The Gulf War 1991 – Part 2: The Storm

Conflicted: A History Podcast

Zach Cornwell

Education, History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 610 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2023

⏱️ 102 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the Iraqi army digs into Kuwait, the world considers how to respond to Saddam Hussein’s breach of national sovereignty. President George H.W. Bush vows that the aggression “will not stand” and begins assembling an international coalition to force a withdrawal. Invited into Saudi Arabia, the recently reformed American military prepares for an eventual confrontation with Iraq’s battle-hardened forces. Meanwhile, a hostage crisis unfolds and a domestic debate threatens to fracture Bush’s Coalition. SOURCES: Aburish, Said K. Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge. 2000. Atkinson, Rick. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Gulf War. 1993. Al-Radi, Nuha. Baghdad Diaries. 1998. Baudrillard, Jean. The Gulf War Did Not Take Place. 1991. Bergen, Peter L. The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden. 2021. Charles Rivers Editors. The Gulf War. 2018. Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars. 2004. Coll, Steve. Branigin, William. “US scrambled to shape view of ‘Highway of Death’”. 3.11.1991. Corrigan, Jim. Desert Storm Air War. 2017. Coughlin, Con. Saddam: His Rise and Fall. 2005. Dunnigan, James F. Macedonia, Raymond M. Getting It Right. 1995. Engel, Jeffrey A. When the World Seemed New. Finlan, Alastair. The Gulf War 1991. 2003. Gordon, Michael R. Trainer, Bernard E. The General’s War. 1995. “The Gulf War” / FRONTLINE. PBS. Jan 9, 1996. Hallion, Richard P. Desert Storm 1991. 2022. Hiro, Dilip. Desert Shield to Desert Storm: The Second Gulf War. 1991. Hiro, Dilip. Cold War in the Islamic World. 2018. Karsh, Efraim. The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988. 1989. Karsh, Efraim. Rautsi, Inari. Saddam Hussein. A Political Biography. 1991. Khadduri, Majid. Ghareeb, Edmund. War in the Gulf, 1990-1991. 1999. Lockwood, Stuart. 2015 June 5. “That’s Me In The Picture”. The Guardian. Mufson, Steven. 1990 Aug 6. “Kuwait Assets Form Vast, Frozen Empire”. The Washington Post. Murray, Williamson. Woods, Kevin M. The Iran-Iraq War. 2014. Meacham, Jon. Destiny and Power. 2015. Morris, David J. Storm on the Horizon. 2004. Riedel, Bruce. Kings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States. 2019. Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead. 2003. Woodward, Bob. 1991, May 4. “Regal Audience for a Forceful Presence”. The Washington Post Wyndham, Buck. Hogs in the Sand. 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to conflicted, the history podcast where we talk about the struggles that shaped us, the tough questions that they pose, and why we should care about any of it.
0:09.7	Conflicted is a member of the Evergreen podcast network, and as always, I'm your host, Zach Cornwell.
0:15.6	If you'd like to support Conflicted, you can become a patron of the show at patreon.com slash conflicted history podcast. That's patreon.com slash conflicted, you can become a patron of the show at patreon.com slash conflicted history podcast.
0:22.9	That's patreon.com slash conflicted history podcast.
0:27.0	Another great way to support the show is to just leave a nice review or drop me a line on one of our
0:31.5	social media channels. It goes without saying, but I absolutely love hearing from you guys.
0:36.7	The kind words and the thoughtful
0:38.2	responses I get are always such a huge gust of wind in my sales. And they always make me want
0:43.2	to keep writing, pushing, and refining this show just a little bit more every time. So thank you.
0:48.1	It really does mean a lot. Now with all the housekeeping done, let's get down to business.
0:52.9	You are listening to Part 2 of a three-part series on the 1991 Gulf War.
0:58.6	Needless to say, if you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, I definitely recommend you check that out before diving into this one.
1:04.2	Last episode was relatively short, but we covered a lot of ground.
1:07.7	We hopped and skipped and jumped around the 20th century, setting up several
1:11.4	plot threads that are going to start intertwining and playing off each other in interesting ways.
1:16.4	If this episode is the what, last episode was most definitely the why. But if you have already
1:22.0	listened to Part 1, Lines in the Sand, then you are right where you need to be. Before we head
1:26.7	into the next stage of our
1:27.6	story, though, I think it might be good to briefly retrace our steps and remind ourselves
1:31.9	what happened last time. Last episode began and ended with helicopters. We opened on American
1:38.4	choppers evacuating Saigon in 1975, and we closed with Iraqi helicopters descending into Kuwait in 1990.
1:46.7	The two scenes were only separated by about 15 years, but in that short time, the world had
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