February 26, 1991 · Kuwait Theater
February 26, 1991
After 209 days of Iraqi occupation, Kuwait City was liberated on February 26, 1991. US Marines and Saudi-led Arab forces converged on the capital from multiple directions as the Iraqi garrison — its escape route cut by the Left Hook — collapsed. Kuwaiti resistance fighters who had stayed behind guided coalition units through the streets. Scenes of jubilation erupted as Kuwaiti citizens emerged from hiding, waving flags and embracing soldiers. Iraqi forces, in retreat, set fire to over 700 oil wells, creating a nightmarish apocalyptic landscape of black smoke columns visible from space and an environmental catastrophe that would burn for months.
Commanders