Wars Against Saddam

The Middle East, as we know it today, and many of the countries we now recognize in that region, did not exist when the First World War began in 1914This is the story of the Middle East from the Kingdom of Persia through the Ottoman Empire and how after the First World War Great Britain re-drew the map of the region, along with others of the Allied Powers.

The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic and the Baathist Republic of Iraq lasting eight years making it the 20th century's longest conventional war. The Iran–Iraq War began when Iraq invaded Iran via air and land on September 22, 1980. It followed a long history of border disputes, and was motivated by fears that the Iranian Revolution would inspire insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority.

In 1990 Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi petroleum through slant drilling. Here we examine the real reasons for the invasion and how the United States may have encouraged it.

To wage war against Saddam's forces in Kuwait an array of nations joined the United States in a Coalition, the largest military alliance since World War II. The great majority of the Coalition's military forces were from the U.S., with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. This is the story behind that build up.

This is the end around attack by massive armor formations that crushed Saddam's Republican Guard and the Iraqi military in record time. The Coalition forces were halted before they could topple Saddam.