On August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait and quickly seized control of the small nation under the guise of reclaiming Kuwait as Iraq's "19th Province". The United States, along with the United Nations, demanded Iraq's immediate withdrawal, and began deploying troops to Saudi Arabia to forestall any Iraqi designs on that country.
By January 1991, more than 500,000 coalition troops were deployed in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Gulf region. Diplomacy between the United Nations and Iraqi failed, and Saddam Hussein steadfastly refused towithdraw his forces from Kuwait. On January 16, 1991, Allied forces launched a devastating air campaign against Iraqi forces within Kuwait, and against Iraqi air defenses. To counter the air attack, Saddam ordered the launching of SCUD missiles at both Israel and Saudi Arabia. Provoking the Israelis into striking back at Iraq, he thought, would split the Arab nations from the anti-Iraq coalition due to the decades old hostility between Israel and the Arab world. Israel came very close to retaliating, but held back due to President George Bush's pledge to protect Israeli cities from the SCUDs. As a result of this promise, U.S. Patriot missile batteries were deployed to Israel to shoot down the SCUDs. Another result of the SCUD launches was to divert Allied air power from hitting the Iraqi Army, to hunting for the elusive mobile missile launchers.
Coalition forces began the ground campaign February 23. Cut off from their supply bases and headquarters by the intense air campaign, thousands of Iraqi soldiers simply gave up rather than fight, as the Allies pushed through Iraq's defenses with impunity. In the few cases where elite Iraqi forces such as the Republican Guard stood and fought, superior American, British and French equipment and training proved more than a match for the Soviet-equipped Iraqis.
By February 26, U.S. and Coalition forces, along with the underground Kuwaiti Resistance, controlled Kuwait City, while Allied air forces continued to devastate the retreating Iraqi army. In southern Iraq, Allied armored forces stood at the Euphrates River near Basra, and internal rebellions began to break out against Saddam's regime. On February 27, President Bush ordered a cease-fire and the surviving Iraqi troops were allowed to retreat back to southern Iraq. On March 3, 1991, Iraq accepted the terms of the cease-fire and the fighting ended.
Although Saddam Hussein accepted the terms of the cease fire, he broke them almost immediately. It would be another 12 years of sanctions and broken Iraqi promises before he was again confronted with the overwhelming military might of the United States and her allies.