Operation Desert Storm, a massive, multinational military effort to expel the invading Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, began on Jan. 17, 1991.
On Aug. 2, 1990, Hussein’s armies invaded and occupied the neighboring Middle Eastern neighbor, a move that was met with international condemnation and economic sanctions.
President George H.W. Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher deployed forces in Saudi Arabia and urged other nations to join an alliance against Hussein’s aggression. Eventually, the largest multinational military coalition since World War II was formed, and on Jan. 17, 1991, Operation Desert Storm’s aerial and naval bombardment began.
Then based in Atlanta, CNN’s broadcasts from the war’s frontlines marked the first time reporters corresponded live, on television, from battlefields. The network gained international attention for its unprecedented coverage, and the true, 24-hour news cycle was born.
A ground assault began on Feb. 24, and 100 hours later, Bush’s international coalition declared a ceasefire.
Hussein himself was left in power, however, as Bush repeatedly declared the mission was not to drive the dictator from office, but only to expel his forces from Kuwait.
Hussein was executed on Dec. 30, 2006. An Iraqi special tribunal found him guilty of war crimes after the murder of 148 Shi’ites in the town of Dujail in 1982.
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