to present Instant Thunder to Horner. The briefing goes poorly as Horner is suspect of "the typical academic crap you’d expect out of Washington." Warden’s aides are invited to stay in Riyadh to revise the plan for use. Warden is sent home. Warden’s chief aide, Deptula becomes Glosson’s chief aide.
• Horner rids Warden’s Instant Thunder of its pysops (psychological operations) dimension. Propaganda leaflets would not be dropped on Iraq—to any great extent—encouraging the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

• Iraq threatens to close all foreign embassies in Kuwait by force and arrest any diplomatic personnel remaining after 24 August.

• Chemical decontamination equipment discovered near two Iraqi artillery battalions in Kuwait. Leads to American fears of potential Iraqi preparation for chemical attack.
• Most of the American Embassy in Kuwait is evacuated.

• Schwarzkopf meets with Powell in Washington on his way to moving CENTCOM to Riyadh. Powell states that no more than 150,000 troops would be deployed to the Gulf. Schwarzkopf’s estimates called for at least 216,000. (Desert Shield would deploy 265,000, and that would be doubled, as the offensive was prepared.)
• Americans tell Iraq that American Embassy in Kuwait would remain open. The Iraqis lay siege to the Embassy in hopes that it can be shut down by starving it out.
• UNSC passes Resolution 665, which authorized a naval blockade of Iraq. The measure passed 13-0, with Yemen and Cuba abstaining.

• Ivri meets with Wolfowitz, Kimmitt and Haass. Israel concerned over high likelihood of Iraqi Scud launches at Israel if American offensive is launched. Cheney recommends deploying Army Patriot units to Israel. Baker resists, but acquiesces.

• Hussein meets with Yasser Arafat, who attempts to mediate a peaceful settlement.
• Hussein re-engineers the Iraqi flag to include the Arabic phrase "Allah Akbar" (God is great) in an effort to appeal to Arab and Muslim solidarity before the imminent Gulf War.
• Morale among the Iraqi troops occupying Kuwait is high. Not because of coalition military superiority, but because of a lack of faith in the decision to invade Kuwait in the first place.
• Two missions are undertaken to release Iraqi-held hostages. Iraq releases all hostages.

• Secret Israeli delegation headed by Ivri arrives in Washington to warn Scowcroft and Cheney of impending Iraqi attack of Israel if hostilities erupt. The US had stalled for weeks before agreeing to meet the Israelis in an effort not to offend Arab coalition members.

• US ships stops interdiction operations against ships carrying food for Iraq.
• Jordan appeals to 661 Committee to allow former oil arrangement with Iraq to continue.
• 661 Committee directs UNSG to obtain information on Iraqi food supplies.

• Directs 661 Committee to keep Iraq’s humanitarian situation under constant review.

• Last Republican Guard radio transmission for five months. All RG communications are by (untraceable) landlines.

• Army-USMC tension surfaces over how to conduct defense of eastern Saudi Arabia and over boundary of Army and USMC spheres near "The Triangle." Luck calls Myatt "a little shit"; Schwarzkopf steps back to let his commanders "work it out." Establishes a pattern of Scwarzkopf not handling disputes among his commanders.

• Cheney fires Dugan for revealing to the Washington Post and LA Times that Hussein would be a target in coalition air strikes against Iraq.

• Schwarzkopf asks four Army planners, led by Purvis, to begin planning a ground offensive. This team became known as the "Jedi Knights." The Saudis were kept ignorant of this planning team and its mission.

• The slow-moving and mechanical failure-ridden Antares arrives in Saudi Arabia with the bulk of the 24^th Infantry’s supplies, a full month after setting sail.

• UNSC passes Resolution 670, which extends the embargo of Iraq to all vessels and aircraft.

• American intelligence warns that Iraqi biological weapons (botulinum) capability is strong enough to cause coalition casualties within four hours of a biological attack.
• Cheney directs his staff to plan Operation Scorpion, a ground offensive that would occupy western Iraq with coalition troops in order to minimize Iraqi Scud launches. The impractical plan is abandoned by 25 December.
• Bandar tells White House that Iraq can be defeated in two weeks of war.
• Primakov urges Kuwait to give Iraq a face-saving way to exit Kuwait and end the stand-off.
• 1^st cavalry deployed to Saudi Arabia.
• ARAMCO refuses to aid 82^nd Airborne as it defends the Abaqaiq Oil Complex NE of Riyadh
• Johnson (of SPEAR) directed by JCS to brief USAF commanders and crews on the capabilities of Iraqi KARI system.

• Gray appoints an "Ad Hoc study Team" to develop a better USMC plan than what Boomer is developing in Saudi Arabia. The plan becomes known as Operation TIGER, an amphibious landing that would take Basra. The plan is eventually scrapped.

• Purvis presents Schwarzkopf with the options for ejecting Iraq from Kuwait through a ground offensive. The best option was a night attack through western Kuwait 40 miles east of Wadi al Batin. Because one more corps was necessary to ensure success this plan became known as the "One Corps Concept."

• An explosion at As Shuaybah destroys 10,000 metric tons of Iraqi ammunition. This would have been enough to sustain 6 heavy divisions for 3 days of medium or high intensity conflict.

• In a conversation with Hine, Colin Powell admits he is uncomfortable with a war in the Persian Gulf and would wait up to two years for economic sanctions against Iraq to work.

• CENTCOM’s One Corps Concept presented to the Joint Chiefs, Cheney and Wolfowitz by Purvis and the Jedi Knights. Jedi Knight plan not sound, and Schwarzkopf warned Purvis and his team if they offered their own opinions, they would be kicked out of the theater and the Army.
• Iraqis early warning radar is moved 10 miles back from Kuwait-Saudi Arabia border.

• Purvis and the Jedi Knights present One Corps to Bush, Quayle, Baker, Gates and Scowcroft. The need for an additional corps was not clearly understood by the political leadership. Cheney believed it was "a bad plan."
• Cheney and powell begin to develop separate ground offensive plans after rejection of Jedi Knights "One Corps Concept."

• Intelligence reports indicate that Iraqi forces in Kuwait are low on food and morale.

• Schwarzkopf approves of "two corps" concept and opens Jedi Knights; it is no longer a secret planning cell.

• Upon returning to Washington, Powell advocated deploying two additional corps to Saudi Arabia. Cheney had come to the same conclusion.
• US offers Patriot missile systems to Israel crewed by Americans. The offer is accepted. This is the first deployment of American troops to Israel.

• Bush decides to double troop strength in Saudi Arabia at a National Security Council meeting; decision kept secret until after the national elections of 8 November.

• The 10 reinforced Finnish air raid shelters in Baghdad are put on preliminary target lists for the air war.

• Schwarzkopf declares that his war aim is "every Iraqi soldier bleeding from every orifice." He puts Horner in charge, carte blanche, of the air war: "There’s only going to be one guy in charge of the air war: Horner. If you want to fight your interservice battles, do it after the war." The inevitable interservice battles over which service hit which targets became an integral part of the "Riyadh War."
• Britain announces that its 1^st Armoured Division will be sent to the Gulf. Boomer assumes this force will be used to augment USMC strength, but it is instead transferred to the Army’s VII Corps. Boomer feels betrayed by Army leadership.

• By this time 60 USN ships, 1,000 aircraft (590 ‘shooters’) and 250,000 US troops are deployed to Saudi Arabia. By 17 January, this commitment would be doubled, including 4,000 tanks, 150 ships (including 3 additional aircraft carriers), and 600,000 troops (including a second USMC division and the heavily armed VII Army Corps from Germany).
• The two corps concept became known as the "Left Hook" as it became feasible for the ground offensive to flank the Iraqi forces by sweeping around from the west. This plan, unlike the one corps concept, garnered broad approval.

• Waller appointed to deputy CINC of CENTCOM.
• In Imminent Thunder, US troops rehearse an amphibious landing of Kuwait. (Imminent Thunder took place in Saudi Arabia)
• Jedi Knights make first consultations with USMC to determine USMC role in ground offensive; Boomer is furious over the USMC’s exclusion from over two months of ground offensive planning.
• Intelligence reports indicate that the Iraqi forces in Kuwait are gathering white T-shirts to make surrender flags.

• Boomer rejects Jedi Knights ground offensive plan.

• Britain’s Brigadier Tim Sullivan becomes the only non-American in the Jedi Knights.

• Bush announces that up to a half million US troops will be deployed to Saudi Arabia to provide for an "offensive military option."

• USMC elect to plan their own ground offensive.

• National Council of Churches of Christ criticizes Bush for "reckless rhetoric and imprudent behavior," and states its "unequivocal" opposition to build-up of US troops in Persian Gulf.

• Intelligence reports indicate that even with the inclusion of 9,500 British Marines, the USMC was outnumbered 3:1 by the Iraqi occupation forces in Kuwait.

• Waller arrives in Saudi Arabia.

• Margaret Thatcher resigns after she loses the confidence of the House of Commons. Thatcher is succeeded by John Major.

• De la Billiere briefs Schwarzkopf on need to transfer British 1^st Armoured from USMC to Army command.

• US Senate Armed Services Committee hears testimony on the effectiveness of the economic sanctions.

• UN Security Council authorizes use of force to eject Iraq from Kuwait. (Resolution 678)

• Senate Armed Services Committee hears testimony on Iraq’s production capacity for nuclear weapons.

• In a briefing for Cheney and Schwarzkopf, Horner declares, "If there’s collateral damage in Iraq, perhaps that’s not all bad. There has to be a penalty for building and storing [biological] weapons. If there is some fallout in Iraq and it causes death, that penalty also sends a signal to others." 18 BW sites are placed high on the target list.
• Inoculations of soldiers begin: 18,000 receive botulinum vaccines and 150,000 more were inoculated against anthrax.
• Iraqi aircraft average 235 sorties/day.
• Cheney approves the US Army’s 4^th Psychological Operations Group to come up with a psyops plan supporting Operation Desert Storm. Schwarzkopf would personally oversee the psyops campaign plan. The plan was to convince Iraqi soldiers that their defeat was imminent and that their cause was morally baseless.
• Gray inspects USMC operations in Saudi Arabia. Loses confidence in Boomer and tries to persuade Schwarzkopf to allow major changes in the MARCENT command structure. Schwarzkopf refuses this 11^th-hour request.

• Union of American Hebrew Congregations declares that using military force against Iraq is "an acceptable moral option" after other means of resolving the crisis are exhausted.
• Powell and Cheney testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the military plan to eject Iraq from Kuwait.

• Cheney, Powell and Bush officially approve Left Hook. Among 10 ‘operational imperatives’ Schwarzkopf is to "accept losses no greater than the equivalent of three companies per ... brigade." (this represents a cap of approximately 10,000 friendly casualties)
• First of the VII Corps arrives in Saudi Arabia from Germany.

• Warden briefs Cheney on the air offensive, hoping that air power alone will win the war without the need for a ground offensive.

• Schwarzkopf unable to convince Saudis to let USMC lead coastal attack into Kuwait. Saudis wished to lead their own attack because of "pride."
• Schwarzkopf makes an attrition rate of 50% the goal of the air offensive. The ground offensive would not start until this rate of attrition in Iraqi forces had been achieved.

• Date of projected first D-Day for Operation DESERT STORM.

• Amnesty International reports widespread human rights violations in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait.

• Schwarzkopf transfers British 1^st Armoured Division to US VII Army Corps to aid in main attack on Kuwait. This chafed Boomer, whose division was to be used as a diversion to the VII Corps’ Left Hook attack.

• The Black Hole removes the 10 hardened shelters from target lists since they appear to be unoccupied and vacant.
• Bush authorizes CIA to promote opposition groups within Iraq through covert operations.

• Talks between Baker and Aziz collapse after seven hours of discussion. Baker delivers a letter from Bush to Hussein. Aziz refuses to accept it.
• Baker cautions Aziz that Iraqi chemical attack would put the existence of the Ba’ath regime at risk.

• Congress authorizes the US use of force: Both Houses in favor: House 250-183; Senate 52-47.
• Glosson releases a memo to pilots: "electric targets will be targeted to minimize recuperation time… Boilers and generators will not be aim points." However, the memo doesn’t reach all pilots; targets hit by Kit-2S, an anti-electrical system ordnance, are often hit again with conventional bombs in order to insure the targets destruction.
• A US MC-130 drops more than a million leaflets over Kuwait encouraging Arab unity as part of a psyops campaign. 50,000 audio cassettes containing anti-Saddam messages were smuggled into Kuwait, millions of leaflets were dropped and a covert radio station ("The Voice of the Gulf") was operated by American forces on 6 frequencies. However, the efficacy of the psyops campaign was questionable as mass surrenders did not occur.

• HAMMER RICK becomes operational.

• Hussein regime rebuffs last-minute negotiations by the French government and UN Secretary-General de Cuellar.

• Pentagon issues rules for journalists in Persian Gulf: 12 categories of information were subject to censorship and reporters had to be accompanied by military escorts during interviews.
• Powell and Cheney sign the secret order authorizing Schwarzkopf to start Operation DESERT STORM. The order is faxed to Schwarzkopf in Riyadh.

• The Pentagon estimates Iraqi ground forces in Kuwait at 540,000 men in 43 divisions. Another 288,000 in 12 divisions were north of the Euphrates. CENTCOM intelligence analysis of Iraqi troop strength (between 450,000-500,000) is very close to Pentagon estimates.

• Schwarzkopf accuses Horner and Glosson of ignoring his orders by not including B-52 missions over Republican Guard units in the initial attack sorties.

17 January: Operation DESERT STORM

• 01:30: first TLAMs launched at Baghdad from USN ships open the Gulf War.
• 02:38: Apache helicopter strikes. Throughout the month 40% of air sorties had to be cancelled. Historical meteorological patterns suggested 13% of the theater would be under cloud cover. However, the actual percentage of cloud cover was closer to 40%.
• Among the targets are 35 bunkers, command posts and other leadership targets. This number would increase to 46 by war’s end.
• Satellite photos suggest Amiriyah Shelter received a new camouflage paint pattern. This rekindled CIA interest in Amiriyah as a target.
• Turkish President Ozal persuades Turkish National Assembly to authorize American attacks against Iraq from Turkish Incirlik Air Base. (Operation Proven Force)
• White House suggests to Israel that they should consider a counter-attack on Iraq with Israel’s Jericho missile in the event of Scud attacks on Israel by Iraq. Israel summarily rejects this proposal. (Israel could not easily attack Iraq since Israel did not have permission to overfly Jordanian and Saudi Arabian airspace.)
• Schwarzkopf transfers combat search and rescue operations to his special operations commander, COL Jesse Johnson.
• Iraq launches 116 aircraft sorties.
• As the air war starts, the press is largely reliant on the daily briefings for information.
• Glosson targets Iraqi bridges with gravity bombs, and in the first three days of the air war not a single Iraqi bridge is dropped.
• In an effort not to go to war prematurely, Washington forbade low altitude reconnassaince flights over the KTO before 17 January. American intelligence networks—designed to defend western Europe against Soviet attack for 40 years—proved inadequate to provide reliable and timely information on Iraq’s plans for Kuwait.

• With news of the war, the Dow Jones soars 117 points and oil prices drop to $11/b.
• Just after midnight first US attacks against Iraq are launched from Incirlik, (Operation Proven Force) allowing an extra 100 sorties/day.

• Bush pleads Shamir for Israeli restraint over first Iraqi Scud attacks on Israel. Shamir offered no assurances, and deferred to the meeting of the Israeli War Cabinet the next day.
• More Scuds hit Israel. Several dozen are wounded, but no one is killed. Ivri informed Wolfowitz that Israel intended to retaliate since the Americans seemed unable to stop the attacks.
• Iraq launches just 60 aircraft sorties. The lack of any meaningful Iraqi air defense leaves coalition planners confused.

• Barrier combat air patrols initiated to prevent any more Iraqi jets from fleeing to Iran.

• Eagleburger & Wolfowitz arrive in Tel Aviv to try and prevent Israel from responding unilaterally to Iraq’s attacks.
• ‘Collateral Damage’ damages 50 homes in Najf.
• Glosson upgrades the bridge campaign to laser guided munitions from F-117s, and for the rest of the war 7-10 bridges are dropped every week.
• Schwarzkopf transfers the French Daguet Division from Saudi to American command. The French had requested the transfer fearing Saudi military incompetence.

• Warden calls Deptula in Riyadh and urges the targeting of the Iraqi Air force on the ground. Iraq had enough aircraft to launch simultaneous strikes against Tel Aviv and Riyadh. Deptula puts known Iraqi hangars on the MAP.
• Cheney suggests publicly that the war could last for months, which heightens public apprehension about the war. (A feeling of enthusiasm had given way to apprehension by the second week)
• Dover AFB, the US military mortuary—expecting several thousand casualties from the impending ground war—is declared off-limits to the media.
• Oil fires detected at Al Wafrah field, Kuwait.
• A four-man CBS-TV camera crew, including correspondent Bob Simon, is captured by the Iraqis in SW Kuwait and held as POWs for the duration of the war.

• British abandon low-altitude air attacks. British Tornado losses are triple American fighter losses.
• Ivri tells Wolfowitz that a Jericho will be test-fired into the Mediterranean Sea as a show of force to Iraq.
• Downing proposes to Kelly to insert Delta Force into Iraq to destroy Scuds.
• One Scud lands in the Ramat Gan suburb in Tel Aviv. 3 are killed and 96 wounded. 1,700 apartments are damaged.
• Oil fires detected at Ash Shuaybah and Mina Abdullah fields, Kuwait.
• Boomer approves the Southwest Option, a plan for the USMC ground war that had both USMC divisions going through a single breach in Iraqi defenses near OP-4.

• Intense attack against Iraqi aircraft hangars begins. 375 hardened aircraft hangars are destroyed. About 20 Iraqi jets safely cross the border into Iran. Once on the ground they are re-flagged as Iranian Air Force aircraft. Tehran promises to keep them grounded for the duration of the war. (Bandar thought that Iran had absolutely no intention of returning the high performance aircraft back to Iraq.)
• Powell and Cheney give press briefing from Pentagon summarizing the first week of the war.

• Eberly is transported to a Baghdad prison.

• Intentional oil spills detected in Persian Gulf off Al Ahmadi, Kuwait. The pipeline between the Ahmadi Crude Oil Storage Terminal and the Sea Island Terminal was opened as well. The resulting oil slick was approximately 2-3 times the size of the Ixtoc I disaster in Mexico City in 1979 that resulted in 3.3 million barrels being dumped into the Gulf of Mexico.
• Task Force Shepherd (USMC contingent of 1,200 at Khafji) shells Iraq’s Al Jaber Air Base with artillery. (Later 3 Marines are killed in an auto accident as they pull back from the firing line.)

• 6 Iraqi Scuds fall on Israel.
• 17,000 Marines and 11,000 sailors on 34 ships in Oman participate in Sea Soldier IV, a rehearsal for an amphibious landing on Kuwait.
• F-111s attack oil manifolds at Al Ahmadi in effort to counter Iraqi sabotage.
• Iraqi and American troops make attacks on one another’s positions across Saudi-Kuwaiti border at Khafji. 100 Iraqis are killed.

• British 1^st Armoured Division formally placed under the command of Army LG Fred Franks’ VII Corps.

• Ivri, Gen. Ehud Barak, Israeli Dep. Chief of Staff and RADM Avraham Ben-Shoshan, defense attaché, brief Cheney and Powell on a plan to use Israeli special forces units to hunt for Scuds in western Iraq.

• Bush delivers the State of the Union Address.
• Baker and Bessmertnykh draft joint communiqué that contradicts US war aims: The war could end if Iraq merely "would make an unequivocal commitment" to leave Kuwait and comply with UN Security Council resolutions. The communiqué also hints at linkage between the Iraq-Kuwait crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. This incident upset both Bush and Scowcroft.

• Cheney dispatches Downing to Saudi Arabia with Delta Force’s 1^st Squadron and Army helicopter Task Force 160 (known together as the Joint Special Operations Task Force) to Saudi Arabia to hunt for Scuds. (Operation Eagle)
• Schwarzkopf declared that Iraq was left with some of its electricity flowing "because of our interest in making sure that civilians [do] not suffer unduly."
• A dogfight between American F-15Cs from CAP Cindy and Iraqi MiG-25 Foxbats occurred with no downed aircraft on either side, and the Americans narrowly missing an Iraqi trap over Baghdad (i.e. the fast Foxbats baiting the Eagles to chase them over Baghdad, where Iraqi SAMs lay in wait). Iraqi escapes to Iran stopped altogether after this incident.
• Rift develops between Riyadh and Washington over the interpretation and methodology of BDA.

• The 2^nd SANG again attacked Khafji in an attempt to rescue the two USMC infiltration teams. One team escaped to safety.
• 13:00: The second infiltration team reaches safety.
• By late afternoon, most of Khafji is re-taken by coalition troops. Thirty Iraqis were killed, and 466 taken as POWs, 37 wounded. 19 Saudis and Qataris were killed, 36 wounded. 25 Americans were killed, half from "friendly fire" incidents. Schwarzkopf later estimated the 80% of the Iraqi 5^th Mechanized Infantry Division were killed. The Arab forces proved themselves to their American counterparts, an a greater role for the Arab coalition partners was sought.
• Eberly moved to a new prison, the "Biltmore."

• Johnston declares that "I quite truthfully cannot tell [of] any reports . . . that would show inaccurate bombing, [or bombing that has] grossly missed the target." Dumb bombs—93% of all ordnance used—was accurate only 25% of the time. Slight misjudgments in altitude or speed could produce inaccuracies resulting in missing targets by hundreds of feet. 25% of stealth fighter missions resulted in missed targets.
• Keys gets Boomer to split the USMC force by having Keys’ 2^nd Division attacking through the Umm Gudair Oil Field, near OP-5.
• Three of the 10 hardened Baghdad air raid shelters show some signs of activity. One appeared to be used by the Information Ministry; Amiriyah Shelter’s new activity was not as obvious.
• Baghdad announces that 17-year-olds are to now be conscripted into the Iraqi military.
• CENTCOM intelligence estimates of Iraqi troop strength climb from 35 divisions to 40 to 42 by mid-February. The changing estimates reflect the confusion as to the organizational structure of the Iraqi military (i.e. the number of troops in divisions; the number of divisions in a corps, etc.)
• First permission granted by Iraq for UN study of the humanitarian condtions.

• With TLAMs hitting their targets only 50% of the time (and costing $2 million a piece) TLAM strikes against Iraqi targets are limited to the point that the USN needs Schwarzkopf’s express permission to launch them. Schwarzkopf never gave permission for the rest of the war and the 1 Feb. 6 TLAM strike on Al Rashid Air Base was the last one of the war.
• Downing and Delta Force arrive in Saudi Arabia.

• Schwarzkopf formally decides against an amphibious landing on Kuwait (Operation Desert Saber) since it was going to take too long to prepare the battlefield with minesweeping and battleship suppression fire. To forego these preparations would have risked countless USMC casualties and one or more ships sunk.

• First US battleship (USS Missouri) shells targets in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait.

• An errant coalition attack on a bridge in Nasiriyah kills 50 civilians.
• A new software package for the Patriot missile system that would prevent its firing on false targets—known as Version 34—arrives in Israel. Israel orders all 6 Patriot batteries (including 4 staffed by US Army troops) to switch to manual firing. This was considered ill advised by American air defense specialists since Version 34 could respond much quicker than a person could.
• Iraqi Scud launches dwindle to an average of less than one per day.
• Israeli Air Force Commander, MG Avihu Ben-Nun confronts American Patriot Commander Army COL Lew Goldberg that "The Patriot doesn’t work."
• Glosson cancels the barrier combat air patrols and shifts the F-15s elsewhere in theater, and immediately 30 Iraqi fighters make their way to Iran.

• First ‘tank-plinking’ mission flown.
• SIGINT discovered to be emanating from the vicinity of Amiriyah Shelter. CIA believed that Amiryah had become home to the Mukhabarat or the General Intelligence Department, two of Iraq’s secreat police institutions.

• VII Corps arrives at full strength.
• USS Wisconsin relieves the Missouri, this was the Wisconsin’s first combat since the Korean War.
• Glosson re-institutes the bar CAP missions. Glosson is also aware that many American pilots are becoming addicted to uppers and downers so they can continue night flights for extended duration. He pledges to "straighten the pilots out with the doctors after the war."
• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) begins to evaluate 60 proposals in five categories (thermal imagery, infrared imagery, laser, special radio frequencies and visual devices) designed to keep coalition troops from killing each other in incidents of friendly fire during the impending ground war.

• CIA notes large discrepancy between Washington and Riyadh intelligence staffs regarding the destruction of Iraqi armor units.
• 19:31 USS Wisconsin shells Khawr al Mufattah, a marina near Khafji sheltering Iraqi forces.
• 44 F-111s launched for ‘tank-plinking.’ Tank-plinking increased the schism in the interpretation of BDA’s between Riyadh and Washington. The CIA would credit CENTCOM with only a fraction of the kills it claimed, leading to a feeling of abandonment from CENTCOM leadership.

• Cheney, Powell and Wolfowitz arrive in Riyadh for final review of ground attack plans.

• An Iraqi Scud hits Tel Aviv, damaging more than 200 buildings and wounding 27. The attack further inflames Israeli frustrations at the Americans.
• French BG Jean-Charles Mouscardes is evacuated to France for medical reasons. French BG Bernard Janvier assumes command of the Daguet Division.

• Charles Allen recommends to Warden that Amiriyah Shelter be put on the target list.

• Primakov arrives in Baghdad to urge Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. He notes that Hussein looks haggard and has lost 30-40 pounds since their last meeting in October.
• After four weeks of war, living conditions in Baghdad are reduced to 19^th century levels: running water, telephone service, garbage collection and electricity are all out; gasoline and water are rationed; sewage treatment facilities don’t work and millions of gallons of raw sewage is pumped directly into the Tigris; food prices are extortionate: a $.60 kilo of rice is now sold for $15. Hospitals ran out of equipment and the dead were commonly buried in hospital gardens to make room for more. Sepsis, dysentery, hepatitis and other diseases soared.
• Arens confronts Bush on the need for an Israeli strike against Iraq since the Patriot was not effective. The meeting ended after 30 minutes with both the Americans and the Israelis thoroughly irritated with one another. The Americans refused to open corridors over Arab countries for Israeli fighter overflights.
• An Iraqi Scud hit Tel Aviv, near Ben Gurion International Airport. It hit 500 feet from Arens’ home as he was talking with Cheney about making room for an Israeli strike on Iraqi Scud sites. Because of this incident, Arens’ apparent rudeness to the Americans was forgiven.

• 04:30 Strike on Amiriyah Shelter kills more than two hundred civilians and leads to restrictions on strategic bombing campaign. By mid-morning there is a crowd of over 5,000 Iraqis watching the recovery of bodies from the shelter.
• The US response to the CNN story on the Amiriyah bombing was to shift the blame to Hussein and Iraq. In Washington, Powell and McConnell brief Bush on Amiriyah. Glosson and Leide brief Schwarzkopf and Horner.
• 19:00 Four British jets bomb a crowded marketplace at Fallujah, along the Euphrates, killing approximately 130 civilians. A defective bomb is the culprit.
• Powell gave orders to limit the strategic bombing of Baghdad. All target lists were to be reviewed by Schwarzkopf before sorties were launched, and targets in downtown Baghdad needed Powell’s express permission. This new mandate was not popular with CENTCOM, and Glosson was looking for loopholes in order to continue the strategic bombing campaign. (i.e. limiting "Baghdad" to a three-mile radius, meant that anything outside the radius could still be bombed.)
• Tariq Aziz delivers a statement to Primakov, still in Baghdad. "The Iraqi leadership is seriously studying the ideas outlined by the representative of the Soviet president and will give its reply in the immediate future."
• Boomer realigns the two USMC divisions, and the resulting logistical complications cause a three-day delay in the start of the ground war. The new date is set for 24 February. Authorization is reluctantly given by Powell, sensing that Bush "wants to get on with it."
• Yeosock checks into a Riyadh hospital with pneumonia and intestinal pains. Needing gall bladder surgery in Germany, Schwarzkopf relieves Yeosock of command and appoints Waller as ARCENT Commander.

• Glosson, with Horner’s authority, removes altitude restrictions from coalition rules of engagement: "American soldiers are about to cross the border . . . All restrictions are removed . . . Flight leaders will have authority to decide whether to drop bombs from fifty feet or five hundred feet or five thousand feet."
• Glosson places the north end of Hussein’s Baghdad presidential palace off limits for targeting, since it was believed to be the headquarters of the secret police and a site where coalition POWs could have been held.
• Delta Force identifies three possible detention sites for coalition POWs in Iraq. None of the three was correct. Downing and Schwarzkopf attempt to formulate rescue plans, but were not convinced that Delta Force could bring the POWs to safety. Plans to deploy Delta Force in a rescue attempt are shelved until the start of the ground war.

• Bush calls, twice, for a popular uprising within Iraq to overthrow the Hussein regime.
• Glosson authorizes an A-10 attack on the Tawalkana Republican Guard Division, 60 miles north of the border, which resulted in 2 downed aircraft, one dead pilot, the other one an Iraqi POW. Horner orders Glosson to pull all A-10 attacks to not further north than 29’30", the latitude that bisects Kuwait Bay. This incident revealed that the RG units were not on the verge of cracking, but were digging themselves in, and were ready to attack if the opportunity presented itself.
• DARPA begins testing the most promising anti-friendly fire proposal at the Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. (24% of Gulf War KIA’s were friendly fire; 2% for World War II; 3% for Vietnam. The striking discrepancy is attributed to better documentation in latter years of battlefield fatalities (the World War II figures are certainly much higher, but no documentation was done at the time); the short duration of the Gulf War and the lack of a proportionate number of battlefield deaths from Iraqi fire.)

• VII Corps moves into final attack positions for ground attack. VII Corps was larger than Patton’s 3^rd Army and was the largest combat movement of American troops (nearly 150,000 troops in 40,000 vehicles) since World War II.
• Minesweeping operations begin in the Echo-to-Foxtrot channel off the Kuwaiti coastline. The first sweep shows that the channel was clear, but this was wrong. Many Iraqi mines were not deployed correctly and were inoperable, and 6 minefields lay east of the channel along a 150 mile crescent around the entire Kuwaiti coastline.
• CENTCOM estimates that 1,439 Iraqi tanks are destroyed. The CIA can confirm only one-third of these. CENTCOM estimated that Iraqi divisions were only between 42-58% the pre-war strength, while the CIA believed that they were stronger: 75-85% pre-war strength. Scowcroft was to investigate the BDA dispute for Bush. Soyster was mediating the discrepancy between CENTCOM and the CIA.

• An Army Apache helicopter fires on two APC’s of the 2^nd Armored Division attached to the 1^st Infantry Division, killing two soldiers in an incident of friendly fire. The unit commander, who led the attack, LTC Ralph Hayles was relieved of command for violating orders for commanders not to be personally involved in attacks.
• Boomer agrees to expand USMC reconaissance patrols into Kuwaiti territory by authorizing 11 patrols for night patrols 10-15 miles within the border.

• Arnold writes a situation report for theater commanders and Joint Staff in Washington deriding the USAF for not hitting Army and USMC-nominated targets. The report embarrassed Horner and set off another wave of bitter interservice bickering.
• First bombing of Baghdad since Amiriyah.
• USMC Task Force Troy begins operations along a 25-mile zone south of Al Wafrah to deceive the Iraqis into thinking that the ground war will be launched along the east coast of Kuwait. A wooden camel symbolized the task force.
• Schwarzkopf tries to delay the start of the ground war due to bad weather, but Cheney and Powell pressure Schwarzkopf to continue planning for 24 February. The weather clears and the date is confirmed.
• Tariq Aziz arrives in Moscow for talks on an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait through the good offices of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev’s plan was without the mandate from other coalition partners and promised to not exact reparations from Iraq, to address the Arab-Israeli crisis and to leave the Hussein regime intact after the war. Gorbachev cabled a 3-page summary of his plan to Bush.

• Bush replies to Gorbachev that the peace proposal is unsatisfactory: the Soviet proposal left Iraq six weeks to vacate Kuwait; Bush would give 4 days (this would force the abandonment of a significant part of Iraqi military materiel, thus blunting the power of the Iraqi military). Bush further demanded that Iraq must release all coalition POW’s; and a detailed description of all Iraqi minefields. The White House sees the Soviet proposal as a way for the USSR to save Iraq as a client state.

• 1^st Cavalry Division feints up Wadi al Batin; pulls back with three dead and nine wounded. The midday probe of Iraq’s borders reinforced the false notion that the main thrust of the coalition ground war would be up the natural path of the Wadi al Batin.
• 435 Iraqis surrendered near Thaqb al Hajj, some 40 miles from the 101^st Airborne Division’s position. Schwarzkopf worried that press images of the fast response of American troops in the area would tip off the Iraqis to the ground war route.

• Deadline of noon on 23 February set for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. This deadline was 8 hours before the scheduled time of attack. British and French wanted to give Iraq one week (as opposed to 4 days) to evacuate from Kuwait.

• 02:40 Aziz-Gorbachev agreement is announced.
• Several thousand Marines from Task Forces Grizzly and Taro are infiltrated into Kuwait early to mark lanes through Iraqi minefields through which USMC Task Forces Ripper and Papa Bear would attack.
• 12:00 Task Force Grizzly is discovered by the Iraqis 12 miles inside Kuwait. Coalition air cover discourages subsequent Iraqi attacks for part of the day.
• 21:00 Grizzly is driven back from the minefield when USMC air cover drops bombs less than 800 meters from the lead scouts.

• Sunrise: Task Force Taro infiltrated up to eight miles inside Kuwait.
• Task Force Grizzly is not allowed to attack in force before Bush’s deadline for the ground war expires.
• Stealth fighters attack Iraqi intelligence headquarters unaware that Coalition POWs were being held inside.
• Taro hides in foxholes by day and remained undiscovered by Iraqi observers.
• First leadership target bombed in Baghdad since Amiriyah.
• Special Operations missions grow bolder: Army Special Forces teams inserted inside Iraq for trafficability missions, USN SEALs planted amphibious landing markers along the Kuwaiti coastline, 500 yards from shore, 10 Special Forces teams are inserted deep behind Iraqi lines to watch for Iraqi tank movements; 4 teams from the 3^rd SFG are inserted along the VII Corps attack corridor to scout for the Republican Guard. Two Army SF teams are rescued by CSAR after their positions are discovered and firefights ensued.
• Satellite intelligence reveals new oil fires in Kuwait at Ash Shuaybah, Mina al-Ahmadi and the Burkan oil field. 150 fires were raging and sabotaged oil wells (unignited) were leaking oil into the desert.
• 10:40 Bush chastises Hussein in a Rose Garden speech for the apparent "scorched earth" policy. Bush also announces publicly the demands Iraq must meet before the deadline to avoid coalition ground war.
• Skirmishing along the border increases as G-Day nears.
• 13:10 Order for radio silence among the ground troops radio is lifted.
• 13:30 210^th Field Artillery Brigade and three Howitzer units open fire on Iraqi targets 10-15 miles inside Kuwait.
• 21:00 An hour past Bush’s deadline, Grizzly is ordered to continue moving north "in force."

• Taro and Grizzly make their way through Iraqi minefields and start to blast their way to widen the corridor so armored forces could traverse it as well. Friendly fire kills at least 3 Marines in Grizzly.
• 04:00 Ground attack begins.
• Schwarzkopf accelerates VII Corps attack by fifteen hours.
• Franks halts the VII Corps attack after field conditions make it impossible to continue until daybreak.
• Two USMC divisions seize much of the Kuwaiti bootheel and capture 8,000 Iraqi POWs.
• Pool system for the press breaks down because of Army’s inability to get footage, photographs and other materials to Dhahran quickly enough.
• "Highway of Death:" Along the primary highway between Kuwait and Iraq, 1,500 vehicles are destoyed in allied air attacks; only 2% are military vehicles.

• Dawn: VII Corps launches the primary attack of the ground war.
• Schwarzkopf explodes at the slow progress of the VII Corps, and threatens to remove Franks as VII Corps Commander.
• 101^st Airborne Division cuts Highway 8 in Euphrates Valley.
• Iraqis counterattack the 1^st Marine Division.
• Scud destroys barracks at Al Khobar, killing 28 Americans and wounding 98.
• Yeosock returns to command ARCENT.
• French forces take over 3,500 Iraqi POWs.
• Some 150 Iraqis, after refusing to surrender to the Army 1 ID are buried alive as Iraqi trenches are plowed.

• Battle of 73 Easting: 28 tanks, 16 APCs and 39 trucks destroyed by American forces in 23 minutes. Engagement between the Americans and the Tawalkana RG.
• First leaflet drop ("bullshit bombs") over Baghdad by USAF F-16s. The half million leaflets read "Saddam’s first line of defense: innocent civilians" in reference to the Amiriyah bombing.
• Biggest day for the air war: 3,159 sorties flown against Iraqi targets in Kuwait and Iraq.

• Ground War comes to an end before "double envelopment of Basra takes place. 70,000-80,000 Iraqi troops escape to safety and fully half of the armor from the RG makes it out of Kuwait

• Cease-fire takes effect at 8 am.
• 13:30: American Embassy in Kuwait City liberated by US forces.

• Baghdad reports to the United Nations that approximately 2,300 civilians had been killed during the air war. This means that one Iraqi civilian was killed for every 38 tons of ordnance dropped. (This compares to the Invasion of Normandy (June 1944): 1 civilian/4 tons ordnance; Vietnam (1972): 1 civilian/15 tons ordnance.)
• Schwarzkopf claims that 625,000 Iraqi troops were occupying Kuwait. This appears to be an exaggeration of Iraqi troop strength. Iraqi armor and artillery units were overestimated by 20-25%. To illustrate the overestimation of Iraqi troop strength: less than 2% of all tank rounds were actually fired during the entire Gulf War. Later intelligence estimates suggest that Iraqi troop strength was actually between 183,000-300,000. Iraqi losses were estimated at 153,000 deserters and 26,000 KIA during the air war.
• The coalition had launched 69,000 aerial sorties compared to Iraq’s 910.
• From the end of the Gulf War to the collapse of the Turkey-PKK cease fire, Turks would buy gasoline in Iraq and return to Turkey to sell it at a profit of 30-40 times the Iraqi cost.

• Two Iraqi fighter bombers are shot down after the cease-fire for violating the NFZ.
• The March 1991 revolt among the Kurds and the Shi’i resulted in the capture of two-thirds of the governorates. People no longer afraid of the Ba’ath called on the coalition to help them change the Baghdad regime. This is unprecedented in Arab politics. However, Western help was not forthcoming, and the insurrection was crushed and the old formula that has worked so effectively—public displays of extreme cruelty—has returned.

• 03:00 The Uprising reaches Basra, Iraq’s second largest city. Within hours, Ba’ath control over Basra is thrown aside as angry retreating soldiers take up arms against the Ba’ath.
• A secret underground prison was discovered under the BATA Shoe Company in Basra. The released political prisoners shouted "Down with al-Bakr!" The prisoners were apparently not aware that al-Bakr had not been in power since 1979.
• CIA determines that half of the RG unites slated for destruction had escaped from Kuwait unharmed.

• 24^th Infantry Division fights ‘Hammurabi Division’ as it flees Kuwait; 600 vehicles destroyed 2 days after cease fire takes effect. This action is the topic of Seymour Hersh’s article, "Overwhelming Force" (22 May 2000, New Yorker.)

• Schwarzkopf meets Iraqi generals at Safwan to discuss terms of the cease-fire. Schwarzkopf allowed Iraq to use helicopters, which Iraq crushes both the Shi’i and Kurd rebellions.

• Most POWs released.
• Uprising starts in Kurdistan. 400 Ba’athi officials are massacred after the discovery of torture devices in a room in the Central Security Headquarters in Sulaimaniya. The uprising liberates 14 of 18 provinces. Rumors spread that Hussein had left the country.

• Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qassim al-Khoie of Najf issues fatwa for uprising to "protect people’s property, and honor, likewise, all public institutions, for they are the property of all."

• Shi’i Rebellion is crushed by Iraqi government.

• Tariq Aziz admits to an old friend, Jordanian politician Zeid Rifai, that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait had been a mistake.
• 760,000 Iraqi refugees cross into Iran.

• Undersecretary General of the UN Martti Ahtisaari warns of imminent catastrophe if massive humanitarian needs in Iraq are not met.

• Fitzwater states that the United States will not interfere in Iraqi helicopter flights unless they threaten Coalition troops.

• 4,700 Iraqi refugees flee to Turkey during a three-week period.

• Kurdish Rebellion in Kirkuk is crushed by Iraqi government forces.

• Both the American and the Iraqi governments wish the UN to take over humanitarian assistance in Iraq.

• Former PM Thatcher makes appeal for the plight of Iraqi Kurds in the aftermath of Desert Storm.
• UNHCR is designated as the lead UN agency to assist Iraqi refugees in Iran and Turkey, but UNHCR is quickly overshadowed by the key Coalition states take charge.

• UNDRO receives 7 times as much funding per refugee in Turkey than for those in Iran. This reflects international hesitance to channel humanitarian aid into Iran.

• Ozal requests American assistance at the UNSC that would exempt Turkey from accepting any more Iraqi Kurdish refugees.
• Turkey sends letter to UNSC calling Iraq’s driving of refugees to Turkey an "excessive use of force." Iran sends a similar letter.
• Kurdish Rebellion in Sulaymaniyah is crushed by Iraqi government forces.

• UNSC passes Resolution 687, which links international sanctions to Iraqi disarmament of WMD, (and ballistic missiles with a range over 150 kilometers. Requires Iraq to make a declaration, within 15 days, of the location, amounts and types of all such items), enforces an open-ended weapons embargo, and establishes a UN commission to delineate the Iraq-Kuwait border.

• UNSC passes Resolution 688, which authorizes the establishment of "safe havens" to protect Iraqi citizens. Cuba, Yemen and Zimbabwe vote against, China and India abstain. Safe havens would be set up in Kurdistan, but not in southern Iraq, despite on-going repression of the Shi’i. This resolution also compromises UN member state sovereignty in the name of protection of the state’s citizens from government repression, a dramatic new precedent for the UN Ozal proposes a "safe haven" in northern Iraq after UNSCR 688 passes.

• Iran closes its border to Iraqi refugees for a one-day period.

• United States begins airdrops of aid supplies to Iraqi Kurds along Turkey-Iraq border. (Operation PROVIDE COMFORT)
• Northern NFZ is established when the United States directs Iraq to not operate fixed-wing aircraft and to cease all military activity north of the 36^th Parallel.

• British PM Major outlines the "safe haven" plan at the European Council Foreign Minister’s Meeting. The plan is endorsed by the Meeting.
• Baker visits the Cukurca Refugee Camp along the Turkey-Iraq border.