Desert Storm: The War in the Persian Gulf

244 Pages·1991·46.904 MB·English

by  Otto Friedrich

A Time Book
^
L F
•*
A
~*
*
<*£
_.-.
—
-~5UfLc*!*-T-
*• 4

Storm
Desert
The War in the Persian Gulf

The War the Persian Gulf
in
By the Editors of Time Magazine
Edited by Otto Friedrich
TIME
Book
Distributed by
Brown and Company
Little,
Boston Toronto London
c
Copyright©1991 byTimeWarnerPublishingInc.
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced inany
formorbyanyelectronicormechanicalmeans,including
informationstorage andretrievalsystems,withoutpermissionin
writingfromthepublisher, exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote
briefpassagesinareview.
FirstEdition
ATimeBook
DistributWbyLittle,BrownandCompany**.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNo.91-52896
987654321
10
ISBNNumber0-316-85100-0
PublishedsimultaneouslyinCanadabyLittle,Brown& Company
(Canada)Limited
Printedinthe UnitedStatesofAmerica
Editor: Otto Fdedricfa
Picture Editor: Jay ( olton
Designer: Robert K. llcnulon
Writers: Principal Correspondents:
I: Lance Morrow,seniorwriter Amman: Scott Macl coilAnkara: Robert T. Zintl Cairo/SaudiArabia:
II: ChristopherOgden,diplomaticcorrespondent William Howell. Dean lischcr Kuwait: Lara Marlowe London:
III: Ed Magnuson.seniorwriter William Mader, Frank Melville Washington: David Aikman,
1\ : John Elson.contributor Ann Blackman, Michael Duffy, Dan ( toodgame, Jay PeterzeU,
V: StanleyW. Cloud,Washington bureau chief Michael Riles
VI:Jesse Birnbaum,correspondent
Research: NelidaGonzalez Cutler (chief),Ginia Bellafante,
VII: PaulGray,seniorwriter
PeggyT. Berman, Hannah J. Hloeh, Anne Hopkins, Ratu Kainlani.
VIII: Michael Kramer,specialcorrespondent
Valerie J. Marchant,Joe McGowan, NancyC. Morgan, Ursula
IX: Jon D. Hull,Jerusalembureau chief
Nadasdyde Gallo. Moira M. O'Donncll, Brigid O'Hara-lorster,
X: BrucevanVoorst,seniorcorrespondent
Ariadna Victoria Rainert, Susan M. Rccd, BettySattcrwhite Sutter
XI: WilliamA. Henry III,seniorwriter
XII: Donald Morrison,assistant managingeditor. Entertainment Production: Trang BaChuong, Robert L. Becker
Weemi
Pre-preSS Services: Raphael Jos, Project Manager, IMPACT
XIII: John Greenwald,seniorwriter
XIV: RonaldKriss,executiveeditor ( enter; Linda Parker, ProjectCoordinator,TIME Imaging
XV: Nancv R.Gibbs, associateeditor
„ t
$
r^w
~
#:*
%
*
1
The War
in the Persian Gulf'
When
Victory Brings a Glow of Righteousness
How the U.S. Got into This War
A Massive Attack from Sea and Sky
"The Mother of Battles": 100 Hours
Maps &
Charts
A South Bronx Kid Who Wanted to Be a Hero
The Very Model of a Major Modern General
Saddam Hussein: A Dreamer of Bloody Dreams 125
Kuwait: A Story of Conquest, Chaos, Revenge 135
Israel Under Fire: The Grim Need for Restraint 155
Stealth and Smart Bombs: Will Star Wars Work?
The Civilians Often Suffer a Cruel Fate 177
The Media War: "This Is Peter Arnett" 187
And the Cost? $200 Billion? Maybe Even More 197
'he End Game: Problems Solved and Unsolved 205
And Over America, Yellow Ribbons
All
227
Index
When
Victory
Glow
Brings a
Of Righteousness
In the decades after World War II ended in a mushroom
cloud over Hiroshima, the world got used to smaller wars
with less decisive outcomes—a stalemate, Korea, or a
quagmire, Vietnam—and to the chronic, glacial menace of
the cold war.
Then at the end of the 20th century, history developed a
brilliant, bewildering inventiveness that burst with
transformations. In a period of 18 months, the old world order
seemed to deconstruct. The Berlin Wall, Eastern Europe,
the Soviet empire as a superpower, and huge, stolid
Communism itself all came down like a massive old hotel
being detonated, collapsing amid its billowing dust
in a sort of historical dream sequence.
In the Persian Gulf there suddenly materialized a drama of
dazzling display, brutal crispness and amazingly
decisive outcome.
The war played like a movie before the world and seemed
almost as brief. Like most movies, it was divided into
three distinct parts, marked by decisive turning points ofplot:
I. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the
coalition's formation and buildup.
II. The air war.
III. The ground war and coalition victory.
After the victory come the questions.
The war was what analysts called a "defining moment." What
exactly did define?
it
Rallyin Montpelier,Vt.: agiddymixtureofprideand , riewed senseofthe nation'sworth.