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Saddam Hussein, shown here in 2004, was the leader of the Iraqi government at the time of the spill. The Gulf War oil spill came out of the Gulf War that took place from 1990-1991. The war—fought between Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, and the Coalition forces—started with Iraq’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. [2]
The Kuwaiti oil fires were caused by the Iraqi military setting fire to a reported 605 to 732 oil wells along with an unspecified number of oil filled low-lying areas, such as oil lakes and fire trenches while retreating from Kuwait in 1991 due to the advances of US-led coalition forces in the Gulf War. [3]
22 January: Iraq burns Kuwaiti oil fields. About 600 oil fields are on fire. 24 January: Iraq continues to burn Kuwaiti oil fields and dumps the oil into the Persian Gulf. 24 January: Coalition forces capture the small Kuwaiti island of Qaruh. 25 January: Iraqi troops dump millions of gallons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.
The war is also known under other names, such as the Second Gulf War (not to be confused with the 2003 Iraq War, also referred to as such [27]), Persian Gulf War, Kuwait War, First Iraq War, or Iraq War [28] [29] [30] [b] before the term "Iraq War" became identified with the 2003 Iraq War (also known in the US as "Operation Iraqi Freedom"). [31]
On 23 January, Iraq dumped 400 million US gallons (1,500,000 m 3) of crude oil into the Persian Gulf [40], causing the largest offshore oil spill in history at that time. [39] It was reported as a deliberate natural resources attack to keep U.S. Marines from coming ashore ( Missouri and Wisconsin had shelled Failaka Island during the war to ...
After Iraq lost the Gulf War, Yemenis were deported en masse from Kuwait by the restored government. The US military continue a strong presence adding 4,000 troops in February 2015 alone. [ 77 ] There is also a very strong US civilian presence with an estimated 18,000 American children in Kuwait being taught by 625 US teachers.
For decades, the defining conflict in the region was a “cold war” between Iran and the Gulf Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia. This struggle, steeped in sectarian and strategic divides, fueled ...
On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi Army invaded and occupied the neighboring state of Kuwait. [5] The invasion, which followed the inconclusive Iran–Iraq War and three decades of political conflict with Kuwait, offered Saddam Hussein the opportunity to distract political dissent at home and add Kuwait's oil resources to Iraq's own, a boon in a time of declining petroleum prices.