In the years after World War 3, the world was still reeling from the economic devastation caused from the NATO-Soviet Conflict, but also the death and destruction the war had left behind. Once again much of Europe was left in ruins, with millions dead on both sides, and the militaries of the western and eastern blocs being heavily mauled as a result. With the end of the Iran Iraq war in 1988, left Saddam Hussein heavily indebted to the now broke and battered Soviet Union, as well as France. With the price of oil increased since the war, he had gambled that if he could seize the oil wells of not only Kuwait, but those of Saudi Arabia, the rest of the world would have to accept his occupation. His reasoning was that neither the United States, Canada, or Great Britain, would be willing to commit to a conflict in the Middle East after the heavy losses they had sustained just a year prior. By having one of the largest armies on the planet, one who had spent 8 years of heavy fighting with their neighbor Iran, Saddam boasted his battle hardened veterans would trounce any of the newly trained armies that the west could possibly field.
On September 14th, just two days after the invasion of Kuwait, the United Nations called a joint session to condemn the occupation of Kuwait. Seeing the United Nations as weak and unable to respond, only emboldened Saddam further, ignoring all UN requests to withdraw, and sending more of his military further south. But he wasn't to stop there, as he moved forces further down the southern coast, aimed directly at the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. But what came soon after was rude shock to the Iraqi dictator. King Fahd knew his military wouldn't stand up to Saddam if he chose to attack, which was what he feared the most. British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher, and American President George H.W. Bush, came to an agreement to send forces to defend his kingdom, with assistance from the Sultanate of Oman, and the Kingdom of Jordan. The United States, Great Britain, The Republic of China, Japan, and South Korea, had pledged to send a naval task force to the Gulf, which had arrived on September 20th. American and British ground troops had begun arriving on the 22nd, with additional Pacific Alliance Forces on the way.
The Pacific Rim Defense Pact, also known as the Pacific Alliance, was formed in 1950 at the conclusion of the Korean War. Its purpose was to offer mutual defense to all members, using the same principles as NATO, where an attack on one, is an attack on all. At its head was the United States, the Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. Following in close behind were the other members, including Australia, the Philippine Republic, the Republic of Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand, and the Kingdom of Hawaii. Together, these nations would make up the bulk of the manpower in future military operations. In total, these nations would contribute just over 1 million troops, not including those from the NATO or Arabic contingents in the war.
Saddam had realized he greatly underestimated the United States and its Pacific allies, the latter of whom had barely been involved in WW3, had great reserves of untouched manpower and equipment. But Saddam still held one advantage. His forces on the ground and in the air, outnumbered the coalition forces that were in Saudi Arabia. He proposed that if he were to attack now, capturing both the oil fields, and staging areas in Saudi Arabia, they would lose their primary staging ground, and sue for peace. This gambled failed however as American aircraft from the USS Eisenhower, USS Abraham Lincoln, and USS Enterprise, assisted by the HMS Invincible, and ROCS Hsu Hai, bombed Iraqi armored columns attempting to enter the country. Combined with the sinking of virtually every Iraqi naval vessel, any chance to seize Saudi Arabia had been lost.
Over the next few months, more and more coalition ground forces, aircraft, and naval vessels had arrived in the Persian Gulf, massing in the sands of Saudi Arabia, awaiting the final order to begin their liberation of Kuwait. From October 1st-December 5th, the total number of sorties flown against Iraq numbered over 100,000, devastating Iraqi air defenses. Due to most of the American combat pilots being veterans from the European war just a year prior, the Iraqi air force took incredibly lopsided losses in the course of the war. Before the ground invasion had even begun, nearly every Iraqi aircraft had been destroyed, the rest in hardened hangars unable to take off. The coalition on the other hand, had only lost 29 aircraft, 17 of which were fixed wing, along with 12 helicopters.
Up to that point in the war, the only SCUD missile attacks used by Iraq were against Israel, hoping to draw them into the conflict, which would make the Arab members of the coalition leave. But as the final preparations were made for the ground invasion, Saddam Hussein made what is now regarded as the worst mistake of the war. On January 5th, just three days before the coalition was to head for the Kuwait border, a mass launch of SCUD missiles was detected from all over Iraq. Targets were military bases across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, as well as civilian targets in Israel. But the missiles weren't carrying explosive payloads, rather chemical warheads, filled with Sarin and Mustard gas. All across the Persian Gulf, approximately 7,650 coalition soldiers were killed, including 3,255 Americans, 530 British, and 498 Chinese troops. The worst hit was the staging area at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, which was a major staging point for coalition forces. Israel, who had restrained itself from retaliation against Iraq for previous attacks, lost 230 civilians in Ramat Gan.
Saddam had later announced on national television that more strikes would follow, unless the United States and it's allies withdrew from the region, and accepted his conquest of Kuwait. All was quiet in the Gulf for two days, until January 7th, when three mushroom clouds appeared over Iraqi military bases in the vicinity of the SCUD launches. The President of the United States, as well as the British Prime Minister, announced that approved the use of nuclear weapons on the military bases responsible for the launch of the SCUD attack. On the 8th, a fourth strike from the Israeli Air Force destroyed Al Rasheed Air Base, southeast of Baghdad. On that same day, coalition forces started the liberation of Kuwait, which lasted only 3 days, as the bulk of the Iraqi army units had surrendered without a fight.
But the coalition was far from done. The actions undertaken by Saddam Hussein proved he couldn't be trusted to remain in power. With approval from the United Nations, the coalition began advancing into Iraq, intent on driving to Baghdad, and trying Saddam for crimes against humanity. On the 15th of January, he dispatched the bulk of his army, led by the Tawakalna Division of his Republican Guard, against the advanced forces of the coalition. After two days of heavy fighting, the vast majority of the Iraqi army's 10th and 52nd armored division's, alongside the 25th, and 26th infantry divisions, were caught in a massive pincer attack, and decimated. The entire Tawakalna Division was destroyed, and nearly the entire Iraqi 31st infantry division, along with the remnants of those caught in the coalition pincer, had surrendered.
Over one month of constant aerial bombardments had already taken a psychological toll of Iraqi forces. With the use of four nuclear weapons on major Iraqi military bases, and the destruction of Iraq's most elite armored division, mass surrenders occurred all over southern Iraq. By the end of the battle, only the 52nd armored, and 48th infantry division managed to escape north, to reinforce Baghdad. Next month, on February 29th, coalition forces had finally reached the city gates. With the majority of the Iraqi military having surrendered to coalition forces, the city fell that same week. By March of 1991, Saddam had been captured, and was put on trial at the Hague, where he was found guilty of using WMD's, and executed later that year.
By the wars end, anywhere from 70-100,000 Iraqi soldiers are estimated to have died. On the coalition side, not counting the Kuwaiti military, numbered almost 8,000 men and women. Accounting for Kuwait, 12,000 had given their lives against Saddam's evil actions. In the immediate aftermath of the war, an interim government was set up by the United Nations, which lasted until the next year, when a new president took office. Those taken prisoner by the coalition were handed back to the Iraqi armed forces. In the decades that have followed the Gulf War, not once has another nuclear weapon ever been used in anger by one country against another. Many post war studies have also shown that many supported the nuclear strikes against Iraq, viewing it as a necessary evil to save more lives. It can only be hoped that the world would never again use nuclear weapons in anger, as had occurred three times in history.
In the end, it was the actions of the free world that had once more toppled another dictator who sought to conquer his neighbors. Unlike the allies with Hitler before World War 2, they would not seek appeasement, but action against him. Never again would another evil like that threaten their world. Now in the 21st century, the world stands united far more than any previous point in history, and lessons previously learned, would never be forgotten.
