30 years ago, an international coalition led by the United States launched Operation Desert Storm against the Iraqi army, which had previously occupied Kuwait on the orders of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

This operation is usually divided into several periods.

At the first stage (January 17-22, 1991), the allies won air supremacy, at the second stage (January 23-February 11), the military-economic potential of Iraq was undermined, at the third stage (February 12-23), the bombing rained down on the concentration of ground forces Arab Republic.

In total, the airstrikes lasted 39 days.

During this time, 88.5 thousand tons of ammunition were dropped.

At the final stage (February 24-28), the coalition launched ground units into battle, which forced the Iraqis to withdraw all forces from Kuwait.

Conflicting consequences

Hussein's troops were unable to offer serious resistance and suffered a crushing defeat from the coalition.

There is still no exact data on the losses of Iraq, but it is known that, in addition to military targets, civilians became victims of the coalition's bombings.

According to unofficial estimates, "Desert Storm" claimed the lives of 100,000 to 200,000 Iraqi civilians.

About 340 people were killed by the coalition forces, 293 of them were American soldiers.

In 1990, Iraq accused Kuwait of developing oil fields in disputed territories and overproduction of oil and demanded compensation in the amount of about $ 2.5 billion for "moral damage", as well as debt cancellation (according to media reports, from $ 15 billion to $ 17 billion).

After the refusal, the emirate was occupied by Hussein's troops on August 2, 1990.

The real reason for the occupation of Kuwait, experts say, was the desire of the Iraqi leader to improve the economic situation of the country at the expense of a neighboring prosperous, but militarily weak Arab state.

The military action of Baghdad was instantly condemned by the UN Security Council.

In resolution No. 660 of August 2, 1990, he demanded that Hussein withdraw his troops immediately.

The Iraqi leader announced that he was ready to take such a step, but soon declared this country a new province of Iraq.

On November 29, 1990, by resolution No. 678, the UN Security Council issued an ultimatum to Hussein on the withdrawal of troops from Kuwait before January 15, 1991 and authorized the use of force in case of refusal.

In response, Hussein said that he intended to defend the territorial integrity of Iraq and threatened to use chemical weapons.

In January 1991, the United States and its allies pulled back to the borders of Iraq, according to media reports, a group of about 600 thousand people, concentrated more than 4 thousand tanks and 3.7 thousand artillery pieces and mortars.

The coalition sent over 100 ships to the shores of the Middle East state, including six aircraft carriers.

Approximately 80% of these forces were American.

The coalition had an overwhelming technological advantage.

The US Armed Forces actively used the latest aircraft, airborne high-precision guided munitions, Tomahawk cruise missiles, and electronic warfare (EW).

Experts call "Desert Storm" the first large-scale armed conflict in the Middle East, which took place without the participation of the USSR.

During the Cold War, Moscow supported Baghdad with arms supplies, but in 1990 it joined the arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council.

  • Fighting in Operation Desert Storm

  • AFP

  • © PASCAL GUYOT

In an interview with RT, Azhdar Kurtov, editor-in-chief of the journal Problems of National Strategy of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS), noted that Desert Storm had led to conflicting consequences for the security of the Middle East.

According to the expert, the operation allowed to restore the sovereignty of Kuwait, which was occupied by Iraqi troops bypassing international law.

At the same time, against the backdrop of the weakening of Moscow's influence, Desert Storm has instilled in Washington confidence that many of the world's problems can be relatively easily solved with the help of military force.

“The dizzying success of Desert Storm served as a kind of prologue to further wars with the participation of the United States, but without the sanctions of the UN Security Council.

The strategic goal of the Americans was to weaken or eliminate disloyal regimes in Europe and the Middle East for the sake of establishing global hegemony, "said Kurtov.

In 1995 and 1999, the United States, along with its allies, carried out Operation Deliberate Force and Allied Force, which destroyed the Yugoslav statehood.

Also, without receiving a mandate from the UN Security Council in 1998, the Americans attacked Afghanistan, and in 2001 they launched Operation Enduring Freedom in this country.

Under the pretext of Baghdad concealing weapons of mass destruction in 1998, US and British forces attacked Iraq (Desert Fox) from the air, and in March 2003, the US and its allies launched Operation Shock and Awe, which led to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

The Iraqi leader was captured by American troops in December 2003 near the city of Tikrit.

In 2004, he appeared in court and was executed by hanging in 2006 on charges of killing 148 Shiites in the town of Ad-Dujeil in 1982.

“Hussein was inclined to military adventures and committed many crimes, including against his own people.

There is a lot of blood on his hands, ”said Azhdar Kurtov.

However, he noted that the Iraqi leader at the same time managed to contain contradictions in society, radical Islamization and, in general, keep the country in a more or less stable state.

A similar point of view is shared by the political scientist-orientalist, associate professor of the Russian State Humanitarian University Sergei Seryogichev.

According to the expert, Hussein's brutality cannot be justified, but his overthrow turned into an erosion of Iraqi statehood, an outburst of sectarian enmity and rampant terrorism.

“Of course, the operation to liberate Kuwait in 1991 was completely justified, but in 2003 the Americans were guided by completely different motives.

These campaigns cannot be equated.

2003 showed that the United States can not give a damn about all norms of international law in search of mythical weapons of mass destruction, ”the analyst emphasized.

Blind politics

According to Seryogichev, after the intervention, the United States imposed an unacceptable form of government on the people of Iraq, which ignored the need to balance the interests of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

As a result, the radical Islamist formations of the Sunni persuasion have noticeably increased in the republic. 

It is Iraq that is home to the "Islamic State" (IS) *, which was formed in 2006 by the merger of 11 jihadist gangs.

This organization consisted mainly of former soldiers and officers of the Iraqi army who were loyal to Hussein and did not accept the new regime.

In 2013, IS and the Syrian radical organization Jabhat al-Nusra ** merged into a single terrorist structure.

As a result of a large-scale offensive in 2014, an international jihadist syndicate occupied about 40% of Iraqi territory and about 30% of the SAR, which was then engulfed in civil war.

  • IS fighter in Iraq

  • Reuters

According to experts, tens of thousands of motivated and well-armed militants from different countries of the world fought under the black banners of IS at the peak of power.

In August 2014, the United States formed an anti-ISIS coalition, but the fighting against the jihadists did not lead to major successes.

The situation changed radically only with the appearance of Russia in the theater of military operations: at the request of the official Damascus, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched a Syrian operation in September 2015. 

At the time of Moscow's military intervention, only 8% of the territory was under the control of the SAR government.

After the end of the active phase of the operation in December 2017, terrorist groups remained mainly in the Idlib de-escalation zone. 

On the fifth anniversary of the start of the operation, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russian troops killed 865 bandit leaders and more than 133,000 militants, including 4,500 bandits from Russia and the CIS countries.

According to Azhdar Kurtov, the emergence and significant strengthening of IS in the Middle East was a direct consequence of Washington's blind hegemonic policy.

In his opinion, in an effort to consolidate the status of the winner in the Cold War, the United States has taken a course of undermining the statehood of Iraq and other countries in the region, as well as supporting radical anti-government groups.

“What we have seen in Iraq over the past 30 years is a vivid example of the transformation of American politics from justified use of force to aggressive military intervention in the affairs of disloyal states.

At the same time, any means can be used, including direct and indirect forms of patronage of radical Islamists, "summed up Kurtov.

* "Islamic State" (IS, ISIS) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.

** “Jabhat al-Nusra” (“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham”, “Jabhat Fath al-Sham”, “Front al-Nusra”) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2014.