The Second Battle of Britain - a Soviet Sealion

[stevep]

   Well that last bit seems to suggest that Chebrikov knows a lot more than the rest of the Soviet leadership, and has possibly aided in Rusk not getting shot down? Also that it fits into a wider plan for him. Wondering if it involves some move by Soviet hard liners.

[James G]

Jul 26, 2019 17:18:45 GMT stevep said:

   Well that last bit seems to suggest that Chebrikov knows a lot more than the rest of the Soviet leadership, and has possibly aided in Rusk not getting shot down? Also that it fits into a wider plan for him. Wondering if it involves some move by Soviet hard liners.

Everything but the last three lines are OTL. Rust had all that luck. I've read that there has long been the suggestion that it was all the work of an unidentified intelligence agency.
Here I have credited it to one.
The few hardliners left by may 87 suffered in OTL after Rust. Here things will be different.

[James G]

18 – Choosing sides


In light of the landing of an aircraft in Red Square, one flown by a German of all people, Gorbachev moved to rid the top tier of the government of opponents of his reforms. There were those who opposed glasnost and perestroika within the Politburo but in particular, he had comrades on the nation’s leadership council who had been outspoken in their disagreements on his dealings with the Americans over strategic nuclear arms. The inability of the armed forces to stop what happened with Rust, to allow it to happen as Gorbachev put it, provided him with the excuse he needed. The defence minister, Marshal Sokolov, one of the old guard hardliners who had personally led Soviet forces into Afghanistan eight years beforehand, was chosen as the sacrificial lamb. Gorbachev would make an example of him and those send a message to others. Seeing him off would put other opponents on notice that his rule was now secure.

Gorbachev failed in this effort.

The general secretary found that he couldn’t remove Sokolov. There were Politburo members who came to his defence. Neither the defence minister nor those who stood by him could provide a valid excuse for how the German teenager had managed to do what he had. What they did instead was to apportion blame elsewhere. The KGB presented evidence – ‘suspicion’ one of Gorbachev’s loyalists called it, not ‘evidence’ – that there was the hand of a foreign intelligence agency in what occurred. Counterpoints that therefore the defence minister should still be removed to show that the Soviet Union was moving to close weakness in the face of this foreign penetration were brushed aside by those who stood in support of Sokolov. It wasn’t the defence minister himself leading this steadfast removal to see him removed but others. Gorbachev came to the conclusion that Chebrikov was behind it all.

The Politburo wasn’t usually the arena for dramatics – arguments were had elsewhere rather than in the presence of everyone – but when they met after Rust had brought his aircraft into the heart of Moscow on his supposed peace mission, the gathering of the country’s leadership became almost a battlefield. There were two sides formed, a pair of opposing armies. Anyone who tried to stay out of this, to remain neutral, found themselves forced to chose sides. It came as a shock to many who wouldn’t have believed that ‘a child in a little plane’ – as Gromyko put it – could bring this about. Each side blamed the other for how this had come about with no one wanting to back down. That was because it was about much more that this one issue. Just as Gorbachev had used Rust as an excuse, so did those remaining opponents of his too.

Gorbachev was unable to fire Sokolov. There was no consensus and the Politburo wasn’t made up of attendees who wished to have a divisive vote on this matter. A display such as that, where each side would have to show the numbers that had, each fearing that they had too few (either to win or just to win by enough: a small majority), wasn’t done. Therefore, no open move was made to get rid of the defence minister. It was proposed by Gromyko, once the long-serving foreign minister who in recent years had been moved to a less-important administration role, that someone take the blame though within the Soviet Armed Forces. Gromyko was one of those who was supporting Gorbachev in the issue over Sokolov though not with that much determinism: he feared for the future with how the Politburo had suddenly split and sought to bring it back together in this manner. Firing the head of the country’s air defence forces – a separate organisation from their air force – was something agreed to. He would go in two months, retiring on ill health grounds, though stripped of his responsibilities in the meantime. The compromise here was reached with each side believing they had won out… apart from Gorbachev himself who’d watched his authority evaporate before his eyes.


It was Ligachev and not Chebrikov who was the true leader of the rebellion against Gorbachev. The general secretary had assumed that it was the KGB chairman who had suddenly turned many Politburo members against him yet, instead, it was the Communist Party’s second secretary: Gorbachev’s de facto deputy. Two years beforehand, Ligachev had been one of those who’d pushed for Gorbachev to rise as he had. Disappointment with his leadership had set in fast. For Ligachev it was in the main concerning domestic political matters yet he had listened to the grumblings of those others who were opposed to how Gorbachev was dealing with the West: the INF Treaty negotiations and the recent incidents in the Middle East especially. He wasn’t being told everything though and was being deceived somewhat on the details. Regardless, his initial concern for what Gorbachev was doing was the driving force for him. When Chebrikov convinced him that Gorbachev had been taken in by the Americans and then the West was behind Rust’s flight into Moscow to embarrass the Soviet Union, Ligachev lapped it up.

There were meetings held among Politburo members after the showdown. Select groupings talked among themselves. The groupings made by accident were formalised. Positions were hardened. There were those who sided with Gorbachev, seeking to keep him & his reforms, and then those with Ligachev and Chebrikov who not only opposed the domestic approach taken by the general secretary but his foreign affairs agenda too. Certain figures try to reign in their comrades and limit the split but their efforts came to naught. The leaders of each sought to keep their supporters on-side. They were thinking of what was going to come next, where the next battle would be.

[stevep]

   James

   Ah as I feared it sounds like Gorbachev is basically a dead man walking in political terms. Have the feeling that Ligachev won't be the one to replace him.   More likely the hard-liners, with their blame the west for all problems approach are going to win out and prompt a regression to a distinctly colder phase of the cold war.

  Steve

[James G]

Jul 27, 2019 19:13:44 GMT stevep said:

   James

   Ah as I feared it sounds like Gorbachev is basically a dead man walking in political terms. Have the feeling that Ligachev won't be the one to replace him.   More likely the hard-liners, with their blame the west for all problems approach are going to win out and prompt a regression to a distinctly colder phase of the cold war.

  Steve

Yep, Gorbachev's days as leader are numbered.
In Moscow, those there are no longer directing the course of events as much as they would like to.
We are now not that long away from a Hot War either.

[James G]

19 – Playing with fire


Throughout all of May and into the beginning of June, the stand-off in the Gulf continued. The shooting incidents involving the Americans at the end of April had afterwards brought that period of calm which many on the outside saw as something that would continue for good. It was impossible for the situation to stay the same though. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab Monarchies maintained their combined effort to block Iraqi access to the international oil trade as best as possible with support coming from the West in this. Iraq was locked out of the banking system too as well as other inter-Arab relations. Rashid’s actions had brought this about, his opponents said, and only he could change the situation by changing his behaviour. In Baghdad, Iraq’s president saw things differently. He wanted to see the behaviour of his neighbours changed. Rashid had come to the conclusion that after the failure of military intimidation, there needed to be a ‘people change’ with his neighbours.

The Soviets had been blowing hot and cold in their relations with Rashid. One day he was promised full support, the next he was urged to take a step back from his confrontations with his neighbours. A soldier, not a skilled politician, Rashid had difficulty keeping up with the mood in Moscow when it came to how they viewed Iraq. He would have liked to have told them where to go but the situation that Iraq was in didn’t allow him to do it. Only due to Soviet assistance was Iraq able to stay afloat financially. Weapons purchases from the West were all now finally cut off leaving the USSR as the only arms exporter which would do business with Iraq. Rashid had to maintain the relationship with the Soviets otherwise Iraq would collapse. He feared civil war and foreign intervention. His own death would come with that naturally, and, like all men with such personal power as he had, Rashid would do anything possible to keep it.

There were all sorts of contacts which Rashid had with Moscow from the cold relations with Gorbachev and the foreign minister to the warm links with the military and the KGB. It was with someone from the KGB with whom Rashid met at the end of May, after the landing of Rust in his little aircraft right in the middle of Moscow. Rashid proposed an idea that he had concerning ‘people changes’ among his opponents. He wasn’t asking for permission, just for an opinion to be given. That opinion from Moscow was delivered to Baghdad quickly: within two days. There was no objection from the Soviet Union on this. Not stupid, Rashid was aware that there were powerplays going on in the Soviet capital. One side had given him the go ahead to do this and the other side probably had no idea. He was walking a tightrope and playing with fire but he judged the risk as worth it. Success for him would likely favour those friends of Iraq in Moscow. It was a win-win situation.

With everything set, Rashid gave the order for Operation Babylon to take place on June 7th.


There was an in-flight explosion aboard an aircraft travelling from Kuwait City to Cairo. A bomb detonated inside the aircraft luggage hold of the VIP-rolled transport as it was above the bottom half of the Suez Peninsula. It was a time-delayed device with the planners of Babylon seeking for it to go off when the jet was over the Gulf of Aqaba instead of overland. Better progress was made with the flight than foreseen and it was ahead of schedule.

The aircraft blown apart in mid-air was carrying Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait. He died like all of the others aboard.

Initially, Rashid had thought that he and Jaber would have had a good relationship but that had quickly soured and now Iraq’s president had his enemy assassinated. He had used the services of a Palestinian group to ensure that the assassination could be carried out due to the inability of his own intelligence operatives to operate within Kuwait. As was the case with the aircraft wreckage – and bodies – landing overland rather than the sea, the use of a foreign proxy would come back on Rashid in the end. The terrorists employed would eventually talk. That was later though, long after Jaber was successfully slain on his way to meet with Arab leaders in Egypt.

Kuwait would now need a new leader. Rashid believed that the man who would replace Jaber would be someone with whom he could really do business with.

[James G]

20 – Ascension


Kuwait had a crown prince, a designated successor should the Emir die. He was Saad al-Abdullah al-Salim al-Sabah – informally known as Sheikh Saad – and a son of another former Emir (Jaber was a cousin). For nine years, he had been in the role of crown prince. His succession was supposed to be guaranteed. There were long traditions in Kuwait and those had been followed when Sheikh Saad had been put into the position that he had. Everyone had foreseen Jaber having a long reign but should he not, the crown prince was ready to step into the role as the nation’s leader.

Once it was clear that Jaber was dead, murdered like he had been, senior members of the House of Sabah assembled. Kuwait’s ruling family was large and there were many of those who were important. Their birth was a factor in this though there were other factors to consider in who was on top when it came to gathering together to confirm the ascension of Sheikh Saad. These figures had financial interests, religious roles and security briefs. They were supposed to effectively rubber-stamp the appointment of the new Emir.

In the previous months, during the dispute with Rashid-led Iraq, Sheikh Saad had offered differing opinions within Kuwait’s leadership than what the official position was when it came to that stand-off with Kuwait’s neighbour. He had kept this ‘in house’ and not spoken publicly yet made his feelings plain among the ruling elite. Sheikh Saad had repeatedly said that the approach taken by Jaber was extremely dangerous. Iraq’s military forces were huge; Kuwait’s, while brave, were small. Should it come to war, he had warned, Iraq could take the country. The House of Sabah would be deposed and gross injustices done in such a scenario. Why, he had argued, was Iraq being treated as it was? Hadn’t Iraq protected Kuwait from Iranian Shia extremism during its long war, one which they here in Kuwait had financed? The crown prince hadn’t argued for Kuwait to roll over, not at all, but he had called for caution in the situation. Kuwait had struck at Iraq, with Jaber doing the opposite of what he had called for. Sheikh Saad had criticised this action. Jaber had been furious with him and spoken to others at the top of the House of Sabah about replacing the crown prince with someone else. This wasn’t an unknown situation and was possible: there were others who could assume the role that Sheikh Saad had. Jaber had been moving forward with this idea, trying to secure enough support to see it done. Now Jaber was dead though, long before he could make a real start on such a replacement for the role of his successor.

When the matter of ascension was put before the council which had assembled, they didn’t do as they were supposed to and at once unanimously agree that Sheikh Saad should become the new Emir. There was a dispute which arose. It wasn’t a violent affair with shouting and treats. Instead, what occurred was long speeches given in support of or against the crown prince.

His recent behaviour was brought up. Was he suitable for the role of Emir at a time like this? Kuwait was facing the greatest danger it ever had and could Sheikh Saad stand up to Rashid when he had shown an apparent willingness to allow Kuwait to be bent to Iraq’s will? Others argued the opposite. Were they willing to break tradition by refusing to accept the long-chosen crown prince? Had Sheikh Saad really called for Kuwait to cave in or had he instead shown his certain greatness as a leader of a small nation threatened by a large one? Back and forth the points were made. Sheikh Saad wasn’t present when the meeting took place. He was kept waiting. At first, he had no idea why this was the case. Soon he found out. He fumed but he couldn’t act. To do anything would see him robbed of what he considered to be rightfully his because the members of the House of Sabah would act in response to any effort to rush things by certainly denying him the throne.

Meanwhile, as the ruling elite decided on a successor, things were happening when it came down to discovering what occurred with Jaber’s death. Information from the Egyptians came where at the site of the wreckage in the Sinai, they had found traces of explosive. Radar confirmation was already there had that the aircraft had broken up in mid-air and this only confirmed the matter that a bomb had been used to assassinate Jaber. His death was no accident. Ahead of that news, the Kuwaitis themselves were hard at work investigating matters at home. They had been looking at the people who had access to the Emir’s aircraft before it flew on the doomed journey to Cairo. Attention focused on one man and he was ‘spoken to’. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for him. Under extreme duress, he gave up a name. The Kuwaitis went after that second person, a Palestinian national long suspected of being involved in terrorism. They found him close to the Iraqi border and dragged him back to the same interrogation centre where their first suspect was. Soon enough, he started talking too. More names were given and the trail was leading the Kuwaiti investigators to Iraq with haste.

Sheikh Saad was informed of this. The timing of that was fortunate because not long afterwards, he was called before those elders who would decide whether he was to replace Jaber. They wanted to talk to him and he was aware that they knew what he did about the clear Iraqi involvement in Jaber’s assassination. When speaking, Sheikh Saad told those he met with what they wanted to hear. He would do just as Jaber had done and stand up to Iraq. Rashid had murdered their Emir and as Emir himself, he would make sure that there would be a response. There could be no concessions given to Rashid after this infamous act.

Three days after Emir Jaber’s death, there was full agreement among the House of Sabah to install Emir Saad as Kuwait’s new leader. Rashid’s ‘people change’ had failed to bring him the desired results with someone new in charge who was willing to negotiate. In fact, he had done the opposite and only made things far worse.

[lordbyron]

Talk about a backfire on Rashid, James G...

[James G]

Jul 28, 2019 19:27:38 GMT lordbyron said:

Talk about a backfire on Rashid, James G ...

He should just retire to a villa and give this up!
I was going to have it him get a second candidate to deal with, someone real difficult. However, I thought it would work well to have him get the man he wanted put in place yet, because of what Rashid did, the new Emir would be unable to give any ground to Iraq: in fact, be forced to double down. It seemed better that way.

[stevep]

Jul 28, 2019 19:43:47 GMT James G said:

Jul 28, 2019 19:27:38 GMT lordbyron said:

Talk about a backfire on Rashid, James G ...

He should just retire to a villa and give this up!
I was going to have it him get a second candidate to deal with, someone real difficult. However, I thought it would work well to have him get the man he wanted put in place yet, because of what Rashid did, the new Emir would be unable to give any ground to Iraq: in fact, be forced to double down. It seemed better that way.

  I don't think he can by this stage as retiring would probably be fatal for his health.  However it was a highly risky move that backfired very badly for him.  Suspect the new emir isn't just talking tough because he needed to do so to get the job but is also very angry about what happened.  Fortunately for the Kuwaitis and unfortunately for Rashid the terrorists involved were very complacent, staying in Kuwait that long after the murder as that gave a clear path to Rashid.

  One typo I noticed in the 5th paragraph of the 2nd post.  "apparent willingness to allow Iraq to be bent to Iraq’s will" as presume you meant Kuwait there.

[James G]

Jul 28, 2019 23:11:45 GMT stevep said:

Jul 28, 2019 19:43:47 GMT James G said:

He should just retire to a villa and give this up!
I was going to have it him get a second candidate to deal with, someone real difficult. However, I thought it would work well to have him get the man he wanted put in place yet, because of what Rashid did, the new Emir would be unable to give any ground to Iraq: in fact, be forced to double down. It seemed better that way.

  I don't think he can by this stage as retiring would probably be fatal for his health.  However it was a highly risky move that backfired very badly for him.  Suspect the new emir isn't just talking tough because he needed to do so to get the job but is also very angry about what happened.  Fortunately for the Kuwaitis and unfortunately for Rashid the terrorists involved were very complacent, staying in Kuwait that long after the murder as that gave a clear path to Rashid.

  One typo I noticed in the 5th paragraph of the 2nd post.  "apparent willingness to allow Iraq to be bent to Iraq’s will" as presume you meant Kuwait there.

He'd be a dead man if he retired and stayed: there were deaths during his assent to power and others would want revenge.
With Kuwait, Saad was seen by Rashid as weak but he only worried about the consequences of his country being to brave when faced with what it is. The guys who did the bombing initially hid among the large Palestinian population inside the country - it was large in the 80s, badly treated too - but stayed too long before trying to run for it.

Corrected, thank you.

[James G]

21 – The ultimate decision


The week following the ascension of Emir Saad saw violence on the Kuwaiti border with Iraq. There were cross-border exchanges of bullets, mortars and shells. No open crossings were made by soldiers from either side though there were small-scale reconnaissance patrols run using the cover of darkness with armed men shooting their way out of situations otherwise they be caught in the territory of the other. In the skies above them, where the imaginary line across the desert ran, the air forces of each side stayed within their own airspace. Multiple incidents occurred where aircraft from one side ‘lit up’ those of the other with radar lock-ons. Cannons were fired as warnings though missile launches weren’t made.

Iraq and Kuwait blamed each other.

They shot first, one side would say; no, they started fired before we did, came the retort. Both had their excuses. Each too had superiors who could stopped subordinates from returning fire. That didn’t happen though. The exchanges of fire brought deaths and injuries. Each country had its well-armed army out using modern equipment, deadly weapons of war. The casualties of this undeclared conflict were many and spread over a large area. They were losing their lives for a dispute that none of them understood and at an ever-increasing rate. The number of those wounded and killed grew in seriousness just as fast as the exchanges of messages between Baghdad and Kuwait City did.

Threats of dire consequences for the other were made unless that party ceased what they were doing.


After arranging for the death of Emir Jaber, President Rashid had issued orders for the majority of the assembled army to be prepared to step back away from the Kuwaiti border. He intended to withdraw a significant number of his forces once Saad was in power. This was to be a sign of good faith before he would then attempt to reopen the broken negotiations between the two countries. Withdrawal orders didn’t follow the instructions to prepare to do so. The delay in Saad being elected leader by his country’s ruling elite had confused Rashid’s sources inside Kuwait but they then reported the news that while the crown prince had become the new Emir, he had promised to not waver from the course of action set out by Jaber in confronting Iraq with all that Kuwait had. This wasn’t an empty promise. Rashid found that out at once when Kuwait did what it did on the border: firing first. It was Kuwait who started it, just as they had done the other month at sea, though, despite the official Iraqi position being otherwise, there was much provocation for this. Once Kuwait had again attacked Iraq first, Rashid had no choice but to return fire.

Saad was doing everything the opposite of what he was ‘supposed’ to do.


Rashid was no carpet chewer. He also didn’t believe in executing those who brought him bad news nor giving ‘accidents’ to those who he might believe one day might be a threat. He prided himself on his calculated, rational actions. In short, he considered himself the opposite of Saddam. That egomaniac was dead and the country he left behind after an Iranian bomb blew him to pieces was the ‘new Iraq’. That Iraq which Rashid led couldn’t continue like this though. The situation which it was in grew worse everyday with the economic crisis, a people ready to revolt if the opportunity arose and enemies all around. It was a country which had faced several recent military attacks too, none of which Rashid felt had been responded properly to in the manner which would deter a repeat of them. He had tried everything and met defeat again & again. In a moment of what he afterwards saw as personal weakness, he at one point considered just giving up. There were others who wanted the crown he wore. The consequences of doing so would be grave though. Not just for him and those he loved, but for Iraq too. He was a patriot as well as a soldier who had put himself into the position of power he had to protect Iraq’s army. Giving up, walking away just wasn’t for him.

After much time considering his options and weighing up the consequences of what he was about to do, plus also considering what would be done in response, Rashid decided that he had no choice but to make the ultimate decision when it came to Iraq’s future. The country was being pushed into a war. That was certain now. In continuing to do what was being done, Rashid foresaw the war coming to Iraq no matter what. Iraq would be on the backfoot as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab Monarchies – supported by the hyenas in the West – were going to strike; Iran would likely take the opportunity to join in as well. He wouldn’t allow that to happen. Iraq would strike out first. It would be on his terms and not those of others.

He gave the order for Operation Lion 4 (a variant of a long-standing, multi-part plan) to commence come June 11th. Iraq’s armies were going south to take what was rightfully Iraqi and end this behaviour from it’s opponents once and for all.

Allies of Baghdad, as few as they were, weren’t consulted beforehand.


End of Part One

[stevep]

The die is cast and the Rubicon crossed.

[James G]

Jul 29, 2019 18:42:06 GMT stevep said:

The die is cast and the Rubicon crossed.

Several rubicons it will be.

[James G]

Part Two - War with Iraq


22 – Two Invasions


The invasion of Kuwait commenced on schedule. Iraqi forced poured into the small neighbouring country on a mission to conquer it. They crossed the border on the ground and through the skies as well as making flank naval landings by boats too. A huge invasion force had been assembled and it was unleashed upon Rashid’s order for Operation Lion 4 to go ahead of June 11th, 1987.

Kuwaiti forces opposed this invasion resulting in a bloody fight.

All across Kuwait, engagements took place where the Emir’s armed forces sought to defend his country. Iraqi forces were met in battle. Ammunition expenditure was high and so were the casualties. There was a standing instruction for the Iraqis to not use unnecessary force, especially in terms of supporting firepower, during the invasion. These were their Kuwaiti brothers here. Efforts were made to try and get Kuwaiti military forces to surrender and there was no wish to destroy the whole country in the effort to conquer it. Such a thing might have been written down but it wasn’t widely followed. Strong resistance to the Iraqi advance brought forth the unleashing of barrages of artillery and incoming air strikes: these killed Kuwaiti soldiers and civilians alike. Prisoners, especially officers, were shot after surrendering following their inflicting of casualties among the attackers. Where Iraqi forces made careful efforts to try and seize important infrastructure intact, and were repulsed in many initial efforts, they threw everything that they had at taking them in the end using numbers and firepower… destroying so much in their wake. Iraqi forces fired on each other multiple times during the fighting. They mistook their comrades for their opponents, killing many on a confusing battlefield. Units got lost during the invasion and ended up far from where they were supposed to. Communications were untrustworthy too, down to Iraqi military inadequacies rather than any active Kuwaiti efforts.

Kuwait opposed the invasion and Iraq made a mess of what it was doing yet the country fell under Iraqi control. They had a large force and Kuwait was a small country. Despite Kuwaiti preparations to fight off an invasion, even chase the Iraqis back over the border, they watched as their country fell under Iraqi occupation.


Two corps commands of the Iraqi Army formed the invasion force. There was the II Corps, with three heavy combat divisions which came down from Basra heading towards Kuwaiti City & then onwards, as well as the III Corps too. This second corps controlled only one complete division – a light infantry force – alongside several special brigades and regiments: these consisted of commandos trained in multiple roles.

The II Corps came from near to the Iraqi town of Safwan following the highway which ran north to Basra and south deep into Kuwait. Hundreds of tanks, armoured fighting vehicles and other vehicles carrying troops entered Kuwait. It was a huge fighting force, meant to if not overawe the defenders then destroy them. Kuwait’s whole army was half the size of the Iraqi’s II Corps. Still, they fought those invading their country. The Iraqis were unstoppable though. There was a fight at the crossroads near to Jahrah, where Kuwaiti tanks and mobile infantry engaged the II Corps in battle, which despite some impressive Kuwaiti efforts, they still ultimately lost. This delayed the II Corps from making a left turn into Kuwait City yet soon enough they reached there. It was nightfall – the attack had started at dawn – yet there was no let up for those Iraqi soldiers. They were pushed onwards through the night and into the next day as they took over southern portions of Kuwait. Resistance weakened and the Iraqi’s made better progress. Only their own inadequacies slowed them before they would eventually reach the Saudi border next to the Persian Gulf coast.

Iraqi forces with their III Corps were active across Kuwait. They didn’t concentrate like the II Corps did and instead struck at multiple sites at first before linking up with friendly forces. Heavy losses were taken and several defeats occurred. If Kuwait had only faced them, rather than the armoured juggernaut which came through the centre of their country, Rashid would have been humiliated as Iraq would have suffered a grave defeat. Light vehicles, helicopters and boats were used to move the III Corps. Many of the commandos didn’t wear uniforms: where their attacks failed, Kuwaiti ‘field justice’ saw them shot. Others were either pinned down short of objectives or forced out of them… or utterly destroy before they could take what they came to conquer. Rashid sent these men into Kuwait to take the oil infrastructure, the airport, airbases, communications sites and so on. There was a major fight where Iraqi marines won success when taking Bubiyan Island yet they faced defeat at the smaller Failaka Island. Iraqi paratroopers were ferried to Ali al-Salem Airbase in transport helicopters and had armed helicopters in support of them – Mil-24 Hinds – when they seized it but at Kuwait International Airport, other paratroopers who made a parachute drop were wiped out leading to a mission abort for the airmobile operation to bring in more men. Iraqi commandos fought on the Gulf shoreline in Kuwait City. They arrived by fast boats – being struck at by the Kuwaiti Navy on the way – to take Dasman Palace, the official home of royalty. The palace was soon up in flames with the Iraqis holding it though having few members of Kuwaiti royalty in their custody: Emir Saad had long departed.

In the skies, Iraqi and Kuwaiti aircraft clashed. The IQAF was bigger and better equipped. Yet, they had many problems in similar fashion to the Iraqi Army when it came to navigation, communication & friendly fire. The Kuwaitis flew many similar aircraft to the IQAF. Rashid would afterwards realise he should have ordered his own Mirage F-1s grounded for the invasion when it was discovered just how many were shot down by their own side, including the Iraqi Army hitting several too as they also mistook them for Kuwaiti ones. Fighter-vs.-fighter engagements took place and there were bombing runs made as well. Kuwait tried to get through air strikes of their own, hitting that inviting target which was the column of invading forces heading for Kuwait City but was unable to get through the enemy fighters flying. There was the issue too of them losing one airbase to Iraqi paratroopers and then seeing the other one (Ahmad al-Jaber Airbase) hit by Iraqi air attacks & missile attacks using Scuds. The big airport outside Kuwait City was somewhere that was made use of early on after Ali al-Salem was lost yet in the end Iraqi tanks were there as well. The Kuwaitis couldn’t continue air operations from their last remaining airbase for long. They were running out of aircraft, munitions and personnel as well as having the knowledge that Iraqi tanks were soon heading for Ahmad al-Jaber. An evacuation was finally made of what was left of their air power to neighbouring countries. Iraq had won control of Kuwait skies by numbers but also actions on the ground too. However, while defeating Kuwaiti air efforts, they faced a different opponent soon enough too before the invasion was over with.

Offshore, there was fighting at sea. The Iraqi Navy returned to Kuwaiti waters and this time not here just to intimidate. A Kuwaiti missile boat fired the first shots and other ships soon joined in. They were repelling multiple attacks where the Iraqis used more vessels than they officially had in service. Commercial shipping, small & medium sized ships, were sent into Kuwait waters. Iraq used them to transport their commandos and marines but also as target decoys as well. There was little active air interference in the naval fight by high-speed aircraft though plenty of helicopters were used. A squadron of Iraqi Hinds were assigned to aid the Iraqi Navy. They did well in the coastal waters but when moving far from land, they had difficulties. Many were lost and not all to hostile action. The Kuwaiti Navy’s main base was in the south of the country, away from the Iraqi frontier. Iraq targeted it with Scuds – so many missing it significantly – as well as sent some commandos there. The armed raiders were eventually wiped out but not before they caused destruction to communications and killed personnel: they did little damage to infrastructure. Rather than withdraw to friendly countries like other elements of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces, Emir Saad’s navy fought to the end. They lost the fight, with ships destroyed but did so taking many Iraqi vessels with them too. During that long fight, over a day and a half, warships of other nations left Kuwaiti waters. The US Navy, the Royal Navy and the Marine Nationale all had vessels there. Orders came to the American, British and French ship commanders to leave. They did so due to the ongoing war raging here, one which their countries weren’t involved in yet a war which there was the expectation that they would eventually join.


Saad and the majority of the senior members of the House of Sabah – members who formed the government too – got away from Kuwait. In the main they went to Saudi Arabia. Part of the Kuwaiti Army and elements of the Kuwaiti Air Force did as well: some Kuwaiti aircraft went as far as Bahrain, far down the Saudi coast. From Baghdad, Rashid had public statements made from his foreign ministry highlighting this evacuation. Kuwait’s rulers had ‘run away’ in the face of a liberation of the Kuwaiti people pending an ultimate annexation – correction: an historic injustice ended – of the former country into Iraq.

When invading Kuwait, Rashid didn’t attack any of the other GCC countries. He expected to see a fight commence though. Iraq’s leader didn’t delude himself thinking that wouldn’t be the case. He had invaded ahead of an expected eventual attack into Iraq led by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Of course there would be a bigger fight. In the early hours of June 12th, what Rashid anticipated occurred. Saudi F-15 fighter-interceptors entered the aerial fights. They were over Kuwait though flying from bases back home. Iraqi MiGs were engaged at distance with the Saudis shooting first. Iraq came off worse from these, losing more than a dozen aircraft on the war’s second day though they got one in return for their troubles. One of their MiG-25s fired off a long-range missile and hit a F-15 as it headed home. The Americans would afterwards have many concerns: this was their premiere fighter and while here it was in Saudi service, the Saudis were trained extensively by them and should have been able to stop this loss. It was just the one downing but it was still concerning. Saudi strike aircraft were active too though mainly attacking Iraqi forces which arrived near to the Kuwaiti-Saudi border. Iraqi SAMs fired on them – fighters couldn’t get into the battle – and hit a couple in exchange for some damage done to the Iraqi II Corps.

Rashid had more of his army in the southern half of his country. There was the V Corps near to Basra with a lot of infantry ready to go into Kuwait post-invasion as an occupation force and the VI Corps too which sat alongside the Iranian border. The Iraqi Army had mustered the I & IV Corps as well, tank-heavy commands with three divisions apiece, which didn’t go into Kuwait. Once the first shots were exchanged with Saudi F-15s, Rashid gave orders for them to start moving.

They went over the border into Saudi Arabia before nightfall.

Operating in the desert with only a couple of roads on the map and a naturally shifting terrain, plus the darkness, the incursion into Saudi Arabia was confusing. The Iraqi Army was a mess. There was a major navigation marker ahead though: the Tapline Road. It was northwest-southeast just over the border. Reaching the highway and the oil pipeline (the Trans-Arabian Pipeline which ran to the Mediterranean) beyond it would tell Iraqi units they were on the right track… unlike some others which actually went completely the wrong way and instead deeper into Iraq! Upon reaching the Tapline Road, the I Corps was to head for King Khalid Military City: a huge Saudi garrison & airbase. The IV Corps was sent towards the Gulf coast. They were to cross Saudi territory fighting their army and GCC detachments in-the-field on the way.

Iraq hadn’t just invaded Kuwait (taking it in two days) but Saudi Arabia as well. If the whole world hadn’t sitting up and taken notice first, they were now.