Disclosing USA's Warcrimes In Iraq’s Desert Storm

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, global condemnation and sanctions followed, but when those failed to stop the Iraqi dictator in his tracks, a US led coalition launched Operation Desert Storm to stop his invasion by force.

For 6 weeks between January 17th and February 28th 1991, coalition forces descended on Iraq, using devastating air power to shatter Saddam’s regime and force him out of Kuwait.

The campaign was a success, but it did not come without cost or controversy. Today on A Day In History, we’ll look at the darker side of Desert Storm: at the suffering of innocent civilians caught up in a war they never chose, at the hundreds who died from the coalition's celebrated ‘precision bombs’, and the Iraqi troops who died by the hundreds as they tried to retreat.

Desert Storm launched on January 17th 1991 and was primarily an air campaign. Conscious of the possibility of civilian casualties as their forces descended upon Iraq, coalition forces had a long list of ‘no fire’ targets to minimise civilian casualties which included schools, hospitals, mosques, and historical sites, but the realities of war meant that these places were never 100% safe.

US officials pitched it as a new modern war where sophisticated targeting systems and precision guided munitions would make collateral damage a thing of the past. Such a promise cared more about favourable media coverage than the reality of waging war in a populated country, and it set an impossibly high moral standard that coalition forces were doomed to miss.

These high-flying promises were shattered almost immediately. On the first day of Desert Storm, an air strike on the Diwaniyah telephone exchange went awry and the bombs instead hit a hotel and apartment complex nearby, killing 15 civilians. On January 20th, at least 12 people were killed and 50 houses were damaged in the town of Najaf when bombs again went off-target. Similar episodes happened across Iraq almost every day of the war.

Missile attacks had no less potential to go wrong either. The US deployed its advanced Tomahawk missile at $2 million dollars a shot, counting on their accuracy and high-yield to strike targets in the first 2 weeks of Desert Storm. On February 1st, 6 of these missiles were launched at the Al Rashid Air Base near Baghdad where intelligence sources believed Saddam was keeping chemical weapons. Unfortunately, at least one of the missiles went off target and came down in the Karada neighbourhood where 18 people, including 7 children, were wounded or killed. It ended up being the last tomahawk missile attack of the war as US leadership decided they were too expensive and too unreliable to be appropriate for further use in Iraq.

#operationdesertstorm #usairaqwar #history #desertstorm

Sources:

Rick Atkinson, Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War, (1993)

Anthony Tucker-Jones, The Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm 1990-1991, (2014)

Human Rights Watch, Needless Deaths in the Gulf War: Civilian Casualties During the Air Campaign and Violations of the Laws of War, (1991)

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[hyrumjohansson]

You can imagine the things you hear, now imagine the things you don't

[AntiCrimer]

This really drives home the other side of the story. There's always 3 sides: one side, the other side and the truth.

[irishdabs]

Ya cant blame the Iraqi citizens for disliking the US and Coalition countries! This war was a stain on both Bushs legacy

[loganeverett]

“They hate us because our freedom” yeah it has nothing to do with our hypocrisy and war crimes against civilians and our constant meddling in their affairs.

[bobfind]

It’s always the civilians who suffer the most😢😞

[Chancethecatthatcan]

As a combat veteran, I’m disgusted by the war crimes the US commits against innocent civilians. A reality nobody talks about. How about we let other countries be? Took me a while to understand that we do not fight for “liberty and freedom”. We fight for oil and special interest.

[koslisted]

"Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster." William Tecumseh Sherman

[veldrensavoth]

YOU SHOULD SEE WHAT AMERICAN SOLDIERS DID TO FELLOW SOLDIERS WHO WHERE WHISTLEBLOWERS!

[afterhourscinema]

You know the funniest part about "finding" chemical weapons in Iraq?? Back when Saddam was our butt buddy, the US gave it to him in the 1st place

[mostfa]

What is the point of the geneva convention laws at this point, if your country is strong or your name is America you can just deni the crimes and no one can do a thing about it, as an iraqi my self i can assure you that the damage they did hasn't been fixed to this day

[Abdurrahim-sihs]

Yes we should'nt mind that the us actually supported genocides and coups during the cold war and war crimes in iraq and afghanistan

[afterhourscinema]

I can just taste the "freedom"

[MistaLiir]

Relying on laser guided weapon systems in the very early 90's is insane, when they weren't even able to build a cordless joystick until 2006..

[Dustinman]

As an American this still impacts us so i can't even imagine how it's still effecting iraq

[williamwilson]

They claimed at the time that they were not making war on the Iraqi People but systimaticaly destroyed all of their utilities infrastructure.

[HoneyHydrangea]

my father was in desert storm, as a marine. He only knew what he was really fighting for years later, but the corps broke his mind, and he feels the affects to this day. I feel so bad that this happened at all.

[ibha]

Al-Amirya shelter had approximately 700 victims, less than 12 were men. I remember the scenes on TV and the pictures of children and mothers.

[stormblahblah]

Finally an English narrator that doesnt elongate the end of every single sentence. Thank you for talking normally!

[hypertempest]

I hope youtube doesn't shadow ban this video

[spliffburger]

It's only a war crime if you lose