War at Sea

War at Sea is a new series of one-off specials where each issue delves deep into a particular subject; from aircraft carriers, warships, submarines, navies and naval battles. Every edition you can be assured of 100 pages of interesting and informative reading, accompanied by outstanding photography.

WAR AT SEA

THE GULF WAR

CRISIS IN THE GULF • TENSION between Iraq and Iran had grown in the 1970s – fuelled by territorial, religious and political disputes between the two nations. These disagreements would eventually lead to war with Iran as Iraq flexed its military muscle to gain influence and power across the region. Iraq’s action in September 1980 when its forces invaded Iran would be the catalyst which forced the almost bankrupt government of President Saddam Hussein to send his military into Kuwait and ignite what was to become known as the Gulf War.

IRAQ SEIZES KUWAIT • AFTER the Iran-Iraq war, President Saddam Hussein called on the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to cancel the debts owed by Baghdad - which had accumulated as a result of financial agreements agreed during the war. The Iraq leader argued that the loans should be considered payments to Iraq for protecting the Arabian Peninsula from Iranian expansionism, but his appeals went unanswered.

THE NAVAL BUILD UP • WAR seemed inevitable after Iraq invaded Kuwait in a savage and brutal display of violence. Women were raped, men taken away and tortured by Saddam’s soldiers who appeared out of control. Many Kuwaitis had fled to Saudi, but those who stayed faced Iraqi troops breaking into their houses and mounting random executions. Those who ventured out to find food risked arrest or worse, others were subjected to horrific public beatings. Embassies which had been evacuated were ransacked and public buildings destroyed. Calls from the United Nations for Iraqi forces to withdraw were dismissed by the dictator who now felt he was the Arab King of the Middle East.

The Deception Plan • THE IRAQI military command would inevitably have reviewed the options the Coalition had to assault on Kuwait. The obvious deduction would have been to presume that the multi-national force come from Saudi Arabia, where land forces could easily resupply their forward units. An obvious geographic move would be to strike from the northern Gulf. General Schwarzkopf, who commanded the Coalition planned a land ‘punch’ and wanted to convince Saddam that the force would land on the Kuwaiti coastline. This deception plan would be critical in influencing Saddam and his staff that the main thrust of the US led force would land in a massive amphibious assault.

LIBERATION OF KUWAIT • THE military liberation of Kuwait was officially launched on 16 January 1991, when President George Bush ordered US military forces into battle to expel the Iraqis and liberate Kuwait. That fight began in the early hours of the following day as Coalition air and naval power bombed key Iraqi command bunkers. The US military had proved that it could project power thousands of miles from American shores and mount a complex strategic operation.

THE AFTERMATH – NOBODY EXPECTED • THE GULF WAR was seen as a text-book conflict, well planned, delivered and executed. But while military commanders hailed their success nobody could have imagined that events in January and February 1991 would later be seen as the ‘catalyst’ for an extremist ‘jihad’ against the West which would last for decades. The weeks of war across Kuwait and Iraq were closely watched by Islamic extremists, namely Osama bin Laden, who having fought against what he called ‘Russian invaders’ in Afghanistan now saw the Gulf war as an attack on Islamic belief. His group of militants would later attack the West and force Coalition troops back into war with Saddam Hussein.

USS ENTERPRISE