DEBACLE: The Persian Gulf War Revealed

By Mark R Gery

Volume 2 of DEBACLE begins with one of the few extended accounts of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August, 1990. This event set in motion a flurry of efforts on the part of the George H. W. Bush administration to create the conditions for a massive US response to Iraq's aggression. All of the behind-the-scenes preparatory actions are documented, including cajoling reluctant regional allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, persuading members of Congress and the public by way of fictitious allegations against Saddam Hussein and the Iraqis, and focused actions to derail or otherwise put off legitimate efforts at negotiation by the United Nations, the Soviet Union, and members of previous US administrations. Much of Volume 2 also covers the unprecedented American deployment to the Persian Gulf region, including the numerous glitches and problems experienced along the way. The evolution of the Pentagon's war plans are laid out, along with the goals of the upcoming war, as stated in National Security Directive 54, the official overall blueprint for the conflict. Simultaneously to this, Iraq's strategic and military perspectives are explained, as presented in official Iraqi documents from Saddam's defiant regime. Iraq's military deployment to Kuwait and southern Iraq is also covered, including the type and style of fortifications, decoys, and elaborate barrier systems built up in the "KTO" or Kuwait Theatre of Operations. Volume 2 then moves to Part 3 of DEBACLE, which covers the Gulf War itself. Iraq's missile blitz of Israel is presented first, accompanied by the considerable political fallout between the capitals of that country and Washington DC. Then comes the US-led air campaign, highlighted by numerous examples of US ineptitude and strategic incompetence, resulting in multiple failures across the gamut of the air attack. This includes the unexpected limitations of the F-117 Stealth missions, the drastically reduced effectiveness of the Tomahawk cruise missile, and the considerable challenges effectively breaking through Iraq's Air Defense system. Compromising everything was the severe limitations of US overhead intelligence, acutely expressed in the plethora of problems in bomb-damage assessments to Iraqi forces, namely the Republican Guard divisions dug in to the southern Iraqi desert.Volume 2 ends with the surprise Iraqi mini-invasion of Saudi Arabia in late January 1991, specifically, the takeover of the Saudi resort city of Khafji. Repeated examples of additional US military failures are laid out, along with the concurrent negative reactions in Washington D.C. among members to the Bush administration. Connected with this is the increasing pressure on the White House from other world governments (namely the Soviet Union) related to the increasing civilian deaths in Iraq and other collateral damage making the news. All the while, US and other coalition ground troops were arriving in Saudi Arabia, with many of them now engaging in elaborate and strenuous training exercises, preparing for the attack into Iraq and Kuwait.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1973336235
• ISBN13: 9781973336235
• Release Date: September 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 452 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.1" x 6.0"