1991: Longer Gulf War
From Alternative History
| Gulf War | |||||||||
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| Date | August 2, 1990 – May 1, 1991 | ||||||||
| Location | Kuwait and Iraq | ||||||||
| Result | Decisive Coalition victory
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The Gulf War or Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 – May 1, 1991) was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force from 34 nations authorized by the United Nations (UN) and led primarily by the United States in order to liberate Kuwait.
Seven days after Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, the United States started to deploy Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Coast Guard units to Saudi Arabia (Operation Desert Shield), while at the same time urging other countries to send their own forces to the scene. U.N. coalition-building efforts were so successful that by the time the fighting (Operation Desert Storm) began on January 17, 1991, twelve countries had sent naval forces, joining the local nations of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states, as well as the huge array of the U.S. Navy, which deployed six aircraft-carrier battle groups; eight countries had sent ground forces, joining the local troops of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the seventeen heavy and six light brigades of the U.S. Army and nine Marine regiments, with all their vast support and service forces; and four countries had sent combat aircraft, joining the local air forces of Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine aviation, for a grand total of 2,430 fixed-wing aircraft.
On February 24, 1991, the U.S.-led coalition began the ground operations in Kuwaiy, and within 100 hours of combat, the Iraqi army was on the run, retreating into Iraq while destroying much as possible of the Kuwaiti infrastructure and oil industy.
On February 28, 1991, President George H.W. Bush refused to sign a ceasefire and instead swore to liberate Iraq from the menace of Saddam Hussein.
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[edit] Battle of Jallibah
On March 1st, Powell swung round Coalition forces and ordered them to advance on An Nasinyah. 2 small Iraqi Battalions attempted to drive off some French at Jallibah. The French Foreign Legion managed to use air support to its advantage and scatter the forces. The battle ended with 800 Iraqi casualties at the price of only 9000 French.
[edit] The Government surrenders
By the time the Iraqi government surrendered, the coalition force was on the move and ready to sieze the capital of Iraq. Seeing that the war was lost, All of the goverment surrendered except President Saddam Hussein and his closest aids, including Ali Hasan Abd Al-Majid and his sons, Uday and Qusay Hussein. The army remained loyal to Saddam and fought on.
[edit] The Kurdish Rebellion
At this point, The Kurds launched a Rebellion to try and gain independence. The sparse amount of Iraqi defence soon collapsed and a Kurdish republic was declared. Saddam ordered the Army to go in and put the unrest down. But it wasnt the Iraqis that finally put an end to this charade. The Turks feared a hostile neighbour and moved in quickly. By March 23rd, The Kurds had been defeated.
[edit] The Road to Baghdad
On March 4th, Iraqi troops retreated from An Nasinyah and it was easily taken by US troops. Under political pressure to end the war quickly, UK forces staged an airborne attack on the city of Karbala. This was notable for being the first mass parachute drop (by the 1st and 3rd Bat, the Parachute Regiment) since the second world war suported by heliborne forces and with USAF fighter cover. Karbala was taken quickly and by almost total surprise. However, it was to be 7 days before the British arrived to relieve them (the BBC documentary "The Longest Week" covers these events in detail). This Blitzkrieg-style offensive caught the Iraqis by surprise and knocked out or captured several strategic points.
[edit] Operation Murad
In the North, Turkey decided to launch a full scale attack. The objective was Kirkuk and, if all went well, it would be taken in 5 days. The Offensive began on March 15th but met surprisingly strong resistance from Iraqi Militia. As a result, By the end of Day 1, little had been gained.
Mosul was seized as was Arbil shortly afterwards, but by March 20th, The Turks had not gained the objective. This resulted in a reform of the High Command.
[edit] Baghdad
On March 19th, US troops reached Baghdad and began shelling the city using artillery. The University was all but flattened and several mosques were destroyed. The Iraqi defence was only made up of 1800 fatigued troops. Many had not eaten in many days. On March 21st, the US troops entered Baghdad, and found fierce resistance civilian militias, who used IEDs and suicide attacks to slow down the US military's advancement. One carbomb killed 36 troops, and 73 civilians. After defeating the militias, the US focused their efforts on the Iraqi Army. It took the US troops less than 24 hours to overrun most of Baghdad and they began to move towards the Presidental Palace. The Garrison of almost all of Baghdad surrendered, but the defenders of the Presidential Palace swore to fight to the end.
[edit] Presidential Palace fight
Early on the morning of March 22nd, 1,200,000 Iraqi soldiers were in the Palace. These were hardcore soldiers who were trusted with the defence. They had enough food to last a month. At about 0600 hours, Elite US soldiers fired into the windows and absailed down from the roof. Several bomb devices were exploded and the soldiers threw grenades into several rooms.
The commandant was captured and the alarm was finally raised. It was too late. 30 Iraqis had surrendered already and about 78 were dead. Bombs were falling onto the roof and a lot of the building was ablaze. All the remaining Iraqis surrendered except 1 who refused to capitulate and was shot. There was no sign of Saddam. The US siezed the building and then lifted the US flag from the Palace.
[edit] Samarra
The men decided that Saddam was at Samarra, and sent all of their men there. The Battle of Samarra was the biggest win of the war, and all Iraqi soldiers were killed. About 12 million dollars worth of US equipment and men was lost for the cause. Saddam was found and publicly executed. Iraq had been liberated, Kuwait freed from tight grip of Iraq, the Baath party had been overthrown, and a new government was being set up. The war had ended, but there was another shadow lurking... and his name was Osama bin Laden...
