73 EASTING

SOUTHEASTERN IRAQ 26-27 FEBRUARY 1991

- Written by Michael E Haskew

On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein ordered his army to invade neighbouring Kuwait. The unprovoked attack and brutal Iraqi occupation sparked outrage, international condemnation and a demand from the United Nations that Iraq withdraw immediately. Three days after the invasion, US President George HW Bush declared: "This will not stand, this Iraqi aggression against Kuwait."

During the subsequent Operation Desert Shield, the United States led a coalition of 35 nations in a buildup of overwhelming military capability on land, sea and air in preparation for the forcible ejection of the Iraqi Army from Kuwait. Within five months, the coalition had assembled more than 950,000 troops, 3,000 tanks, 1,800 aircraft and 2,200 artillery pieces - along with considerable naval fire-support capability - to oppose the Iraqi forces, which numbered over one million troops, 5,500 tanks and 700 aircraft. On 17 January 1991, the coalition unleashed a torrent of cruise missiles launched from submarines and warships, along with a sustained aerial bombing campaign designed to degrade the Iraqi combat effectiveness prior to the initiation of ground operations.

Thirty-eight days later, on 24 February 1991, coalition ground forces commenced operations against the Iraqi military, intent on driving the aggressors from Kuwait and destroying their fighting capability, particularly that of the elite Republican Guard divisions - well-trained and equipped troops, some of whom were veterans of the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88.