History of the Gulf conflict

The war over the invasion of Kuwait ended on February 26, 1991, with the oil-rich emirate liberated and Iraq devastated.

Since then Iraq has come under sporadic attack from US and British warplanes deployed in the Gulf to the south and Turkey in the north.

Since December, 1998, Iraq stepped up its defiance of the no-fly zones (which are NOT supported by any UN resolutions) after the United States and Britain launched a four-day bombing campaign to punish it for expelling United Nations arms inspectors charged with eliminating Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction.

US and British planes have regularly fired at Iraqi air-defence units challenging them in the no-fly zones. Iraq says 311 civilians have been killed and 927 wounded in these raids. The planes have flown more than 28,000 sorties over the country since December 1998.

Desert Fox

December 16-19, 1998: In a three-day operation dubbed "Desert Fox," US and British warplanes struck Iraq after Baghdad refused to allow UN weapons inspectors to visit an allegedly suspicious site.

Washington said the operation wiped out between 600 and 1,600 Iraqi soldiers, but Baghdad gave a drastically different toll, saying 62 soldiers were killed and 180 wounded. Iraq also said 11 civilians were killed and wounding some 300.

Iraq vows to fight

Iraq vows to fight on to victory against the United States and blamed the first US bombing of Baghdad in two years on a Zionist plot. The pledge came in an official communiqué released by the Iraqi News Agency after President Saddam Hussein chaired a meeting of military and political chiefs in Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council and the ruling Baath party.

"The aggression will not force Iraq to give up its rights," said the statement. "Aggression and threats do not discourage Iraq." "Iraq will continue to fight them (enemies) on land, in the air and at sea. Iraq will finally win and Palestine will be freed," it vowed.

"This aggression is explained by a Zionist and American plot and prepares the ground for operations by the Zionist entity against the Arabs and Palestinians," the communiqué said. According to the communiqué the bombings hit the suburbs of Baghdad.

This article is from The Revival's first website, where its publication date was not recorded. The date shown above is approximate.