The Persian Gulf War - January 16：美国历史上的今天

内容提要：波斯湾战争发生的始末。

On January 16, 1991, the air forces of the United States, England, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait began an air war against the country of Iraq.

This was the beginning of the Persian Gulf War 海湾战争. The war really started on August 2, 1990, when Iraq invaded the tiny country of Kuwait.

The United Nations, which helps keep peace in the world, told the leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein 萨达姆•侯赛因, that his army had to leave Kuwait.

From August through December 1990, the United Nations tried different ways to make the Iraqis leave Kuwait. The United States and its allies sent ships to the Persian Gulf to stop the shipment of weapons and other goods to Iraq.

Finally, a deadline was given to Saddam Hussein. The U.S. and its allies told Hussein he had to leave Kuwait by midnight U.S. time on January 15. When the deadline came, Hussein had not left Kuwait. The allied forces therefore began the air attack on Iraq.

During the air war, the United States andits allies bombed Iraq day and night. The Iraqis fought back by firing missiles at the allied forces in Saudi Arabia.

The Iraqis also fired missiles into the country of Israel. The Israelis were not a part of the allied forces, but they were enemies of Iraq.

Finally, on February 23, 1991, the armies of the allied forces began to move into Kuwait. In just 100 hours after the ground war began, the United States and its allies pushed Iraq out of Kuwait. The Iraqi government surrendered, bringing an end to the Persian Gulf War.

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