On February 26, 1991, exactly 25 years ago, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was forced to withdraw Iraqi troops from the territory of Kuwait, previously occupied by them. This is how Iraq's unsuccessful attempt to acquire a "19th province" ended, which led to the Iraqi-Kuwait war and the intervention of coalition forces led by the United States and European countries. Operation Desert Storm led to the defeat of Saddam Hussein's troops and their pushing back into Iraqi territory. Meanwhile, it was the Iraqi-Kuwait war that became one of the forerunners of the chaos in the Middle East that we are witnessing today - a quarter of a century after the “Desert Storm” operation for the Iraqi army, which ended badly for the Iraqi army.
Oil heyday of the former British protectorate
Kuwait is Iraq's southern and eastern neighbor, a typical "oil-bearing monarchy" of the Persian Gulf. The historical destinies of the Gulf states are very similar - first, existence as small Bedouin emirates, then - a British protectorate, in the second half of the twentieth century - the proclamation of independence and a gradual increase in economic prosperity due to the production and export of oil. In the 18th century, the clans of the Anaza Bedouin tribe settled on the territory of Kuwait, which previously roamed in Najd (now Saudi Arabia) and Qatar. They formed a new tribe - Banu-Utub. In 1762, the sheikh of the Banu Khalid settlement Sabah became the first emir of Kuwait under the name Sabah I. The Bedouin tribe managed to quickly improve their welfare, since the Banu Khalid settlement occupied a very favorable geographical position. Soon the town turned into a major port of the Persian Gulf and launched trade with the Ottoman Empire. One of the main sources of income for the al-Sabah family, which became the ruling dynasty of Kuwait, was the pearl trade. The wealthy emirate attracted the attention of the two largest powers vying for influence in the Persian Gulf - Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire. Although Kuwait was formally subordinate to the Ottoman Empire, Britain also had little influence, since Kuwait traded with the neighboring Arab Emirates of the Persian Gulf and cooperated with the British. In 1871, the Ottoman Empire, trying to subjugate Kuwait not formally, but in fact, undertook a military invasion of the emirate. But it, like the invasion of Iraqi troops 120 years later, did not end in success - largely because of the position of Great Britain. Nevertheless, in 1875 Kuwait was included in the Ottoman governorate of Basra (Basra is a city in the territory of modern Iraq), but the British influence in Kuwait remained.
In 1897, a naval base of the British Empire was established in Kuwait, despite protests from the Ottoman Sultan, who did not dare to send his own troops into Kuwait, fearing confrontation with the British. Since that time, Great Britain has become the main foreign policy patron of small Kuwait. On January 23, 1899, an agreement was signed, according to which the foreign policy and military issues of Kuwait were taken over by Great Britain. On October 27, 1913, the ruler of Kuwait, Mubarak, signed an agreement on granting Great Britain a monopoly on the development of oil fields in the emirate, and since 1914. Kuwait received the status of "an independent principality under a British protectorate." The defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War and its subsequent disintegration into independent states only contributed to the further strengthening of the British positions in the Persian Gulf, and also led to international recognition of the British protectorate over Kuwait. By the way, in the 1920s, the British protectorate even helped Kuwait to survive - after the invention of artificial pearls, the scale of the pearl trade, which was previously controlled by Arab merchants from the emirates of the Persian Gulf, sharply decreased. The prosperity of the commercial ports of the Gulf began to decline rapidly, and Kuwait did not escape a severe economic crisis. Oil in a small possession was not yet produced, and Kuwait did not have other items of income comparable to the pearl trade. In 1941, after the German attack on the Soviet Union, British military units were deployed in Kuwait and Iraq.
Iraqi appetites and Kuwaiti sovereignty
The British Crown soldiers remained in Kuwait until 1961 and were withdrawn after Kuwait declared political independence on June 19, 1961. By this time, the small state was already developing oil, which ensured the rapid growth of the economy. At the same time, Kuwait remained a tidbit for neighboring Iraq. Iraq was a superpower compared to Kuwait. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War and until 1932, Iraq was in the status of a mandate territory of Great Britain, although in 1921 the country was proclaimed a kingdom. In 1932, the political independence of Iraq was proclaimed, and on July 14, 1958, a revolution took place in the country. The king, regent and prime minister of Iraq were killed, and power was seized by Colonel Abdel Kerim Qasem, who commanded the Iraqi Army's 19th Infantry Brigade. Like many Middle Eastern leaders of that time, Kassem focused on cooperation with the USSR. Already in 1959, the last British servicemen left the territory of Iraq, and Qasem began to develop economic and military ties with the Soviet Union. Thus began the transformation of Iraq into a state of the anti-imperialist camp.
In an effort to turn Iraq into a strong regional power, Qassem did not hide his territorial claims to neighboring states. So, it was Qasem who became the first leader of the Iraqi state to begin preparations for the Iran-Iraq war. In particular, Qasem announced Iraq's claims to the Khorramshahr area, which, according to the Prime Minister, was illegally transferred to Iran by Turkey, but in fact, historically, was Iraqi land. Under Qasem, support for Arab separatists in the Iranian province of Khuzistan also began. Of course, neighboring Kuwait did not escape territorial claims. The main reason for the territorial claims, in fact, was not even the desire to gain control over the Kuwaiti oil fields - there was enough oil in Iraq and its own, but Iraq's need for its own port on the Persian Gulf coast. As a large and economically promising state, Iraq suffered from the lack of a full-fledged access to the sea. The waters of the Persian Gulf wash only a very small part of Iraqi territory, and in general, Kuwait blocks the country's access to the sea. Therefore, Iraq has long claimed to include the emirate in its composition. But until 1961, the plans of the Iraqi nationalists were restrained by the British military presence in Kuwait - the Iraqi political elite was well aware that the country would not be able to resist the UK. But as soon as Kuwait was proclaimed an independent state, Iraq hastened to declare its claims to its territory. On June 25, 1961, less than a week after the proclamation of Kuwait's independence, Iraqi Prime Minister General Qasem called Kuwait an integral part of the Iraqi state and is a district in Basra province. There were serious fears that the Iraqi prime minister would move from words to deeds and move the Iraqi army into Kuwait. Therefore, British troops numbering about 7 thousand troops were reintroduced to Kuwait. They remained in the country until October 10, 1961, when they were replaced by units of the armed forces of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt (then called the United Arab Republic) and Sudan. Since that time, Kuwait has been constantly under the threat of annexation by Iraq. Temporarily, verbal attacks by Iraqi leaders on Kuwait ended after the overthrow and execution of General Qasem in 1963. On October 4, 1963, Iraq recognized Kuwait's independence, and Kuwait even provided Iraq with a large cash loan. But already in 1968, after the Baath party came to power in Iraq again, relations between the two states became complicated again. The Baathists refused to recognize the agreement on the recognition of Kuwait's sovereignty of October 4, 1963 in the part related to the establishment of borders. The fact is that the Iraqi leadership insisted on the transfer of the island of Varba, the northern part of the island of Bubiyan, to Iraq. True, as compensation, Iraq offered Kuwait significantly larger territories on the southern border. Saddam Hussein, who came to power in Iraq in 1979, even offered to lease the islands of Varba and Bubiyan for a period of 99 years. Among other proposals was a request to allow Iraq to lay its oil pipeline through Kuwaiti lands. However, Kuwait refused all of Baghdad's proposals. It is likely that the refusal of the Kuwaiti government was motivated by pressure from the United States and Great Britain, which feared that Iraq might acquire its own ports or an oil pipeline. Conflicts have flared up on the Kuwaiti-Iraqi border. In 1973, there were armed clashes between Iraqi and Kuwaiti troops, and in 1977 Iraq closed the state border with Kuwait. Relative normalization of relations followed in July 1977. In 1980, Kuwait supported Iraq in the war with Iran (although there were reasons for that - the monarch of Kuwait feared the spread of the ideas of the Islamic revolution to the monarchy of the Persian Gulf). The Kuwaiti side even provided Iraq with a large monetary loan, since Iraq needed funding for a military campaign against Iraq. It should be noted that during the Iran-Iraq war, Baghdad was supported by the Soviet Union, Western countries, and the Sunni monarchies of the Persian Gulf, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian-Iraqi war lasted eight years and cost both countries colossal human casualties and economic costs. But two years later, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein again turned to aggressive rhetoric - this time to neighboring Kuwait, which seemed to him an easily vulnerable target due to its small territory and population.
The fact is that by 1990 oil prices dropped significantly, which affected the economic well-being of Iraq. Saddam Hussein blamed the Gulf countries for this, which increased oil production and, thereby, contributed to lower prices. At the same time, Hussein did not hesitate in expressions and stressed that in the context of the economic crisis, an increase in oil production by the Gulf countries brings damage to Iraq in the amount of at least a billion dollars a year. In addition, Baghdad owed Kuwait US $ 14 billion, and the annexation of this state would have allowed it to avoid paying its bills. Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing oil from Iraqi fields and complicity in an international conspiracy against Iraq initiated by Western countries. The entry of Kuwait into the Basra governorate during the Ottoman rule in Iraq was also used as a pretext for presenting claims against Kuwait. Saddam Hussein saw Kuwait as nothing more than a historical province of Iraq, cut off from it by the British colonialists. At the same time, it is natural that the Kuwaitis themselves did not yearn for the entry of their small country into Iraq, since the standard of living of Kuwaiti citizens was much higher. On July 18, 1990, Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait of illegally extracting oil from a border field, which, in his opinion, belongs to Iraq. The Iraqi leader demanded from Kuwait compensation in the amount of the forgiven Iraqi debt of $ 14 billion and the payment of another $ 2.5 billion "from above". But the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, did not comply with the Iraqi demands. The monarch of Kuwait counted on help from his British and American allies and hoped that Saddam Hussein would not risk attacking a neighboring state. As it turned out, he was wrong. Soon after Saddam Hussein's speech, the redeployment of Iraqi ground forces to the Iraqi-Kuwait border began. At the same time, Saddam Hussein continued to assure Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was trying to act as a mediator between the two Arab states, that he was ready for a peaceful dialogue with the Emir of Kuwait. However, already on August 1, 1990, Iraq put forward deliberately impracticable demands on Kuwait, hoping that the emir would buy them off and really provide Baghdad with billions of dollars. But that did not happen. Sheikh Jaber refused to comply with the demands of his northern neighbor.
Nineteenth Province
The military potential of Iraq and Kuwait on the eve of the conflict was, of course, incomparable. Defense expenditures were at the forefront of the Iraqi government budget. By 1990, Iraq possessed one of the largest armies in the world. The country's armed forces numbered 1 million, with a total Iraqi population of 19 million. That is, more than every twentieth Iraqi was in military service. At the end of July 1990, about 120 thousand Iraqi army personnel and about 350 tanks were concentrated on the Iraqi-Kuwait border. On August 2, 1990, at 2.00 am, the Iraqi army crossed the border with Kuwait and invaded Kuwaiti territory. Iraqi ground forces were moving to the capital of the country in two directions - the main road to Kuwait and further south, to cut off the capital from southern Kuwait. At the same time, Iraqi marines landed in Kuwait, and the Iraqi Air Force launched airstrikes on the Kuwaiti capital. Iraqi special forces attempted to seize the Emir's palace by landing from helicopters, but Sheikh Jaber's guards were able to repulse the Iraqi commandos. While the Iraqi and Kuwaiti special forces were fighting, the emir and his closest circle were evacuated by helicopter to Saudi Arabia. Only in the evening of August 2, Iraqi troops managed to storm the palace of the Emir of Kuwait, but the monarch himself was no longer there. Another major battle took place on the same day in Al Jahra, between units of the 35th Armored Brigade of the Kuwaiti Ground Forces, commanded by Colonel Salem al-Masoud, and the Hammurabi Panzer Division of the Iraqi Republican Guard. As a result of the battle, 25 Iraqi T-72 tanks were destroyed, while the Kuwaiti brigade lost only 2 Chieftain tanks. Such high losses of the Iraqi division "Hammurabi" were explained by the unexpected attack of the Kuwaiti tank battalion. However, in the end, the 35th Kuwaiti Brigade still had to retreat to Saudi Arabia. By August 4, 1990, the entire territory of Kuwait was under the control of the Iraqi army. As a result of the two-day war, 295 Iraqi troops were killed. Kuwait suffered much more serious losses - 4,200 Kuwaiti soldiers and officers were killed in the fighting, and 12,000 Kuwaiti army personnel were captured. In fact, the Kuwaiti armed forces ceased to exist, with the exception of those units that managed to retreat to Saudi Arabia. On August 4, 1990, the establishment of the "Provisional Government of Free Kuwait" was announced and the "Republic of Kuwait" was proclaimed. The "Provisional Government" included 9 Kuwaiti officers who went over to the side of Iraq. This government, completely controlled by Baghdad, was headed by Lieutenant Alaa Hussein Ali al-Khafaji al-Jaber. Born in Kuwait, Alaa Hussein Ali was educated in Iraq, where he joined the Baath Party. Returning to Kuwait, he served in the Kuwaiti army and was promoted to lieutenant by the time the Iraqi army invaded. After going over to the side of Iraq, he headed the collaborationist government of Kuwait, on August 8, 1990, announced the reunification of Kuwait with Iraq. Alaa Hussein Ali was promoted to colonel in the Iraqi army and appointed deputy prime minister of Iraq. On August 28, Kuwait was declared the 19th province of Iraq under the name "Saddamia". General Ali Hassan al-Majid (1941-2010), a cousin of Saddam Hussein, known by the nickname "Chemical Ali" and famous for suppressing Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, was appointed governor of the 19th province. Ali Hasan al-Majid was considered one of Saddam Hussein's closest associates and a tough military leader. In October 1990, "Chemical Ali" was replaced as governor by General Aziz Salih al-Numan (born 1941), and Ali Hasan al-Majid was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs of Iraq.
UN Resolutions and Operation Desert Shield
The international community's reaction to the annexation of Kuwait followed in the early days of the Iraqi invasion. Most of all, the American leadership was worried, as there were fears about the likelihood of an invasion of Iraqi troops in Saudi Arabia. On August 2, 1990, US President George W. Bush decided to send American troops to the Persian Gulf. An arms embargo was imposed against Iraq, which the Soviet Union joined the next day, August 3, 1990. On August 4, 1990, China supported the arms embargo on Iraq. On August 8, 1990, US President George W. Bush demanded from Saddam Hussein the immediate withdrawal of troops from Kuwait - without negotiations or any conditions. On the same day, the transfer of units of the 82nd Airborne Division of the American army to Saudi Arabia began. On the other hand, Iraq also began to prepare for the defense of its territory, building the so-called. "Saddam's line" - powerful military fortifications, minefields and tank traps along Kuwait's border with Saudi Arabia. Note that the Soviet Union, despite the fact that it was one of the main military partners of Iraq and before the invasion of Kuwait carried out large-scale supplies of weapons to the Iraqi army, was forced to join the rest of the countries. Since 1972, the USSR and Iraq have been linked by the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, and there were about 5 thousand Soviet citizens on the territory of Iraq - military and civilian specialists and members of their families. It would seem that Moscow should have made every possible effort to resolve the conflict peacefully and force the United States to abandon its plans of military action against Iraq. But the Soviet Union did not succeed in realizing this task. On the one hand, the United States and its allies were extremely determined, on the other hand, and Saddam Hussein did not want to make concessions and withdraw troops from Kuwait.
Throughout the autumn of 1990, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions on the "Kuwait issue", but Saddam Hussein stubbornly refused to give up the newly acquired "nineteenth province". On November 29, 1990, the 12th UN resolution was adopted, which emphasized that if Iraq does not fulfill the requirements of all previous resolutions on the problem, the UN will retain the possibility of using all the necessary means to resolve the situation that has arisen. On January 9, 1991, a meeting between US Secretary of State J. Baker and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz took place in Geneva. Baker gave Aziz a letter from Bush Sr. demanding to leave Kuwait before January 15, 1991. Tariq Aziz refused to accept Bush's letter, considering it insulting to Iraq. It became clear that an armed conflict between Iraq and the United States, as well as the states that supported the United States in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, was inevitable. By early January 1991, formations, units and subunits of the armed forces of a number of states were concentrated in the Persian Gulf region, which agreed to take part in the likely operation to liberate Kuwait. The total number of Allied troops was about 680,000 troops. Most of them were servicemen of the American army - about 415 thousand people. In addition to the United States, impressive military contingents sent: Great Britain - a motorized infantry division, special forces, aviation and naval units, France - units and subunits totaling 18,000 troops, Egypt - about 40 thousand troops, including 2 armored divisions, Syria - about 17 thousand military personnel, including the armored division. Military units from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Bangladesh, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Spain, Honduras, Senegal and a number of other states also took part in the operation. While American troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia, their actions were officially called Operation Desert Shield.
Desert Storm: Kuwait was liberated in four days
On January 17, 1991, Operation Desert Storm began. At around 3.00 am on January 17, coalition forces launched a series of powerful air and missile strikes against key Iraqi military and economic infrastructure. In response, Iraq launched missile strikes on the territories of Saudi Arabia and Israel. In parallel, the American command began the transfer of ground forces to the western borders of Iraq, and the Iraqi side did not know about the redeployment of enemy troops due to the lack of proper aviation and radio-technical intelligence. Rocket and air strikes by coalition forces on Iraqi territory continued throughout the second half of January and the first half of February 1991. At the same time, the last attempt to end the war was made by the Soviet Union, organizing a meeting in Moscow between the Foreign Ministers of the USSR and Iraq A. Bessmertnykh and Tariq Aziz. On February 22, 1991, the Soviet side announced six points of an armistice - the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait began the day after the ceasefire, the withdrawal of troops was carried out within 21 days from the territory of Kuwait and 4 days from the territory of the Kuwaiti capital, liberated and transferred to the Kuwaiti side all Kuwaiti prisoners of war, control over the ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops is exercised by peacekeeping forces or UN observers. But these points, voiced by Soviet diplomats, were not accepted by the American side. George W. Bush said that Saddam Hussein's preconditions for the withdrawal of troops were already in violation of the UN Security Council resolution. The United States demanded the immediate withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait from February 23, 1991, a week was given to complete the withdrawal. However, Saddam Hussein did not honor the American side with his answer. On the morning of February 24, 1991, coalition formations were ready for an offensive along the entire line of contact with the Iraqi army, that is, at 500 kilometers. With the help of helicopters, 4,000 soldiers and officers of the US 101st Air Assault Division with equipment and weapons were deployed to Southeast Iraq. The backbone of the offensive forces of the coalition were: formations and units of the 7th US Army Corps as part of the 1st and 3rd armored, 1st infantry, 1st cavalry (armored) divisions, 2 armored cavalry reconnaissance regiments; 1st Armored Division of the British Army; 9th Armored Division of the Syrian Army; 2 armored divisions of the Egyptian army.
The strike by the coalition forces was carried out along the "Saddam Line" - defensive structures that were built on the border of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. At the same time, air strikes were launched on Iraqi positions, as a result of which the Iraqi armed forces, concentrated on the first line of defense, lost up to 75% of their forces. The mass surrender of Iraqi soldiers and officers began almost immediately. Despite Saddam Hussein's bellicose statements, the defeat of the Iraqi army has become an obvious fact. On the night of February 25-26, Saddam Hussein ordered the Iraqi armed forces to retreat to the positions in which they were stationed before August 1, 1990, that is, before the invasion of Kuwait began. On February 26, 1991, Field Marshal Saddam Hussein addressed his compatriots. He said: “Today our heroic troops will leave Kuwait … Compatriots, I applaud your victory. You confronted 30 countries and the evil they brought here. You, the gallant sons of Iraq, have confronted the whole world. And you won … Today, special conditions forced the Iraqi army to retreat. We were forced to do this by circumstances, including the aggression of 30 states and their terrible blockade. But we still have hope and determination in our hearts and souls … How sweet is the victory! " In fact, "victory" meant defeat - Iraqi troops were withdrawing from Kuwait.
The day after Saddam Hussein's speech, February 27, 1991, the national flag of Kuwait was raised again in Kuwait, the capital of Kuwait. Another day later, on February 28, 1991, Saddam Hussein announced a ceasefire. Iraq accepted all UN demands. On March 3, 1991, a ceasefire agreement was signed at the Iraqi air base Safwan captured by coalition troops. On the part of the allies, it was signed by the commander of the coalition forces, General Norman Schwarzkopf, and the commander of the Arab forces, Prince Khaled bin Sultan, on the Iraqi side, by General Sultan Hashem Ahmed. Thus, the ground part of the military operation to liberate Kuwait was completed in just four days. In addition to the liberation of Kuwait, the forces of the international coalition also occupied 15% of the territory of Iraq. The losses of the coalition amounted to several hundred military personnel. The most complete statistics exist for the American army - it lost 298 dead, of which 147 were combat losses. Saudi Arabia lost 44 troops, Great Britain - 24 troops (11 of them died during mistaken fire on their own), Egypt - 14 troops, UAE - 6 troops, Syria - 2 troops, France - 2 troops. Iraq's losses, on the contrary, were colossal. Western media reported numbers of up to 100,000 Iraqi military personnel killed in airstrikes, missile strikes and ground operations. Some researchers cite smaller numbers - about 20-25 thousand servicemen. In any case, the combat losses of the Iraqi army were many times greater than the losses of the coalition forces. The US Army has captured more than 71,000 Iraqi troops. In fact, 42 divisions of the Iraqi army ceased to exist. Iraq also suffered enormous damage in the field of weapons and military equipment. It is known that 319 aircraft were destroyed, another 137 aircraft flew to Iran. Air and missile strikes destroyed 19 ships of the Iraqi Navy. As for ground military equipment, from 1,800 to 3,700 Iraqi tanks were destroyed, disabled and captured by the allies. Leaving Kuwait, Iraqi forces set fire to oil wells, opening artillery fire on oil facilities in the Al Jafra area. By the end of February 1991, Iraqi soldiers were blowing up 100 oil wells a day. Such actions have not yet been committed in history - a total of 727 oil wells were set on fire. Fires at oil wells were extinguished after the liberation of the country, more than 10 thousand people from 28 countries of the world took part in their elimination. Ultimately, it took 258 days to clear all the fires.
The aftermath of the war
In 1994 g. Saddam Hussein's government nevertheless agreed to recognize the political sovereignty of Kuwait, although certain territorial claims remained with Iraq against Kuwait even after the recognition of the country's independence. For Iraq itself, the war over Kuwait brought colossal economic losses. Over the next decades, a special UN Compensation Commission monitored Iraq's payments of compensation to injured individuals and legal entities - totaling $ 52 million. Compensations were deducted from the export of Iraqi oil and oil products. The invasion of Saddam Hussein's troops into Kuwait also led to an increase in Western attention to Iraq. It can be said that this very step led to a sharp deterioration in Iraq's relations with Western countries and laid a mine under the regime of Saddam Hussein. If in the 1980s. The West supported Saddam Hussein's regime in its confrontation with Iran, since it considered it a more acceptable force in the Middle East, then after Desert Storm, the attitude towards Saddam changed, and he himself was forever included by Western propaganda in the list of “war criminals” and “bloody dictators. " Despite the fact that in 2002 Saddam Hussein officially apologized to Kuwait for the invasion of the Iraqi army in 1990, the Kuwaiti leadership rejected the Iraqi leader's apology. It was after the events of 1990-1991. the actions of Saddam Hussein began to be scrutinized and sharply criticized by the West. In particular, Saddam Hussein was accused of organizing the development of weapons of mass destruction, of the genocide of the Kurdish and Shiite population of Iraq, as well as the so-called "Swamp Arabs". In 1998, US aviation launched air raids on Iraq as part of Operation Desert Fox, and in 2001 US President George W. Bush accused Iraq of supporting international terrorism. The impetus for this event was the terrorist act of September 11, 2001. In 2003, the United States, with the support of its allies, again launched an armed invasion of Iraq - this time illegal, contrary to international norms and rules.
As a result of the invasion, the Iraqi War began, which ended with the defeat of Saddam Hussein's regime and the American occupation of Iraq. Kuwait has become a staging ground for US troops and the forces of US allies. In 2006, Saddam Hussein was executed by the occupying authorities. After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, the situation in Iraq was greatly destabilized. It can be argued that it was the last American invasion of Iraq that played the main role in the chaos of this country - the actual destruction of its territorial integrity, the split into practically independent and warring regions. The emergence of IS (an organization banned in Russia) also became one of the consequences of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime and the American occupation of Iraq. On December 18, 2011, the last parts of American troops were withdrawn from Iraq, but the leaving American military left behind a country devastated by almost nine years of occupation, thrown into the abyss of a civil war between opposing groups. Operation Desert Storm was the first example of massive involvement of the US military and its allies in defending their political interests in the Middle East. The United States, its Western and Middle Eastern allies acted as a united front against a common enemy and achieved their goal in the shortest possible time. Perhaps the success of Desert Storm was due, first of all, to the fact that this operation was fair and focused on the liberation of occupied Kuwait. However, then, 12 years after the liberation of Kuwait, American troops acted as an aggressor and invaded Iraqi territory.
Kuwait as an American military base
As for Kuwait, strong anti-Iraqi sentiments still persist in that country. Kuwaiti experts, having calculated the damage incurred by Kuwait as a result of the Iraqi attack and added to it the Iraqi national debt to Kuwait, announced the figure of 200 billion dollars that Iraq owes to Kuwait. Despite the fact that Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown in 2003, Kuwaitis as a whole has a rather cool attitude towards Iraq. Now this attitude is supplemented by the fear of destabilizing the situation in the region. Iraq is viewed as a source of potential danger, also because the Iraqi government does not control the situation in a significant part of its own territory. The Iraqi invasion was another argument for Kuwait in favor of the need to modernize and strengthen its own armed forces. The Kuwaiti army was practically destroyed in the very first days after the Iraqi invasion, so after the liberation of Kuwait, the country's armed forces had to be rebuilt. The very next year after the expulsion of the Iraqi army in 1992, a military budget was planned, which was six times higher than Kuwait's defense spending in the pre-war period. At present, the armed forces of Kuwait have about 15, 5 thousand troops and include the ground forces, the air force, the navy and the national guard. Of course, despite the high volumes of funding and good technical equipment, in the event of a clash with a serious adversary of the Kuwaiti army, one will have to rely only on the help of larger allies, primarily the United States of America and Great Britain. By the way, a significant part of the military personnel of the Kuwaiti army are foreign specialists invited from Western countries.
But Kuwait's main defense is not its own army and foreign mercenaries, but the US armed contingent. Kuwait has remained the most important US military base in the Persian Gulf since Operation Desert Storm. In total, there are 21 American bases in the Persian Gulf zone, of which 6 are in Kuwait. About 130,000 American troops, armored vehicles, aircraft and helicopters are stationed in Kuwait. In addition, a 20,000-strong British military contingent is based in Kuwait. In fact, it was the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that became the reason for the permanent deployment of American and British troops in this country. For Kuwait, military cooperation with the United States is beneficial, first of all, because the United States guarantees the country's security, equips and trains the Kuwaiti army. For the United States, Kuwait represents an important springboard for a military presence in the region aimed at ensuring American political and economic influence in the Middle East.
