War in the Persian Gulf Almanac | The Ground War

• The Battle of Khafji
• Coalition leaders plan a deception
• The ground war begins
• Coalition achieves victory in one hundred hours
• Iraq suffers a lopsided defeat

On February 22, 1991, U.S. President George Bush (1924–; served 1989–93 ) set a deadline of noon the following day for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (1937–) to withdraw his military forces from neighboring Kuwait. By this time, the U.S.-led coalition had been pounding military targets in Iraq and Kuwait from the air for nearly six weeks. Though the air war had taken a severe toll on the Iraqi forces, Hussein still refused to withdraw. He also promised to cause major damage to the coalition troops if they...