Day War Started

The day war started can be traced back to August of 1990, when Saddam attacked Kuwait. Why did Saddam attack Kuwait?

Mainly, Kuwait increased its oil production by 40% in opposition to instructions by OPEC. The increase in production drove the price of oil down.

Iraq felt the impact the most since it had fought a losing war with Iran despite help from countries like the United States, China, France, Egypt and Russia. All including the United States sold poison gas to Iraq, which used it against Iranian troops.

I have summarized this Article into the following:

“A review of thousands of declassified government documents and interviews with former policymakers shows that U.S. intelligence and logistical support played a crucial role in shoring up Iraqi defenses against the "human wave" attacks by suicidal Iranian troops.

The administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush authorized the sale to Iraq of numerous items that had both military and civilian applications, including poisonous chemicals and deadly biological viruses, such as anthrax and bubonic plague,” seems to suggest that the United States supplied WMD to Iraq and Iraq used them to gain a truce against the Iranians."

Iraq also accused Kuwait of “slant drilling” across the border and into its oil fields. The day war started, Iraq invaded Kuwait because it considered Kuwait a threat to its national security.

The day war started really had its origins in the Iran-Iraq war. Iraq owed billions of dollars to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. It had literally bankrupted itself during the war despite its own oil sales.

If Iraq had been content with only taking Kuwait, the United Nations might have stayed out of the Gulf War or the First Gulf War as it is sometimes referred to in the context that there was a Second Gulf War in 2003.

The war is sometimes also called the second Persian War with the Iran-Iraq war being called the first Persian War. But he was hinting he would invade Saudi Arabia and that could not be allowed due to the massive oil fields in Saudi Arabia.

So the day war started was caused by Kuwait’s own greed. I was asleep in Kastle, Germany when I got a call from my friend James Blow. James was later to become an American civilian casualty of the war.

James told me the air war had started. They were bombing Iraq. I, along with about twenty other Americans watched the bombing on CNN on the day Iraq war started. We did not get much sleep the night of Jan 16th.

I was in Kastle, Germany training to support the FOX Recon Vehicle. This vehicle was equipment with a state of the art computer that could go into a biological hazard area and sniff for chemicals. It would then identify the chemical and all other sorts of stuff concerning it.

The Army decided it would be easier to hire ex-military mechanics and send us to Germany to train to be able to fix these vehicles they were lending to the American military than to send soldiers to train for their repair.

Training was soon over after the day war started and after hopping from airport to airport, and many miles on the ground I found myself attached to the 82nd Airborne Division. We moved when they moved, slept when they slept and played spades for many hours with them.

As to who won the most games—well that is a classified secret. The day war started on the ground, I was awakened from my sleep by a tremendous boom and shaking of the ground. My first thought was, “We are under attack.”

The first boom was followed by multiple booms followed by multiple swishes. We went outside to see what was happening. America was firing artillery shells and rockets at the Iraqis. I thought as I saw the rain of fire leave, “I am sure glad I am on this side of the war.”

Since we were with the 82nd Airborne, we really did not need to worry. On our right flank was my old unit, the 3rd Cav out of Fort Bliss. I saw my old M577 go by as we passed them on the road one day. The whole S-4 section was there together. I wondered if any of the guys I served with were still with the unit since I had left a few years earlier.

The French were on our left flank. That had me worried some.

I know the map below is tiny. I tried to get it to come out bigger but I could not. If you use a magnifying glass, it may be helpful.

The 82nd was to attack to Tallil Airbase. We were in the rear with the 82nd support elements and never got to Tallil, but I did fly there in 2005, as I headed back to Kuwait from Al Asad Air Base in Iraq.

As I look at the battle map, of the day war started, I see that the 24th Infantry Regiment was also close by. This is where I spent my first year in the military. As I continue to look, I see the 3rd Armored Division. This is where I did three years of hell. They were probably some of my hardest years up until the time I became a pastor.

I see the 2nd Armored Cav patch. I am not sure it is the same but if so, I spent a year and a half with them in Germany. This was some of the best duty I ever had.

And then I see the 7th Corp Patch. I believe my unit in Germany, 3/17 FA was part of the 2nd Armored Cav which was a part of the 7th Corp. But I am older and the memory is not what it used to be. Considering all the units I had served with, I guess I was destined to be a part of the First Gulf War.

But what I do remember about Germany, long before the day war started, was coaching girl's softball. I had a team of seventeen 9-12 year olds who lost in the 7th Corp playoffs by one point.

Even in our loss, we were victorious. We took 17 girls, of which three could play some, and molded them into a team to be reckoned with. I could go on but I guess I had better not. I also coached some flag football. Once again we were good.

Shortly after the day war started there was a big dust storm. Dust was blowing into the face of the Iraqi military. Served them right. It was my first dust storm and I did stupid stuff like not wear glasses or a bandanna over my mouth. I paid a dear price for this as the next day my eyes felt like they had sandpaper in them and I had a dust chest cold.

I remember one other time my eyes felt like sandpaper. It was when I was a senior and went skiing on our senior trip. On the last day there, I thought I did not need my sunglasses so I did not wear them. I gave my eyes a “sunburn.”

Then the war ended almost as quickly as it had started. We moved forward. As we did, we saw the burned out hulls of tanks and other vehicles. In some places we saw charred piles of, what we later learned, were Iraqi bodies.

As we moved forward, we would pass groups of Iraqi prisoners, walking back toward American lines. There was destruction everywhere.

We started hearing about “Highway of Death.” This was the highway where Americans had strafed hundreds of Iraqis as they attempted to escape back into Iraq when it became apparent they were going to lose “The Mother of all Battles.” Hundreds of vehicles of all types were destroyed.

A few days before the day war started, I was blessed with the birth of my son Matthew. It would be April before I got to see him and hold him for the first time.

The physical war was over, but then the political war started. And that is another story.

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