Desert Storm
1991 military offensive
Desert Storm was the 1991 U.S.-led military operation to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait after Saddam Hussein's invasion.
The name evokes both the Arabian desert terrain and the swift, overwhelming nature of the assault.
The air and ground campaign lasted about six weeks: My uncle served in Desert Storm.
Also called the Gulf War or First Gulf War.
Multinational military alliance
- SchwarzkopfGerman surname meaning "black head"
- air campaignOrganized military aviation offensive
- ground offensiveMilitary advance by troops
- Scud missileMobile ballistic rocket system
Patriot missile · smart bombs · precision bombing · no-fly zone · sortie · armored division · M1 Abrams · tank battles
Southwest Asian landmass
- oil fieldsAreas yielding crude petroleum
- sandstormWind-driven desert grit
- Kuwait CityEmirate's main hub
- Persian GulfInlet between Iran and Arabia
Middle East · arid · logistics · water supply · heat · sand · forward bases
Release from constraint
- oil firesCombusting petroleum deposits
- naval blockadeFleet sealing off ports
- minefieldsGround concealing buried explosives
- breachBreaking of agreement
POWs · Republican Guard · oil wells · environmental disaster
Iraqi authoritarian ruler, executed
- BaghdadIraqi seat of government
- Republican GuardElite government-protecting military unit
- chemical weaponsToxic substances weaponized
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
bombing · infrastructure · sanctions · surrender · ceasefire · war crimes · civilian casualties
Militaries united by agreement
- multinationalOperating across multiple countries
- British forcesUnited Kingdom's armed services
- Saudi ArabiaGulf kingdom, largest Arabian state
- EgyptNortheastern African nation
Syria · Arab League · NATO · United Nations · joint operations
coalition forces
Multinational military alliance
- SchwarzkopfGerman surname meaning "black head"
- air campaignOrganized military aviation offensive
- ground offensiveMilitary advance by troops
Scud missile · Patriot missile · smart bombs · precision bombing · no-fly zone · sortie · armored division · M1 Abrams · tank battles · night vision
Arabian Peninsula
Southwest Asian landmass
- oil fieldsAreas yielding crude petroleum
- sandstormWind-driven desert grit
- Kuwait CityEmirate's main hub
Persian Gulf · Middle East · arid · logistics · water supply · heat · sand · forward bases
liberation
Release from constraint
- oil firesCombusting petroleum deposits
- naval blockadeFleet sealing off ports
- minefieldsGround concealing buried explosives
breach · POWs · Republican Guard · oil wells · environmental disaster
Saddam Hussein
Iraqi authoritarian ruler, executed
- BaghdadIraqi seat of government
- Republican GuardElite government-protecting military unit
- chemical weaponsToxic substances weaponized
bunker · bombing · infrastructure · sanctions · surrender · ceasefire · war crimes · civilian casualties
allied forces
Militaries united by agreement
- multinationalOperating across multiple countries
- British forcesUnited Kingdom's armed services
- Saudi ArabiaGulf kingdom, largest Arabian state
Egypt · Syria · Arab League · NATO · United Nations · joint operations
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany
- American WarsRevolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I
- naval warfarenaval battles, naval battle, battleship, destroyer, sea battles
- Bush 41Barbara Bush, Dan Quayle, Gulf War, read my lips, Kennebunkport
- Gulf RegionPersian Gulf, Gulf states, Gulf of Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait
- Gulf WarGulf War, Saddam Hussein, Norman Schwarzkopf, Schwarzkopf, Scud missiles
Desert Stormisolationism
Policy avoiding foreign alliances
non-intervention · neutrality · diplomatic solution · appeasement · withdrawal
Desert StormVietnam War
Cold-era Indochina military engagement
Iraq War · Afghanistan War · quagmire · Bay of Pigs · occupation
desert, storm, deserts, deserted, deserting, desertion, storms, stormy, stormed