Persian Gulf War

The link is to an article from Encyclopedia Britannica. It is an overview of the first Gulf War. Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990 with a goal to secure Kuwaiti oil reserves at the same time expanding Iraq. "Iraq's invasion and the potential threat it then posed to Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer and exporter, prompted the United States and its western European NATO allies to rush troops to Saudi Arabia to deter a possible attack." Before the war started there was a massive buildup of military forces known as Operation Desert Shield. The actual war started on January 16/17 1991 with a massive air attack with the United States leading the way. The air attack became known as Operation Desert Storm destroying most or all of Iraqi defenses followed by an allied ground attack Operation Desert Sabre. The whole war claimed 8000-100000 Iraqi lives, while the allied forces lost only about 300.