Gulf War Facts for Kids

Gulf War
  • Conflict Name: Gulf War
  • Conflict Start: August 2nd, 1990
  • Conflict End: February 28th, 1991
  • Conflict Belligerents: United States, Kuwait, United Kingdom and Iraq
  • Conflict Winner: United States and allies
  • Military Death Toll: Between 25,000 and 60,000
  • Civilian Death Toll: 4,000+

18 Gulf War Facts for Kids

  1. The Gulf War was an armed conflict between the United States, Kuwait, Iraq and their respective allies.
  2. The Gulf War is also called the Persian Gulf War, First Gulf War and the First Iraq War.
  3. The Gulf War started on August 2nd, 1990 and ended on February 28th, 1991.
  4. The Gulf War was started by Iraq when it invaded its neighboring country Kuwait. It took Iraq about two days to complete their invasion of Kuwait and start the occupation.
  5. The United States of America, Kuwait and a collation of countries fought against Iraq in the Gulf War.
  6. The United States military contributed 74% of the armed forces used in the Gulf War.
  7. The Gulf War was won by the United States of America, Kuwait and their allies.
  8. It’s estimated that over 50,000 military personal were killed during the Gulf War.
  9. It’s estimated that over 5,000 civilians were killed during the Gulf War.
  10. Even though Israel wasn’t in the Gulf War, they had the third largest casualty count of the war. This was due to the Scud missiles fired at them from Iraq.
  11. Operation Desert Shield was the codename for the operation to deploy and defend Saudi Arabia.
  12. Operation Desert Storm was the codename for the operation to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.
  13. The Gulf War costed the United States $100 billion dollars (2018 USD).
  14. In 1991, Iraq dumped crude oil into the Persian Gulf to prevent the landing of United States Marines via an amphibious landing. It’s estimated they dumped around 400 million gallons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.
  15. In 1991, the Iraqi military set fire to 700 oil wells before they retreated from Kuwait. This was part of the Iraqi military’s scorched earth policy as they retreated from Kuwait. It took around 10 months to put out the last fire.
  16. The Highway of Death refers to a highway between Iraq and Kuwait that was attacked by coalition forces. It’s estimated the attack killed between 200 and 1,000+ people, and destroyed between 1,800 and 2,700 vehicles.
  17. The Gulf War illness, also called the Gulf War syndrome, was the name given to symptoms experienced by coalition soldiers returning from the war. No one knows what caused these symptoms, but some experts believe it was due to the use of chemical weapons, exposure to toxic chemicals and elements or pesticides.
  18. The Gulf War was the first war to be on live TV. This was the first instance where people sitting at home could watch missiles hitting their targets live on TV.

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