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Iraq enjoyed technical peace (justice being utterly absent) for only two years, after which Saddam invaded [[Kuwait]], the smallest of Iraq's six neighbors, which was unable to offer significant resistance.  There were a mixed bag of motivations, but probably the primary one was the debt Saddam had incurred from other Arab nations of the [[Persian Gulf]] during the war.  The debt was so overwhelming that it made the invasion almost rational; Saddam hoped to be able to frighten his local creditors into writing off his debts and pay down his debts to more distant creditors with Kuwait's oil revenues, which have always been somewhat higher than those of Iraq, although it is a much smaller country.  Accordingly, Saddam announced that Kuwait would become permanently a province of Iraq.

Iraq enjoyed technical peace (justice being utterly absent) for only two years, after which Saddam invaded [[Kuwait]], the smallest of Iraq's six neighbors, which was unable to offer significant resistance.  There were a mixed bag of motivations, but probably the primary one was the debt Saddam had incurred from other Arab nations of the [[Persian Gulf]] during the war.  The debt was so overwhelming that it made the invasion almost rational; Saddam hoped to be able to frighten his local creditors into writing off his debts and pay down his debts to more distant creditors with Kuwait's oil revenues, which have always been somewhat higher than those of Iraq, although it is a much smaller country.  Accordingly, Saddam announced that Kuwait would become permanently a province of Iraq.

The United States and particularly [[Great Britain]], whose policy it had always been to protect Kuwait from Iraq, took an exceedingly dim view of these events.  British [[Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]] persuaded U. S. [[President]] [[George H. W. Bush]] that Saddam's action, despite his previously close relationship with the West, was a violation of the [[Carter Doctrine]], which stated more or less that the U. S. would not allow ownership of Persian Gulf oil fields to be changed by force.  The two countries obtained several resolutions from the [[United Nations Security Council]] to the effect that Iraq would have to withdraw and began with their allies, both [[European]], Arab, and across the broader world, a military buildup in preparation to liberate Kuwait.  A worldwide economic [[blockade]] was imposed on Iraq in the hopes that this would persuade it to withdraw without bloodshed.  The only goods Iraq could legally buy were food and medicine.

The United States and particularly the [[United Kingdom]], whose policy it had always been to protect Kuwait from Iraq, took an exceedingly dim view of these events.  British [[Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]] persuaded U. S. [[President]] [[George H. W. Bush]] that Saddam's action, despite his previously close relationship with the West, was a violation of the [[Carter Doctrine]], which stated more or less that the U. S. would not allow ownership of Persian Gulf oil fields to be changed by force.  The two countries obtained several resolutions from the [[United Nations Security Council]] to the effect that Iraq would have to withdraw and began with their allies, both [[European]], Arab, and across the broader world, a military build-up in preparation to liberate Kuwait.  A worldwide economic [[blockade]] was imposed on Iraq in the hopes that this would persuade it to withdraw without bloodshed.  The only goods Iraq could legally buy were food and medicine.

The sanctions failing to bring about the desired end, the U. S.-led coalition was obliged to begin [[Operation Desert Storm]] on January 17 local time.  After almost six weeks of continuous bombing, most Iraqi troops in the Kuwait theatre of operations had deserted.  The only offensive they launched managed to take the [[Saudi Arabian]] town of Khafji, but Saddam's attempt to send reinforcements resulted in the destruction of several Iraqi divisions, demonstrating that [[air supremacy]] forced a conventional army to remain essentially immobile and unable to concentrate forces to repel attacks.  On February 25, a ground offensive was launched resulting in the destruction of numerous additional divisions and the flight of others back to [[Basra]], the second-largest and southernmost city in Iraq.

The sanctions failing to bring about the desired end, the U. S.-led coalition was obliged to begin [[Operation Desert Storm]] on January 17 local time.  After almost six weeks of continuous bombing, most Iraqi troops in the Kuwait theatre of operations had deserted.  The only offensive they launched managed to take the [[Saudi Arabian]] town of Khafji, but Saddam's attempt to send reinforcements resulted in the destruction of several Iraqi divisions, demonstrating that [[air supremacy]] forced a conventional army to remain essentially immobile and unable to concentrate forces to repel attacks.  On February 25, a ground offensive was launched resulting in the destruction of numerous additional divisions and the flight of others back to [[Basra]], the second-largest and southernmost city in Iraq.

The coalition in the Gulf War did not have the authorization to force a regime change in Baghdad in 1992, neither was it ever a stated objective of the coalition.  

The coalition in the Gulf War did not have the authorization to force a regime change in Baghdad in 1992, neither was it ever a stated objective of the coalition.  

Not only the [[Republican Guard]], considered Saddam's most loyal and elite troops, but also the regular army's officer corps, however, was made up principally of [[Sunnis]], who perceived the ensuing simultaneous rebellions by Kurds in the north and [[Shiites]] in the south of Iraq as an existential threat rather than as something which, in a more ethnically homogeneous country, they could have joined.  The army therefore remained loyal to Saddam and crushed the Shiite rebellion.  The U. S., Britain and France intervened in the north through [[Operation Provide Comfort]], which ended Iraqi control of the three Kurdish majority provinces until 1996, when Saddam was able to exploit a split between the two largest Kurdish [[militias]].  They also established no-fly zones in both the north and the south, not only reserving the right but considering it a duty to shoot down any fixed-wing Iraqi aircraft which might fly over those parts of Iraq.

Not only the [[Republican Guard]], considered Saddam's most loyal and elite troops, but also the regular army's officer corps, however, was made up principally of [[Sunnis]], who perceived the ensuing simultaneous rebellions by Kurds in the north and [[Shiites]] in the south of Iraq as an existential threat rather than as something which, in a more ethnically homogeneous country, they could have joined.  The army therefore remained loyal to Saddam and crushed the Shiite rebellion.  The U. S., United Kingdom and France intervened in the north through [[Operation Provide Comfort]], which ended Iraqi control of the three Kurdish majority provinces until 1996, when Saddam was able to exploit a split between the two largest Kurdish [[militias]].  They also established no-fly zones in both the north and the south, not only reserving the right but considering it a duty to shoot down any fixed-wing Iraqi aircraft which might fly over those parts of Iraq.

In the following years the use of force against Iraq was only sporadic and limited mostly to [[cruise missile]] attacks until [[Operation Desert Fox]] in December 1998, undertaken in retaliation for the ejection of the [[United Nations Special Commission]] sent to dismantle any Iraqi [[weapons of mass destruction]].  At the time, UNSCOM, as it was known, was credited with destroying more knwon stockpiles than had been destroyed during the war.  Saddam's son-in-law [[Hussein Ali Kamel]] defected to [[Jordan]] in 1995 and claimed that Iraq still possessed substantial stocks of [[nerve gas]] and possibly [[biological weapons]].  The following year, without explanation, Kamel returned to Iraq, where he was killed.

In the following years the use of force against Iraq was only sporadic and limited mostly to [[cruise missile]] attacks until [[Operation Desert Fox]] in December 1998, undertaken in retaliation for the ejection of the [[United Nations Special Commission]] sent to dismantle any Iraqi [[weapons of mass destruction]].  At the time, UNSCOM, as it was known, was credited with destroying more knwon stockpiles than had been destroyed during the war.  Saddam's son-in-law [[Hussein Ali Kamel]] defected to [[Jordan]] in 1995 and claimed that Iraq still possessed substantial stocks of [[nerve gas]] and possibly [[biological weapons]].  The following year, without explanation, Kamel returned to Iraq, where he was killed.