The Two Phases Of Operation Desert Storm

Operation Desert Storm; one of the most noteworthy military operations in American history. It started with a swarm of air attacks on Kuwait in an attempt to free it from Iraqi rule. The United States along with a multitude of other countries collaborated to construct a coalition force to subdue Saddam Hussein 's grip on Kuwait. Through Operation Desert Storm a swarm of air attacks were able to destroy Iraqi weapons, shelters, warning systems, and places of interest. However, before the coalition forces entered into a ground war with Iraqi forces in Kuwait political leaders wanted to assure the logistics of what they were about to do was legal and moral. The United Nations sought and passed a resolution for Operation Desert Storm by stating

By January 1991 the United States, which contributed the largest element of coalition forces, had assembled a combined land-sea-air force with in excess of 500,000 personnel, 110 ships, 4,200 tanks and armored personnel carriers, 1,800 fixed wing-wing aircraft, and 1,700 helicopters. U.S. and coalition forces needed only to wait for the UN Security Council deadline of 15 January to see whether Saddam would leave Kuwait through a negotiated diplomatic settlement or an imposed military solution. (Cobane 1). The United States planned Operation Desert Storm into two phases of attack to accomplish two goals; protect their oil investments and the people of Kuwait. “U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf are vital to the national security. These interests include access to oil and the security and the stability of key friendly states in the region. The United States will defend its vital interests in the area, through the U.S. military force if necessary and appropriate, against any power with interest inimical to our own (Bush 1). The two phases to Operation Desert Storm were first air attacks and the second ground warfare. Early on the morning of January 17, 1991, a massive U.S.-led air offensive hit Iraq’s air defenses, moving swiftly on to its communications networks, weapons plants, oil refineries and more. The coalition effort, known

The location of the Persian Gulf War played a great deal of importance to the rest of the world due to the amount of oil each of the countries involved produced and exported. “ The United States now imports nearly half the oil it consumes and, as a result of the current crisis, could face a major threat to its economy. Much of the world is even more dependent on imported oil and more vulnerable to Iraqi threats.” (Bush 3) Saddam Hussein already directly controlled 20 percent of the world’s oil supplies and threatened another 20 percent (Finlan 29). This would cause Hussein to create a monopoly on the oil industry in the Middle East, which would threaten the world 's demand for oil. Also affect the rest of the world economically and create political unrest. There had been a number of voices raised in the United States—both among the public and in Congress—at the outset protesting the exchange of "blood for