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Saddam soon claimed that Kuwait was exceeding its OPEC quota, thereby lowering the international price of oil. He also said that Kuwait was pumping oil from a field under Iraq’s border. The dictator used these claims as a pretext to invade Kuwait on August 2, 1990. In less than a week, Saddam declared Kuwait the 19th province of Iraq. The annexation of Kuwait would give Iraq greater access to the Persian Gulf, as well as control over Kuwait’s exten- sive oil fields. The international community refused to accept the Iraqi takeover. To oppose Iraq’s aggression, the United States took the lead in building an international military coalition of more than 30 countries, and the United Nations demanded that Iraq withdraw its forces from Kuwait by January 15, 1991. The day after this dead- line had passed with Iraqi troops still in Kuwait, Operation Desert Storm began with a campaign of aerial bombardment. After coali- tion warplanes bombed strategic targets in Iraq and Kuwait for sev- eral weeks, a multinational ground force, composed mainly of U.S. and British troops, moved into Kuwait. The Gulf War was relatively brief, and decidedly one-sided: Saddam’s army was routed after 100 hours of ground fighting. By the end of February, Iraqi soldiers were fleeing Kuwait, although hundreds were killed along a stretch of road between the two coun-

Words to Understand in This Chapter

cartel—an association that attempts to maintain prices of a particular commodity a high level and restricting competition by managing the available supply of that commodity. weapons of mass destruction—a term that refers to chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, which are capable of causing many deaths each time they are used.