Remembering Operation Desert Storm
The US bombing left Iraq in near apocalyptic conditions and, as a result, 100,000 people died after the war.
From Friendly Neighborhood Comrade:
On this day in 1991, the US launched "Operation Desert Storm," a devastating aerial bombardment campaign which directly targeted Iraqi civilian infrastructure. The war killed over 100,000 people and included the use of napalm, cluster bombs, and depleted uranium.
George H. W. Bush began the war by ordering 42 days of consecutive bombing of Iraq. US and coalition aircraft flew over 100,000 missions, dropping 85,000 lbs of bombs on Iraq, making it one of the most intensive aerial bombardments in military history.
During the air campaign, the US and its allies intentionally bombed and destroyed centers for civilian life such as: commercial and business districts, schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, shelters, residential areas, historical sites, private vehicles and government offices.
The US dropped cluster bombs on civilian evacuation routes like the highway between Baghdad and Amman, Jordan. US jets dove low and repeatedly fired machine gun rounds and rockets at hundreds of civilian vehicles including buses, killing thousands.
The US also used 286,000 kg of depleted uranium, poisoning vast areas of the country.
After the US destroyed all serious Iraqi military resistance in the first hours of bombing, the US moved on to systematically killing tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers who were incapable of defense or escape, cut off from their food, water and other supplies. There were also many instances of US troops killing Iraqi troops attempting to surrender.
The US also used napalm, cluster weapons, which are banned by more than 100 countries, and in one particularly gruesome incident, the US military buried alive thousands of Iraqi soldiers.
The US bombing left Iraq in near apocalyptic conditions and, as a result, 100,000 people died after the war from dehydration, dysentery, diseases, and malnutrition, inability to obtain effective medical assistance and debilitation from hunger, cold, shock and distress.
After launching the war, Bush's approval ratings jumped 18 points to 82%. The war was sold to the American public through a massive propaganda campaign launched by a public relations firm, hired by the Kuwaiti regime.
The campaign included false news articles, and, infamously, the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador made in testimony to Congress fabricated claims of Iraqis removing babies from incubators.
