On August 2, 1990 the world was surprised when the small country of Kuwait was seized by Iraq. The invasion was led by President Saddam Hussein. In only three days and over 100,000 troops, Saddam and his army had taken control of Kuwait City. When he took over Kuwait City there was no more use for the president and his family, so he put them into exile. He also took over the vast quantities of oil. For months, heads of state and diplomats from many countries tried to persuade Saddam to remove his troops from Kuwait and leave the country peacefully. His stubbornness convinced the United States and the United Nations to use military force against Saddam and his men. On January 16, 1991 United States and other United Nation coalition forces destroyed Iraq's industrial and war making facilities, crushed the Iraqi army, and liberated Kuwait in just forty-three days.
In the darkness of Thursday, August 2, 1990, about 100,000 Iraqi troops crossed the border into their neighboring country Kuwait. When the soldiers marched across the boarder, it scared the small amounts of Kuwait's boarder guards. The boarder guards were Kuwait's only lines of defense against the strong Iraqi army. (Nardo, 28) The soldiers were supported by thousands of tanks, armored transports, armored vehicles, and artillery pieces. .
It was still dark when the soldiers reached Kuwait city. Small groups of police and civilians armed with rifles fired at the Iraqi troops, but their weapons were no matches for the armored tanks that blasted at anything that moved. As the Iraqi troops neared the palace, the president ordered his family to go in the helicopter that was waiting. He made the decision to leave because he wanted to go to one of the neighboring countries for help. (Allen 67) President Al-Ahmad Al-Jabir As-Sabah's younger brother wanted to stay behind to defend the palace. After, the president left, the palace was taken over and the younger brother and his helpers were dead in less than one hour.
