Prelude 1990

28–30 May 1990: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein says that oil overproduction by Kuwait and United Arab Emirates was an "economic warfare" against Iraq.

28 May 1990: President of Iraq Saddam Hussein and Emir of Kuwait Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah meet at the Arab League Summit in Baghdad.

15 July 1990: Iraq accuses Kuwait of stealing oil from the Rumaila oil field, an Iraqi oil field near the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border, and threatens military action in response.

22 July 1990: Iraq begins deploying troops to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border, creating a massive military buildup.

24 July 1990: President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak travels to Baghdad to meet with Saddam Hussein and discuss the dispute between Kuwait and Iraq.

2 August 1990: About 100,000 Iraqi troops invade Kuwait. Iraqi T-72 tanks in Kuwait City.

2 August 1990: Battle of Dasman Palace. Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah flees to Saudi Arabia with his family and ministers.

2 August 1990: United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 660 condemns the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Yemen is the only Arab country that does not take part in the vote in the UNSC.

3 August 1990: President of the United States George H.W. Bush announces that U.S. Navy ships have been deployed to the Persian Gulf.

4 August 1990: Alaa Hussein Ali is appointed Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Free Kuwait and Ali Hassan al-Majid is appointed Governor of the Kuwait Governorate, which is declared the 19th Governorate of Iraq.

5 August 1990: Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah forms a government in exile in Ta'if, Saudi Arabia.

6 August 1990: United Nations Security Council Resolution 661 implements international sanctions on Iraq. Yemen abstains from the vote in the UNSC.

6 August 1990: United States Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney meets King of Saudi Arabia Fahd in Riyadh to discuss sending U.S. Armed Forces troops to defend Saudi Arabia in case of an Iraqi invasion.

7 August 1990: 15,000 U.S. troops, 32 destroyers and 100 helicopters and fighter planes arrive in Saudi Arabia.

8 August 1990: Operation Desert Shield is launched by the United States.

9 August 1990: United Nations Security Council Resolution 662 condemns the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

9 August 1990: Iraq closes all its land borders.

10 August 1990: Arab League Emergency summit takes place in Cairo. The majority of Arab countries condemn the invasion and call on Iraq to withdraw its troops from Kuwait and reinstate Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as Emir of Kuwait. Only Libya and the Palestine Liberation Organization support the Iraqi invasion.

10 August 1990: Arab League Cairo summit votes, by a very small margin, to send Egyptian, Syrian and Moroccan military troops to the Gulf region to support Kuwait.

12 August 1990: Naval blockade of Iraq begins.

13 August 1990: Indian Government starts to airlift Indian nationals from Kuwait via Amman to Mumbai. About 175,000 Indian nationals are evacuated from Kuwait through 20 October.

15 August 1990: Iran and Iraq re-establish diplomatic relations for the first time since the Iran–Iraq War.

16 August 1990: Secretary Dick Cheney orders U.S. naval ships to stop all cargo and tankers leaving and entering Iraq and Kuwait.

18 August 1990: United Nations Security Council Resolution 664 condemns Iraq and demands it leaves Kuwait.

19 August 1990: United Arab Emirates allows foreign troops to enter its territory.

20 August 1990: Hundred of thousands of Pakistani, Egyptian, Palestinian, and Filipino guest workers flee Kuwait to Jordan.

20 August 1990: 82 British nationals are taken hostage in Kuwait.

25 August 1990: United Nations Security Council Resolution 665 implements international sanctions on Iraq.

26 August 1990: Iraq sieges foreign embassies in Kuwait City.

28 August 1990: Kuwait formally annexed by Iraq.

29 August 1990: United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar travels to Baghdad to meet Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz.

1 September 1990: Iraq allows 700 Westerners, held hostage since the invasion, to leave Iraq.

2 September 1990: Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar returns from Baghdad without any agreement with the Government of Iraq.

9 September 1990: President of the United States George H. W. Bush and President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev meet in summit in Helsinki to discuss the Iraqi invasion. In a press conference, the presidents demand Iraq leave Kuwait under the UNSC Resolutions of 660, 661, 662, 664 and 665.

11 September 1990: President George H. W. Bush in an address to a joint session of Congress issues conditions that Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait completely.[6]

14 September 1990: United Kingdom and France announce the deployment of troops to Saudi Arabia.

25 September 1990: United Nations Security Council Resolution 661 implements civil aviation sanctions on Iraq.

17 October 1990: 200,000 American, 15,000 British and 11,000 French troops are stationed in the Gulf region.

8 November 1990: U.S sends more troops to the Gulf region. About 100,000 troops arrive to support the existing 220,000 troops in the region.

19 November 1990: Iraq sends about 200,000 more troops to Kuwait.

29 November 1990: The U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 678, requiring Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait before January 15, 1991, or face military action.

29 November 1990: President George H. W. Bush invites Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz to meet in Washington D.C.

6 December 1990: Iraq releases 3,000 foreign hostages from Kuwait and Iraq.

10 December 1990: Iraq releases British hostages.

1991

9 January 1991: United States Secretary of State James Baker meets Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz at the Geneva Conference in Hotel InterContinental. No solution is reached.

January 12 1991: U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the use of military force in Iraq and Kuwait. The votes were 52–47 in the U.S. Senate and 250–183 in the House of Representatives. These were the closest margins in authorizing force by the U.S. Congress since the War of 1812.

12 January 1991: United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar meets Saddam Hussein in Baghdad but does not reach an agreement with the Government of Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.

12 January 1991: Soviet special envoy Yevgeny Primakov meets with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad to discuss the possible Coalition invasion of Kuwait.

15 January 1991: Saddam Hussein announces that Iraq will consider withdrawing its troops from Kuwait under some conditions.

15 January 1991: 580,000 Coalition troops are stationed in the Gulf region, opposing 540,000 Iraqi troops.

15 January 1991: First U.S. government statement relating to Operation Desert Storm is made.

15 January 1991: Iraq ignores all UN resolutions.

16 January 1991: Coalition forces led by the U.S. start deploying to Kuwait via the Persian Gulf and the Saudi Arabian border, triggering the first official infantry combat.

16 January 1991: President George H. W. Bush addresses the nation from the Oval Office on the beginning of US-Led Coalition forces strikes at the beginning of Operation Desert Storm.[7]

17 January 1991: Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz meets President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow where they discuss the Soviet peace plan.

17 January 1991: Operation Desert Storm is launched and the first air attacks are launched on Iraq and Kuwait.

18 January, 01:00 GMT 1991: Iraq fires 12 Scud missiles at the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, slightly injuring 12 people. The United States tells Israel to not retaliate, out of fear that it will escalate the war and trigger the collapse of the Arab Coalition. The U.S. deploys Patriot SAM systems to Israel and Saudi Arabia.

21 January 1991: Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz accepts the Soviet peace plan. President Bush refuses the peace plan as unrealistic for the coalition.

22 January 1991: Iraq burns Kuwaiti oil fields. About 600 oil fields are on fire.

24 January 1991: Iraq continues to burn Kuwaiti oil fields and dumps the oil into the Persian Gulf.

24 January 1991: Coalition forces capture the small Kuwaiti island of Qaruh.

25 January 1991: Iraqi troops dump millions of gallons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.

29 January 1991: United States and the Soviet Union offer a ceasefire to Iraq if it withdraws all its troops from Kuwait.

29 January 1991: Iraqi forces invade the town of Khafji in Saudi Arabia. Iraqi forces are quickly engaged by Saudi Arabian and Qatari troops with help from the U.S. Marines.

30 January 1991: Coalition starts its first land operations in Kuwait and Southern Iraq to liberate Khafji.

1 February 1991: Iraqi forces are driven out of Saudi Arabia.

22 February 1991: U.S. President George H. W. Bush issues a 24-hour ultimatum: Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait to avoid starting a ground war.

24 February 1991: U.S.-led Coalition forces invade Iraq and Kuwait at around 4 a.m. Baghdad time. Special Air Service was the first to enter Iraqi territory.

25 February 1991: 20,000 Iraqi troops surrender to the coalition. By the end of February, about 100,000 Iraqi troops will have surrendered.

25 February 1991: Iraq launches Scud missile attacks on Dhahran in Saudi Arabia which kills 28 American troops and injures 98.

26 February 1991: President of Iraq Saddam Hussein announces that Iraq will withdraw from Kuwait totally and accept the UN resolution. Saddam still does not renounce Iraqi claims over Kuwait.

26 February 1991: Anywhere from 800-1,000 retreating Iraqi troops are killed when coalition aircraft bombed their stolen civilian and military vehicles. This becomes known as the Highway of Death.

26 February 1991: Iraqi troops flee from Kuwait City.

27 February 1991: U.S. Marines and Saudi Arabian troops enter Kuwait City.

27 February 1991: 101st Airborne Division is less than 250 km from Baghdad over Highway 8.

27 February 1991: President Bush announces that the Liberation of Kuwait has started and the cessation of hostilities will end that day at 04:00 GMT.

27 February 1991: Coalition announces they have destroyed almost half of the all Iraqi divisions and 100,000 Iraqi troops have been taken as POWs.

28 February 1991: President of the United States George H. W. Bush announces the ceasefire, declaring that Kuwait is free and the Iraqi Army is defeated.

28 February 1991: Iraq announces that it will accept all UN resolutions.

1 March 1991: Half of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard tanks escape.

1 March 1991: A cease-fire plan is negotiated in Safwan, Iraq.

1 March 1991: Uprising (Shia rebellion) starts in Basra.

3 March 1991: Iraq accepts the terms of a ceasefire from the U.N. Security Council.

13 March 1991: United States Secretary of State James Baker meets President of Syria Hafez Al-Assad in Damascus to discuss future Middle East issues.

14 March 1991: Anti-Saddam rebellions continue in Iraq.

26 March: White House announces that Iraqi helicopters will not be shot down.

30 March 1991: First Arab League summit since the Kuwaiti invasion starts in Cairo. An Iraqi delegation takes part in the summit.

3 April 1991: Iraqi army massacres Kurds in Northern Iraq.

11 April 1991: Armistice is signed between the Coalition and Iraqi Army.

7 April: Kuwaiti Emir promises elections in Kuwait in 1992

17 April 1991: U.S. troops enter Northern Iraq from Turkey to protect Kurdish refugees.

21 April 1991: General Schwarzkopf returns to the U.S.

15 March 1991: Emir returns to Kuwait

May 1991: Bush extends pre-war economic sanctions "until Saddam Hussein is out of power".

15 June 1991: 29 people are accused of co-operating with the Iraqi forces, and are executed in Kuwait.

16 August 1991: UN repeals some Iraqi sanctions; Iraq is allowed to produce oil, limited to about USD$1.6 billion per barrel.

30 August 1991: Kuwaiti Air Force attacks Iraqi destroyer in the Persian Gulf.

7 November 1991: The final Kuwaiti oil fire is extinguished