2nd August 1990: At 0100 hours, Iraq invades Kuwait with a large army of 100,000 soldiers supported by 700 tanks. The country is overrun relatively quickly, despite courageous fighting by the 16,000-strong Kuwaiti army. Several Iraqi helicopters are shot out of the sky by the Kuwaiti air force. The UN Security Council condemns the invasion unanimously. President Dukakis calls the invasion ‘senseless aggression’. Saddam Hussein threatens to turn Kuwait City into a ‘graveyard’ if any action is taken against Iraq. Iraq promises to withdraw by 5th August.
3rd August 1990: Kuwaiti army makes last stand at Jahra. Kuwaiti royal family escapes to Saudi Arabia by helicopter. Kuwaiti air force flees to airfields in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. America freezes all Iraqi and Kuwaiti assets. Several Western tourists are taken hostage by Iraqi forces. Israel puts its forces on alert.
4th August 1990: King Fahd of Saudi Arabia contacts President Dukakis. Dukakis says that the US will not involve itself in the crisis but after hours of arguing, reluctantly agrees to move the USS Independence and escorts into the Gulf. Iraq sets up a puppet government in Kuwait.
5th August 1990: Last Kuwaiti forces surrender at Jahra. Saddam Hussein flies to Amman to meet with King Hussein of Jordan. The Arab League condemns the invasion of Kuwait, with only Iraq and the PLO against the resolution.
7th August 1990: Kuwait is annexed by Iraq. The UN declares an embargo on Iraq, with Yemen abstaining.
8th August 1990: The Arab League passes a resolution with only Iraq and the PLO voting against the resolution. Libya abstains.
9th August 1990: The Soviet Union suspends shipments to Iraq. Hosni Mubarak meets with President Dukakis.
11th August 1990: US spy satellites detect a major Iraqi build-up on the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Saddam Hussein offers to withdraw from Kuwait if Israel pulls out of the Golan Heights, West Bank and Gaza.
12th August 1990: Osama bin Laden suggests that an Arab coalition be formed to force Iraq out of Kuwait. However, without the help of the US and other Western countries, the Arabs are reluctant to take action.
15th August 1990: Oil prices at $29 per barrel. Britain and USA demand release of foreigners held in Kuwait.
17th August 1990: USA navy and air force in Gulf carry out exercises at Mirbat, Oman. Codenamed Ultraviolet, they are meant to simulate an Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia or Jordan.
18th August 1990: Saddam Hussein threatens to ‘annihilate’ Israel.
20th August 1990: Exercise Ultraviolet ends. Iraqi air traffic around the Saudi border is found to have massively increased. UN declares Iraq’s annexation of Kuwait null and void.
21st August 1990: Saddam Hussein and his high command are moved to a top-secret bunker west of Baghdad. 400,000 Iraqi troops are now along the Saudi border. Saudi Arabia puts its forces on alert.
22nd August 1990: President Dukakis warns Saddam Hussein not to attack Saudi Arabia.
24th August 1990: Iraq and Jordan announce the formation of a new UAR. It is later revealed that Saddam threatened to invade Jordan unless King Hussein complied.
25th August 1990: All Jordanian assets in the US are frozen and a UN Security Council resolution extends the embargo to Jordan.
27th August 1990: Israel warns Iraq not to station troops in Jordan or it will consider it an act of war against Israel.
28th August 1990: First US casualty in the Gulf: An F-14 Tomcat’s engine bursts into flames and crashes into the sea just east of Bahrain. The pilot failed to eject.
30th August 1990: Oil prices at $30 per barrel.
31st August 1990: Qasr incident: Iraqi and Saudi forces exchange fire at the border. Five Saudis are wounded. King Fahd speaks on state TV and tells the nation to prepare for WAR.