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00:17On the 24th of February 1991, coalition forces launched a massive ground assault against Iraqi army units occupying Kuwait.
00:25In less than 100 hours, a substantial portion of the fourth largest army in the world was destroyed and Kuwait
00:33liberated.
00:35Waged for the most part in trackless desert, the Gulf War was dominated by high-tech weapons in the hands
00:40of a well-trained military.
00:42This program examines the weapons used during the campaign and the objectives of the war which determined how these weapons
00:49were used.
00:49It also chronicles the final battles that brought Desert Storm to its victorious conclusion.
01:06In November 1990, President George Bush increased the scale of U.S. forces stationed in Saudi Arabia.
01:14What had been a force suitable for defending Saudi Arabia from any further Iraqi aggression became a force designed to
01:21destroy the Iraqi army in Kuwait.
01:24It would take over two months to move these forces from bases in Europe and the United States to the
01:30Gulf.
01:30Meanwhile, America's Gulf allies, including Britain, also began deploying and reinforcing their own forces in the region.
01:51The initial ground units sent to the Gulf to deter further Iraqi aggression were centered on two main elements, the
01:58Army's 18th Airborne Corps and Marine Corps' Expeditionary Forces.
02:02The 18th Airborne Corps was configured to be light and easy to move, sacrificing firepower for transportability.
02:11It was based around three divisions, the 82nd Airborne, a paratrooper division, the 101st Air Assault, a helicopter-borne infantry
02:20division, and the 24th Mechanized, a heavy infantry division with a substantial armor force.
02:26United States Marine Corps divisions were also configured on the basis of strategic mobility.
02:31Even with the Allied coalition forces added, these initial American formations were believed to be insufficient to liberate Kuwait.
02:42President Bush's November decision led to the deployment of the Army's heavy maneuver forces to Saudi Arabia.
02:48The primary U.S. Army formation was the 7th Corps, normally based in Germany.
02:54The 7th Corps would bring with it three armored divisions, a mechanized infantry division, and substantial corps formations.
03:03These divisions were all heavy maneuver units, difficult to transport, but possessing substantially more combat power and tactical mobility than
03:12the forces already in the Gulf region.
03:16The unique difference between the American maneuver divisions and their Iraqi opponents was the helicopter.
03:23U.S. Army maneuver divisions were equipped with their own helicopter forces, including a substantial force of attack helicopters.
03:30Iraqi Army forces had no significant helicopter force.
03:35The principal British Army unit in the Gulf, the 1st Armored Division, was a heavy armor formation much like its
03:42American counterpart.
03:43The French Dargay Force was also a mechanized formation, but smaller and more modestly equipped than either the U.S.
03:50or British Army divisions.
03:54The Arab forces of the coalition also contributed substantial armor support.
04:00Besides Saudi tank brigades, Egypt dispatched the mechanized and tank division, and Syria contributed a tank division.
04:08There were armored forces as well from Qatar and Kuwait.
04:23Since World War II, the dominant land weapon in desert warfare has been the tank.
04:27This was especially the case in the Gulf War.
04:30The majority of Iraqi tanks were the older Chinese Type 59, or the similar Soviet T-55.
04:36The best Iraqi tanks, the T-72s, were used by the Republican Guard.
04:42U.S. Army tank formations, although outnumbered, were much better equipped than their Iraqi counterparts.
04:48In the early 1980s, the U.S. Army had completely revamped its armored force by replacing the M60 series main
04:56battle tank with the new M1 Abrams.
05:00There is no tank on the battlefield anywhere in the world, certainly not on this battlefield, that even comes close
05:05to matching the M1A1 heavy armor.
05:07I mean, and that's not a hope, that's just an analysis of capabilities of equipment.
05:16The M1A1 Abrams had advantages in nearly every category over its best Iraqi opponent, the T-72.
05:23It was more thickly armored.
05:25During tank-to-tank engagements, hundreds of Iraqi tanks were destroyed, while the M1A1 proved virtually indestructible.
05:33Very few M1A1 tanks were hit, and there were no fatalities as a result.
05:37The Abrams 120mm gun, combined with a more advanced fire control system, allowed it to engage and destroy Iraqi tanks
05:46at long ranges before the Iraqi tanks were effective.
05:50The British counterpart to the M1A1 Abrams was the Challenger tank, which had many of the same advantages over Iraqi
05:57tanks as its American cousin.
05:58However, not all coalition tanks were state-of-the-art.
06:02Most US Marine Corps tank battalions, as well as the Saudi and Egyptian armies, used the older American M60A1 tank
06:10of the early 1970s vintage, while the French used the AMX-30B2, a modernized version of a tank first deployed
06:18in 1960.
06:25The Syrians used the Soviet-built T-62 tank, much the same type of tank used by the Iraqis.
06:36One of the most significant advantages enjoyed by Allied vehicles over their Iraqi counterparts was their use of more sophisticated
06:44night vision systems.
06:45This played a significant role during the ground campaign.
06:49Allied tanks could fight at night, or in poor weather conditions, when the Iraqi tanks were virtually blind.
07:01Obviously, we would rather conduct defensive operations at night, taking advantage of our night vision devices, taking advantage of our
07:07ability to move undetected,
07:08and get in behind enemy lines and disrupt their ability to conduct defense.
07:14So we'd rather use a night to our advantage.
07:20Probably the greatest Allied advantage in tanks was not in the tanks themselves, but in the quality of their crews.
07:26The Gulf War demonstrated that tank fighting demanded more than simply good equipment.
07:31The training and skill of the crews proved critical to the performance of tanks in combat.
07:42The companion to the tank on the modern battlefield is the infantry fighting vehicle.
07:47Current infantry vehicles, such as the US Army's Bradley, are much better armed than infantry transporters of the past,
07:54usually carrying an automatic cannon and an anti-tank missile.
07:59In contemporary tank warfare, the infantry rides into battle within the armored hull of a fighting vehicle.
08:06The infantry can dismount near the battle line to carry out its traditional combat missions.
08:11The armored infantry transporter allows the infantry to keep up with the tanks and gives the infantry protection against enemy
08:18small arms fire and artillery air bursts.
08:21Infantry mobility was a primary requirement in the Gulf War.
08:25The distances covered were vast, and the infantry needed a vehicle capable of moving them at the same pace as
08:31the tanks and the other vehicles.
08:47Although tanks set the tempo for modern land warfare, the artillery has been the killing arm on the battlefield since
08:54the First World War.
08:55One of the only branches of the Iraqi Army to cause much concern was the artillery force.
09:00Iraqi artillery was a special focus of air attack and counter-battery fire from Allied artillery.
09:07To deal with this threat, the Allied forces had a wide variety of weapons.
09:14to deal with the military.
09:15Pull it back!
09:18Come on, start picking it off!
09:22Fly!
09:24Leg!
09:24Get down! Get down!
09:27Get down!
09:30Fire!
09:31Come on, come on, come on!
09:35Come on!
09:37The squad everywhere!
09:46The M109 self-propelled 155-millimeter howitzer was the primary weapon of coalition artillery units.
09:54Although it could be outranged by many Iraqi guns, superior fire direction and intelligence more than compensated.
10:02Artillery is no longer a contest of gun barrels alone.
10:06Targets must be accurately located and identified.
10:10The U.S. Army and Marine Corps had several innovations to help in this respect.
10:16RPVs, remotely piloted vehicles, were used by the ground forces and the Navy to help find Iraqi artillery and other
10:24targets and to help correct the aim of the guns.
10:39New computerized command and control accentuated these intelligence advantages to the artillery.
10:48If an armed force, particularly a ground armed force in this case, is going to be effective, then the key
10:55to that effectiveness is being able to marshal all your combat power at the key time, at the key place.
11:03The way we collect the intelligence, analyze it, process it, and then make key decisions about enemy intentions at this
11:16site allows the division commander to do just that.
11:19To focus his combat power, and in the process of focusing it, overwhelm the enemy in front of him.
11:27New technology also increased the killing power of coalition ground forces.
11:31The MLRS, multiple launch rocket system, was designed specifically to deal with enemy artillery concentrations and could reach further than
11:40any Iraqi gun.
11:51The MLRS is primarily an area fire weapon system.
11:54We have three crew members in each of the launchers, and on each of the launchers, we have 12 rockets.
12:00We can expend all 12 of those rockets and all of the submunitions in less than a minute.
12:05So we get a huge volume of firepower in a very short period of time.
12:10I think we would probably be used primarily in a counterfire role that is shooting against his artillery,
12:16or in any type of target where we had a large area type target that we wanted a large volume
12:21of fire in a very short period of time.
12:24As we see in this test footage, the small submunitions blanket a wide area.
12:29The MLRS proved very successful in countering the threat of the more numerous Iraqi artillery force.
12:47The Iraqi army did have the advantage of time to prepare for the coalition onslaught.
12:53The Iraqis could build up tank ditches, fire traps, and other barriers like those we see here.
12:58And to limit the mobility of the coalition maneuver divisions, mines could be laid along the frontier and in front
13:05of key Iraqi positions.
13:07There is no easy remedy for mines.
13:10One of the most important ways to limit the threat posed by Iraqi mines was thorough training.
13:16This mine was the Afghan freedom fighters' mine of choice.
13:19It's called a TC-6.
13:20The Afghans wanted something that would take a Soviet tank and, like, toss it six feet in the air and
13:25threw everybody up in it.
13:27The Italians came out with this mine.
13:28Very effective.
13:29He's got about 100,000 of these.
13:31He's also got the E-variant, which he can turn on, turn off like a garage door opener.
13:35Okay?
13:36He's also got an anti-handling device.
13:38This is starting to get in the state of the art.
13:39Okay?
13:40Real good.
13:41More expensive, though.
13:42A couple hundred bucks.
13:44He's got a bunch of these.
13:46Now, you roll over one of these, it's bad news.
13:49He's got massive quantities of these Italian mines.
13:52He likes the Valmoire 69.
13:55This is a very effective mine.
13:56Three and a half million of these.
13:57Jumps up 20, you know, jumps up about this high with a lanyard, goes off.
14:01Everything dies within 20 meters.
14:03Number one buckshot.
14:04Very effective, very good.
14:07There is no pause.
14:08You know, the old days in Vietnam where you saw all those wild books where the guy stepped on a
14:12mine and just stayed.
14:13That don't happen, okay?
14:15When you step on one of these, you're dead.
14:18In spite of the sophistication of coalition equipment, countermine warfare and other combat engineering techniques were among the few areas
14:26in which the U.S. Army was found wanting.
14:29Combat engineering has not been in the offensive role one of the West's priorities.
14:36Large reason for this was in the 1980s, we thought of ourselves as being on the defensive, that we would
14:43be defending against a Soviet thrust into Europe.
14:47And we didn't think it very important that we would be penetrating minefields.
14:52We thought it much more important that we learned how to put down our own minefields very quickly.
14:57So this really didn't get the emphasis of other areas.
15:01There is also the questions of priority.
15:03Engineering is never as appealing to both the politicians and the generals as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, combat airplanes.
15:13So it tends to be one step down in priority.
15:18Prior to the launch of the land offensive, U.S. Army combat engineers devised a very effective armored vehicle-launched
15:25mine-clearing line charge.
15:27The mine-clearing line charge, or Micklick for short, consists of a rocket which pulls a long rope containing 1
15:35,800 pounds of plastic explosives behind it.
15:38The rocket drags the line charge over the minefield and it is detonated once it strikes the ground.
15:45The explosion destroys mines in an area wide enough for a tank to pass the same field.
16:15One of the most serious concerns during the Gulf War was that Iraq would use chemical weapons.
16:21Saddam Hussein used chemical munitions extensively during its war with Iran and against the Kurdish population within Iraq.
16:28There was every reason to believe that gas would be used again.
16:32The prospect that Allied forces would face chemical weapons prompted a training program,
16:36the seriousness of which had not been seen in most armies since the First World War.
17:01As coalition forces began pounding Iraq on the 17th of January, 1991,
17:06the Allied ground forces had little to do but train and anxiously wait for their turn.
17:15Sporadic artillery duels broke out along the Kuwaiti-Saudi border,
17:19but the Iraqi forces in Kuwait, subjected to a merciless pummeling from the air,
17:25remained inactive through the end of January.
17:34Apache attack helicopters were the only army units to take part in the air campaign.
17:59Suddenly, on Tuesday night, 29th of January, the Iraqi army in Kuwait began to stir.
18:05Their objective was a little-known border town in northeast Saudi Arabia,
18:10Raaz-el-Kafji.
18:12Kafji controlled the main coastal highway leading from Saudi Arabia to Kuwait City.
18:18At 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, an attacking Iraqi tank column was spotted by U.S. Marines
18:24of the 3rd Regiment 1st Division, emerging from the vicinity of the Al-Wafra oil fields.
18:30The Marines called in artillery support and managed to stop the Iraqi attack.
18:45At nearly the same time, an Iraqi-mechanized infantry battalion began driving down the coastal highway
18:52and charged into Raaz-el-Kafji.
18:55Kafji was not heavily defended, with only a scattering of border forces.
18:59The Iraqis used a ruse to enter the area, pretending to surrender to cross the border unopposed.
19:22The Iraqis occupied the city with little opposition.
19:25The Saudi army and allied Qatari tank units began moving up into the area once the attack had been reported.
19:32The unopposed Iraqi drive into Kafji infuriated the Saudis,
19:37who insisted on retaking the city themselves.
19:41A third Iraqi attack was also launched between Kafji and Wafra,
19:45but ran head-on into Saudi and Qatari armor.
19:49The Qatari AMX-30 tanks, with supporting anti-tank missile vehicles,
19:53shot up the Iraqi column, and halted it at the border.
20:05The Saudis launched a hasty counterattack with one of their National Guard-mechanized battalions,
20:11which was repulsed.
20:12The Saudis kept up the attack, bringing in additional armor and marine units.
20:17The Saudi attacks were supported by U.S. marine artillery fire and air support.
20:22The Iraqi attacks near Kafji continued,
20:25and an Iraqi amphibious landing force was sent down the coast,
20:29aiming to cut off Kafji.
20:31It was caught out in the open by U.S. and British naval aircraft,
20:35and largely destroyed.
20:37The fighting for Kafji itself lasted for 36 hours.
20:42The Saudis made repeated attacks against determined Iraqi resistance.
20:46Allied air power prevented the elements of the Iraqi 5th Mechanized Division inside Kafji
20:51from being reinforced.
20:53After house-to-house fighting,
20:55the Saudi forces were once again in control of Kafji.
20:58The Iraqis lost about 30 dead,
21:01and more than 450 prisoners.
21:03They also lost over 100 armored vehicles in the border area alone.
21:16As the Allied forces began interrogating Iraqi prisoners,
21:20it soon became clear that Kafji had been intended as much more than a minor border skirmish.
21:26Saddam Hussein had planned the attack as a major offensive
21:30involving three of his best armored and mechanized divisions
21:33and about a quarter of his total tank strength in the Kuwait theater.
21:38The Allied bombing and artillery fire thoroughly disrupted his plans.
21:43Only one division managed to begin the attack on Kafji on time.
21:47The other two divisions began the attack 12 to 24 hours late.
21:51By that time, Allied strike aircraft were swarming over Kuwait,
21:55attacking anything that moved.
21:57Iraqi reinforcements intended for the Kafji battle were destroyed
22:01before they had a chance to move south.
22:05The battle at Kafji was an important turning point in the war.
22:10It clearly showed to coalition commanders
22:12that the Iraqis were incapable of conducting sustained operations
22:16in the face of Allied air superiority.
22:18It also clearly revealed that the average Iraqi infantryman,
22:22low on water and food and weary of the war,
22:26was unlikely to fight tenaciously.
22:30I think it was extremely critical.
22:32Number one, for the confidence and for the morale of the Saudi forces.
22:37And in many respects, this was a Saudi victory with our support.
22:41The Iraqis, as you well know, are reputed to be the biggest
22:45and the best military in the Middle East.
22:48But this Saudi success has proven that they may no longer be the best.
22:52And many more defeats like this for the Iraqis,
22:55and they certainly will no longer be the biggest either.
22:58The importance of Kafji was not widely recognized at the time.
23:03But the performance of the Iraqi army
23:05made the coalition commanders confident
23:07that a ground offensive would go much more smoothly
23:10than they had originally anticipated.
23:23Our strategy to go after this army is very, very simple.
23:26First, we're going to cut it off, and then we're going to kill it.
23:29I'm not telegraphing anything.
23:30I just want everybody to know that we have a toolbox
23:33that's full of lots of tools, and I brought them all to the party.
23:37General Schwarzkopf has them all at the party.
23:39By the third week of February,
23:42the first phase of Operation Desert Storm was complete.
23:45The Iraqi army had been cut off
23:47from its main source of supplies across the Euphrates River.
23:50Bridges had been bombed,
23:52and truck traffic had been halted by the air campaign.
23:55Iraqi divisions had been starved of food and water.
23:59A large number of their tanks,
24:01armoured vehicles, and artillery had been smashed by air attack.
24:05Morale was low, and desertion rates were high.
24:09The capture of prisoners at Kafqi from a good quality unit,
24:13the 5th Mechanized Division,
24:14gave senior American officers good insight into their opponents.
24:18There is might in sheer numbers.
24:22Saddam Hussein says he's going to win this through will and experience.
24:27I strongly questioned the will of soldiers who were fighting because if they don't,
24:33their families would be killed.
24:35Quite unlike, for example, the Vietnamese,
24:38who fought because they felt that they were right
24:43and had personal conviction.
24:47They underwent the hardships and fought despite them
24:50despite them because they believed in what it was they were doing.
24:58I think all of us have reason to question
25:00whether or not the Iraqis really believe
25:02in what they're fighting for right now.
25:05Not that they don't believe in their nation.
25:08And those of them that believe they're defending their nation
25:11will fight hard.
25:15But the Iraqis are also smart soldiers.
25:18Educational level in the Iraqi army is pretty high.
25:22And I think most of them recognize the fact that
25:29they're fighting through a combination of fear
25:33and for the wrong cause.
25:38The Iraqi forces in the Kuwait theater
25:41were deployed in a layered defense.
25:43Along the Kuwait-Saudi border
25:45was a line of entrenched infantry divisions.
25:47These were the most poorly equipped
25:49and poorly trained of the Iraqi forces.
25:52In the center of Kuwait
25:54were the tank and mechanized divisions.
25:56These were the best of the regular Iraqi army formations
25:59and had substantial numbers of tanks,
26:02infantry vehicles, and artillery
26:03even after the air campaign.
26:05On the Kuwait-Iraqi border
26:07was the Republican Guard,
26:10widely felt to be the best troops
26:11and those most loyal to Saddam Hussein.
26:17The defense the Iraqis put together
26:19was based on a model that they developed
26:21during the war with Iran,
26:23where you have infantry up in the front
26:26and fortification lines,
26:28basically cannon fodder
26:30to slow down an attacker.
26:32You then exploit that
26:34by counterattacking
26:36with your armored divisions,
26:37mechanized divisions,
26:38in the immediate rear area.
26:40And then if you need,
26:42you bring in the Republican guards
26:44for the really heavy-duty
26:45offensive or defensive counter-strikes.
26:48So this was about
26:50what we would have expected
26:51based on our experience
26:53watching the Iraqis
26:55during the war with Iran.
26:57The final plan for the ground defensive
26:59was extremely ambitious.
27:01Instead of a frontal assault
27:02directly into Kuwait,
27:03coalition forces used
27:05the indirect approach
27:06and exploited their own mobility advantages
27:08to strike where Iraqi defenses
27:10were weakest.
27:11Assignments were allotted carefully.
27:13The U.S. Marine Corps
27:14also kept a substantial force afloat
27:16in the Gulf
27:16as part of a ruse
27:18to convince Iraqi forces
27:19that they would be attacked by sea.
27:22We continued our heavy operations
27:25out in the sea
27:26because we wanted the Iraqis
27:27to continue to believe
27:28that we were going to conduct
27:30a massive amphibious operation
27:32in this area.
27:33And I think many of you recall
27:34the number of amphibious rehearsals
27:36we had to include
27:36imminent thunder
27:37that was written about
27:38quite extensively
27:39for many reasons.
27:41But we continued
27:43to have those operations
27:44because we wanted him
27:45to concentrate his forces,
27:46which he did.
27:50The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force,
27:52including the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions,
27:55were given the task
27:56of pushing straight through
27:57Iraqi defenses
27:58and on to Kuwait City.
28:00The Marine Divisions fell
28:02between the Army's
28:03Light Airborne Divisions
28:04and the Heavy Maneuver Divisions
28:06in firepower
28:07and tactical mobility.
28:09In addition to their
28:10infantry battalions,
28:12the Marine Divisions
28:13each have three armored battalions,
28:15a tank battalion
28:16as its shock force,
28:17an amphibious assault battalion
28:19for mechanized transport
28:20of Marine units
28:21and a light armored vehicle battalion
28:24for scouting and security.
28:26Compared to the Marines'
28:27three battalions,
28:29the Army's Heavy Maneuver Divisions
28:30have 10 or 11 battalions,
28:33a mixture of M1 Abrams
28:34tank battalions
28:35and M2 Bradley
28:37mechanized infantry battalions.
28:39Due to the differences
28:40in the Army
28:41and Marine Divisions,
28:43General Schwarzkopf
28:43decided to deploy the Marines
28:45in the drive for Kuwait City
28:47while the Army's
28:48more mobile divisions
28:49were assigned
28:50to the flanking attack.
28:53I think this is probably
28:55one of the most important parts
28:56of the entire briefing
28:57I could talk about.
28:58As you know,
28:59very early on,
29:00we took out
29:01the Iraqi Air Force.
29:03We knew that he had
29:04very, very limited
29:05reconnaissance means
29:06and therefore
29:06when we took out
29:07his Air Force
29:08for all intents and purposes,
29:10we took out his ability
29:11to see what we were doing
29:13down here in Saudi Arabia.
29:15Once we had taken out
29:16his eyes,
29:18we did what could best
29:19be described
29:20as the Hail Mary play
29:21in football.
29:22I think you recall
29:23when the quarterback
29:24is desperate for a touchdown
29:25at the very end,
29:26what he does
29:27is he steps up
29:27behind the center
29:29and all of a sudden
29:30every single one
29:30of his receivers
29:31goes way out
29:32to one flank
29:33and they all run
29:34down the field
29:35as fast as they possibly can
29:36and into the end zone
29:37and he lobs the ball.
29:39In essence,
29:40that's what we did.
29:42When we knew
29:43that he couldn't
29:44see us anymore,
29:46we did a massive
29:47movement of troops
29:48all the way out
29:49to the west,
29:50to the extreme west
29:52because at that time
29:53we knew
29:53that he was still
29:54fixed in this area
29:55with the vast majority
29:57of his forces
29:57and once the air
29:59campaign started,
30:00he would be incapable
30:01of moving out
30:02to counter this move
30:03even if he knew
30:04we made it.
30:07The marine drive
30:08was supported
30:09by the coalition Arab forces
30:10including Egyptian,
30:12Syrian and Saudi units
30:14in western Kuwait
30:15and a Saudi and Kuwaiti
30:16task force
30:17along the coast.
30:22Prior to the ground assault,
30:23the army's maneuver divisions
30:25pulled up stakes
30:26at their bases
30:27in northern Saudi Arabia
30:28and began their trek
30:29to start points
30:30at the border.
30:31the army attack
30:33began with a feint
30:34by the 1st Cavalry Division
30:35to divert Iraqi attention
30:37from the main blow
30:38further west.
30:40Simultaneously,
30:41the 18th Airborne Corps,
30:43including the French
30:44Dargay force,
30:45drove north
30:46to seal off
30:47the left flank
30:47from any Iraqi reinforcements.
30:50The British 1st Armored Division
30:52attacked along
30:52the Wadi al-Bateen
30:54then swung towards Kuwait
30:56to eliminate Iraqi tank forces.
30:58The heaviest blow
31:00was delivered
31:00by the U.S. Army's
31:017th Corps
31:02which headed north
31:03before hooking to the east
31:05to confront
31:06the Republican Guard.
31:12G-Day,
31:14Sunday, the 24th of February,
31:16was preceded by
31:17an intense artillery barrage
31:19against Iraqi positions.
31:20If any branch
31:22of the Iraqi armed forces
31:23remained of concern,
31:24it was the artillery.
31:27Not only were there
31:28a great many
31:28Iraqi artillery pieces,
31:30but they were
31:31the only weapons
31:31capable of making
31:32concerted use
31:33of chemical weapons.
31:35They were a prime target
31:36of Allied air power
31:37and counter-battery fire.
31:40The increased tempo
31:41of the artillery bombardments
31:43foreshadowed
31:44the final land attack.
32:13At 4 o'clock
32:14in the morning,
32:16the Marines,
32:17the 1st Marine Division
32:18and the 2nd Marine Division
32:19launched attacks
32:20through the barrier system.
32:21They were accompanied
32:22by the 2nd,
32:24the Tiger Brigade,
32:26U.S. Army Tiger Brigade
32:27of the 2nd Armored Division.
32:29At the same time,
32:30over here,
32:31two Saudi task forces
32:32also launched
32:33a penetration
32:34through this barrier.
32:35But while they were
32:36doing that,
32:37at 4 o'clock
32:38in the morning
32:38over here,
32:39the 6th French Armored Division
32:41accompanied by a brigade
32:42of the 82nd Airborne
32:43also launched
32:44an overland attack
32:45to their objective
32:46up in this area,
32:47Al-Saman Airfield.
32:49And we were held up
32:50a little bit
32:50by the weather,
32:51but by 8 o'clock
32:52in the morning,
32:53the 101st Airborne Air Assault
32:55launched an air assault
32:57deep in the enemy's territory
32:58to establish
32:59a forward operating base
33:00in this location
33:01right here.
33:03U.S. Marine forces
33:05began to penetrate
33:06the first layers
33:07of Iraqi defensive positions
33:08and minefields
33:09before the main attack,
33:11G-Day,
33:12Sunday, 24th of February,
33:14infiltrating through
33:14the first set of barriers
33:16and minefields
33:17under the cover of darkness.
33:33G-Day began overcast,
33:36cold and rainy.
33:37The French Daguerre force,
33:39the westernmost element
33:40of the attack,
33:41began its drive
33:42on the Al-Sulman Air Base.
33:44A brief tank battle
33:46took place
33:46on the approaches
33:47to the air base.
34:10After overrunning
34:12Arsulman Air Base,
34:13the Daguerre force
34:14headed north
34:15to the Euphrates River
34:16to seal the Iraqi troops
34:18in the Kuwait theater.
34:19The door would soon be shut,
34:21preventing Iraqi reinforcements
34:23from arriving
34:24and preventing the escape
34:25of Iraqi forces westward.
34:32In the meantime,
34:34the 101st Air Assault Division
34:36began their airlift operation
34:37deep into Iraq.
34:39They established
34:40a forward airfield
34:41called Cobra Base
34:42from which to stage
34:44future air assaults
34:45towards the Euphrates River.
34:47The helicopter operation
34:49was the largest on record,
34:51including not only
34:52troop transport aircraft,
34:53but the larger
34:54Chinook helicopters,
34:55carrying additional fuel,
34:57vehicles,
34:58and artillery.
35:09Hours later,
35:11the 101st
35:12cleared out bunkers
35:13in the Cobra Base area
35:14and brought other Iraqi forces
35:16under artillery fire.
35:42I can't conceive of another division
35:44in the Army
35:44or in the world
35:45that could do
35:46what this Air Assault Division
35:48has done this morning,
35:49move us,
35:50all this people and equipment,
35:52rapidly put it on the ground.
35:53We have secured
35:55a large area of Iraq
35:58in his own heartland,
35:59and we're prepared
36:01very shortly
36:02for the division commander
36:03to start pushing
36:04other people through here.
36:05We're going to advance
36:06from here then.
36:07Absolutely.
36:08There's nothing,
36:08as you can well see,
36:09there ain't nothing
36:10to hold out here.
36:11So this is a way station
36:13for future operations,
36:14and that's what we'll do.
36:18Operating out of Cobra Base,
36:20Apache attack helicopters
36:21swarmed forward,
36:23attacking Iraqi tank formations
36:25with their precision-guided
36:26hellfire missiles.
36:47The 7th Corps attack came next.
36:50Preceded by the armored cavalry regiments,
36:52the tank and mechanized divisions
36:53began their drive into Iraq.
36:55During the first day of fighting,
36:58contact with Iraqi units
36:59was light,
37:00and it was apparent
37:01that Iraqi resistance
37:02would be much weaker
37:03than had been expected.
37:04Later that day,
37:06the British 1st Armored Division
37:07swung back eastward
37:08to engage Iraqi armored divisions
37:10near the Kuwait border.
37:12In the ensuing encounters,
37:14over 200 Iraqi tanks
37:16and 100 other armored vehicles
37:17were destroyed,
37:18with very light losses
37:20to British forces.
37:27I expected them to fight harder
37:29than they did,
37:30and we were prepared for that.
37:33And as we were talking earlier,
37:35if they had stayed
37:36in every single bunker
37:37and fought out of every bunker,
37:38the result would have been the same.
37:39They still would have been lost.
37:40Would have lost.
37:42Our casualties would have been higher,
37:43so thank God that didn't happen.
37:46My view is that
37:47their heart just wasn't in it.
37:50POWs have said this.
37:52Deserters told us this early on.
37:56We don't know why we're here.
37:58We don't know why we invaded Kuwait.
38:00Many, many of them said
38:01we think it's wrong
38:02that we invaded Kuwait.
38:04So with that kind of psychology
38:07and with a force like we had
38:09coming down on them,
38:11where it was certain
38:12that they were going to die,
38:14doesn't lend itself
38:16to a force having a really
38:19tough desire to hang in there
38:21and to defend.
38:24After weeks of aerial bombardment,
38:26only a few Iraqi units
38:28still had the stomach for a fight.
38:30The Iraqi 5th Mechanized Division,
38:32which had fought at Kafji,
38:34tried to resist the Marine attack.
38:39Some did fight.
38:40We had quite a counterattack
38:42yesterday morning
38:45and a good bit of it
38:46around my CP.
38:485th Mech Division counterattacked.
38:51We did a couple things,
38:52I think, that disrupted it.
38:55We learned where they were assembling
38:56and fired artillery
38:58right at their assembly points,
39:00which flushed them
39:01out of the oil fields.
39:03And one thing,
39:04we were surprised
39:05that they were operating
39:06in those oil fields
39:07with the hot fires.
39:08And that's really
39:09where they came at us.
39:12The largest tank battles
39:14took place on the 26th
39:15and 27th of February
39:16when the 7th Corps
39:17encountered
39:18Republican Guard divisions.
39:20Few visual records
39:21of these battles exist
39:23as they took place
39:23in poor weather
39:24or at night.
39:25The battles
39:26were extremely one-sided.
39:28The U.S. Abrams tanks
39:30were able to stand off
39:31at long range,
39:32destroying Iraqi tanks
39:33before the Iraqi tanks
39:34were capable of hitting them.
39:37Seven Abrams tanks
39:39were hit by Iraqi T-72 tanks,
39:41but none of the Iraqi rounds
39:43could get through
39:43the Abrams' tough armor.
39:45One of the most savage battles
39:47pitted a troop
39:48from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment
39:50in a night-long engagement
39:52against retreating elements
39:53of two Republican Guard divisions.
39:55By morning,
39:56the Iraqi force
39:57had been completely defeated.
39:59The Republican Guard divisions
40:01were defeated nearly as quickly
40:03as the regular army divisions.
40:04With few exceptions,
40:06the Republican Guard divisional commanders
40:08had abandoned their troops
40:10to their own fate,
40:11leaving the units
40:12leaderless and uncoordinated.
40:15Some of the most intense fighting
40:17in Kuwait
40:17came in the approaches
40:18to Kuwait City Airport.
40:20A tank battle broke out
40:22between marine tanks
40:23and Iraqi armored units.
40:24The battle was as one-sided
40:26as the army's tank battles,
40:28as is evident from this wreckage
40:30of the Iraqi tanks
40:31on the battlefield.
40:43Oh, wow.
40:45All right.
40:47Can you pick it up?
40:49What?
40:49About that point?
40:52It's called a...
40:53What hit?
40:53It was a sabot round.
40:55Went in here and just...
40:57When it goes inside,
40:58it fragments
40:58and just basically
40:59blows up all inside.
41:01It's just burning here.
41:03There's nothing but rubble in here.
41:04There's no way
41:05anybody can live in this.
41:06It's torn to pieces.
41:08Looks like somebody
41:09threw a frag in here.
41:11Still warm.
41:19The two marine divisions
41:20destroyed or captured
41:2214 Iraqi divisions
41:23in their drive
41:24towards Kuwait City.
41:26Allied casualties
41:27were remarkably light
41:28through most of the fighting.
41:30The honor of taking the city
41:31was given to Kuwaiti
41:33and Saudi army units.
41:34was given to Kuwaiti
41:45and took...
42:01the
42:02noise
42:16As Kuwait City was being liberated, the Tiger Brigade, an army tank unit providing support
42:22to the Marines, pressed ahead to cut off Iraqi forces retreating back towards Iraq.
42:27The road from Kuwait City to Basra became a virtual highway of death as Iraqi forces were
42:34smashed by tank fire and airstrikes.
42:38After four days of fighting, President Bush ordered a ceasefire.
42:43The strategic objectives of Operation Desert Storm, the liberation of Kuwait, and the reduction
42:49of the Iraqi army's strength were complete.
43:00And as President, I can report to the nation, aggression is defeated, the war is over.
43:09Without a doubt, air power played an important role in the conflict.
43:13But air power by itself was not enough.
43:16The swiftly executed ground campaign by coalition forces secured the defeat of the Iraqi army
43:22occupying Kuwait.
43:24Air power played a very, very important role.
43:29I think it had a lot to do with their morale being extremely low.
43:34Air power had made logistics and resupply very difficult for them.
43:42So they were hungry and thirsty, as you saw as you moved along with one of our task forces.
43:48On the other hand, there was still a hell of a lot of them here alive and well.
43:53So the bottom line is, you still got to come in and clean it up.
44:00And in this case, the clean up didn't turn out to be the huge fight that we anticipated.
44:08The Gulf War was one of the most striking victories in modern land combat.
44:13The Iraqi army, though large and well-equipped, had in the end proven to be a brittle, hollow army.
44:20In contrast, decades of training and the deployment of superior weaponry by coalition forces proved too much for Iraqi forces
44:29stuck in a featureless desert with nowhere to hide.
44:46The Gulf War would be the greatest, in the middle of the war.
44:47The Gulf War was the most striking a challenge for the first time.
44:47In the end of the day in fact, you saw this space to be an animal.
45:01You will find the place where you will be the first time.
45:02The Gulf War was the most striking place, and how you are the most striking place.
45:03The Gulf War was one of the most striking places.
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