Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

Third, the sovereignty of the Rumaila oil field requires international arbitration. This oil field straddles the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border, and the two countries have been arguing over it for decades. Saddam Hussein demanded that the ownership of the oil field be resolved before withdrawing his troops, meaning that the oil field should belong to Iraq.

Fourth, the withdrawal should be carried out in stages. It is not that there should be no withdrawal, but a slow, gradual, planned and orderly withdrawal. The first stage is to withdraw from Kuwait City, the second stage is to withdraw from the northern region, and the third stage is to withdraw from Bubiyan Island. A "transition period" should be left between each stage.

Fifth, UN economic sanctions against Iraq must be lifted before the withdrawal is completed.

Each of the five conditions is reasonable on its own, but together they form a list that can never be fully discussed.

The forgiveness of war debts requires Kuwait's consent. Kuwait's government-in-exile is in Saudi Arabia; why would it agree to forgive the debts of a country that just invaded, occupied, and plundered it? The redistribution of OPEC quotas requires the unanimous agreement of thirteen member states, international arbitration over the Rumaila oil field will take at least several years, and each transition period of a phased withdrawal can be extended indefinitely.

Saddam Hussein wasn't incapable of negotiation; he simply didn't want negotiations to yield results.

The Soviet envoy brought Saddam's terms back to Moscow. Slava wasn't angry after reading them; he knew all too well what Saddam was up to.

"He's stalling for time," Director Nian commented.

"Of course he's stalling; he's betting on time."

The US military deployment in Saudi Arabia is burning through money every day—tens of millions of dollars a day. The food, drink, and living expenses of 440,000 people, the fuel and maintenance of 2,000 armored vehicles, the operations of hundreds of aircraft... For the United States, which has just emerged from the Great Depression, every day of delay is an increasingly difficult political account to explain.

Domestic anti-war sentiment will accumulate over time, the Gephardt government's political patience is limited, and the congressional authorization to use force is not permanent.

Authorization is a political product, and its shelf life depends solely on public support.

Support is like bread; it will spoil if left out too long.

If Saddam Hussein could drag this out for a year or two, American domestic politics might solve the problem for him. Congress might withdraw its authorization, or the next president might not want to fight anymore, or the world's attention might be drawn to some other crisis.

So he talked, he pretended to talk. Each time a Soviet envoy came, he gave some positive signals: "We are seriously studying your proposal." "His Excellency the President is open to a peaceful resolution." "Please give us a little more time—we are coordinating internally."

Delay, and delay some more.

Slava did not intend to let Saddam drag the negotiations to a standstill. He believed that direct diplomatic means could not solve the problem. At that table, Saddam could indefinitely raise conditions, set obstacles, and play games.

Then the only solution is to use physical methods.

Slava summoned Chebrikov: "Comrade Chebrikov, the generals around Saddam may not necessarily be on his side. Our military embargo on Iraq will definitely further divide the military. Could we launch a military coup?"

Chebrikov replied, "The current situation is very difficult, Comrade General Secretary. Since the end of the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam has greatly consolidated his power. Iraq is now facing only two months of sanctions, and the domestic contradictions have not yet reached the point where a coup is possible."

"Then can we stir up internal conflicts within Iraq?" Slava asked.

"Of course it's possible. Many high-ranking Iraqi military officials received their military education in the Soviet Union. The Frunze Strategic Rocket Forces Academy, the Moscow Higher Military Command School... every class has many Iraqi students. Our military advisors have long been present in the Iraqi army, and the KGB has a good understanding of the Iraqi military's network of contacts."

To what extent do you understand?

"We know who is dissatisfied with Saddam, whose family has a grudge against Saddam's family, and who almost got shot in a purge."

Slava nodded.

"Okay, then let's make Saddam feel that a coup could happen at any time, and put some pressure on him."

Chebrikov saluted Slava and immediately went to carry it out.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the following weeks, a series of seemingly unrelated events began to occur in Baghdad.

The Soviet ambassador to Iraq suddenly summoned several key Iraqi military generals to his residence for "tea." After inviting them, they didn't discuss anything important; they simply drank tea, chatted, and casually shared their views on the current international situation and military strength before being seen off.

This news naturally did not escape Saddam's notice. Saddam had placed informants around every general, and he quickly learned who the Soviet ambassador met with and for how long.

He was very curious about why the Soviets wanted to see these generals. None of them were loyal to the Soviet Union; they were all Saddam's cronies—at least on the surface.

But the seeds of doubt have been sown, especially in the current high-pressure international situation. Every step the dictator takes needs to be taken with caution, as anyone could betray him, especially those who have just had tea with the Soviet ambassador.

Subsequently, Arabic-language radio in Moscow began extensively reporting on Iraq's economic difficulties. Soaring prices, food shortages, and lack of medicine... these were largely true, and the sanctions were indeed having an effect.

However, Soviet broadcasts presented these events in exceptionally detailed and vivid terms, including phrases such as "it is reported that there is public discontent in some parts of Iraq," and they also took things out of context, creating the impression that internal conflicts in Iraq were escalating.

How would Saddam Hussein interpret these broadcasts?

This was the prelude to a propaganda war; the Soviet Union was preparing public opinion to overthrow him!

Then came the reconciliation with Iran. The Soviet Union began to engage with the new Iranian regime. Following the defeat of Iran in the Iran-Iraq War, moderate leader Rafsanjani came to power as president. After Khomeini's death in 1989, Khamenei became the Supreme Leader.

For the past two years, Iran has been struggling with domestic reconstruction, and sanctions from the United States and the Soviet Union remained in place. When the Soviet Union signaled a willingness to reconcile, Rafsanjani immediately traveled to Moscow to discuss state affairs. Iran expressed its willingness to reach a consensus with the Soviet Union on border issues and the issue of ideological importation, while the Soviet Union opened up arms sales and reduced economic sanctions.

Is the Soviet Union going to abandon its beloved Iraq and turn to its ideological enemy, Iran, as an ally? Is that even possible?

It's quite possible. One of the international consensuses regarding Soviet General Secretary Ivanov is that he was pragmatic, and it's unlikely that he would reject national interests due to ideological obstacles.

Saddam Hussein tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

He quickly began a purge of the army. He removed several generals who had just had tea with the Soviet ambassador from their frontline command posts, citing the need for job reassignment. He then placed members of his own family—relatives of Tikrit—in the positions these men had left behind.

His two sons-in-law were each placed in the command chain of two key divisions of the Republican Guard, and one of his cousins ​​was assigned to be in charge of Baghdad's air defense.

It seems the Soviets did this intentionally, as two-thirds of the generals received by the ambassador were air force generals. Saddam was so uneasy that he hastily transferred these people away from their key positions and forbade any military general from contacting foreign ambassadors without his permission.

Saddam Hussein trusted blood ties, not ability. In his world, only those who shared his blood would not betray him at crucial moments.

Humans are the most reliable weapon, but also the most vulnerable.

On December 3, Iraq and Iran began secret contacts. The two mortal enemies, who had fought for eight years and lost nearly a million people on both sides, suddenly started talking!

The reasons are not complicated. Saddam Hussein faced a situation where UN sanctions had cut off his import channels, the Soviet Union had stopped supplying weapons parts, and his army was slowly becoming an army that could only consume existing stock and could not be replenished.

Every day the sanctions last, he loses one less missile and his tanks become less usable, making the Americans more willing to take action against him.

He needed ammunition. And Iran, which was under sanctions, happened to have a large amount of Soviet-made weapons and equipment. Coincidentally, the Soviet Union lifted some military sanctions on Iran, and Iraq, which was under military sanctions, could buy spare parts from Iran. What a coincidence!

Iran explained that during the Iran-Iraq War, it obtained a large number of Soviet-made weapons and ammunition from the international black market and third-party channels, and these items were left unused in warehouses after the war.

Why would Iran be willing to sell to its arch-enemy?

Because what Iraq is willing to cede has strategic value to Iran—Saddam Hussein was willing to withdraw from disputed Iranian territories occupied by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, territories Iraq had seized from Iran during the war, which Iran had long resented. Now Saddam was handing them over in exchange for Iranian ammunition.

On December 11, Iran provided Iraq with a large shipment of "second-hand Soviet-made ammunition and munitions from the international market." This shipment included relatively advanced anti-aircraft missiles, a number of meter-wave and decimeter-wave radars, and a large quantity of artillery shells and infantry weapons ammunition, although they were old stockpiles.

Why this coincidence? And why did the Soviet Union suddenly change its attitude?

The reason was that the Soviet military began lobbying Slava, and Romanov, the committee member in charge of the military industry, also suggested that Slava secretly increase its aid to Iraq.

Although Slava's official policy was to cooperate with UN sanctions and suspend military supplies to Iraq, the Soviet military held a different view:

"If the United States easily crushes Iraq, the international reputation of Soviet weapons will be ruined! Arms buyers around the world will conclude that Soviet equipment is inferior and cannot compete with American equipment. This would be a fatal blow to Soviet arms exports!"

But what if Iraq could inflict some losses on the United States? What if the US military ran into a brick wall in the Gulf? What if this war, which was supposed to be a swift and decisive victory, turned into a protracted quagmire?

That's another Vietnam.

The idea of ​​turning Iraq into America's Vietnam enjoyed considerable support within the Soviet military. Providing Saddam with adequate reinforcements to prolong his reign and allowing the Americans to bleed more in the desert was, from the perspective of the Soviet military and defense industry, the best option.

Therefore, everyone tacitly turns a blind eye to the ever-increasing stockpile of "old, obsolete, and secondhand military equipment" in Iranian warehouses.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The time came to February 1991.

Saddam's time was up. He still welcomed international inspections of Iraq and was willing to discuss a withdrawal plan, but the United States was not going to wait any longer.

On January 17, at a congressional hearing, the U.S. presented substantial evidence to the international community, stating that the evidence provided by Iraq was fabricated and completely failed to prove that Iraq had abandoned its biological and chemical weapons and nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the U.S. asserted that Iraq was unwilling to withdraw its troops and that it had to be dealt with militarily.

UN inspectors held a different view from the US, believing that there was sufficient evidence against Iraq and that the possibility of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction was almost zero, but the Americans ignored the UN's advice.

Early on the morning of the 18th, the United States issued an ultimatum to Iraq: Iraq must completely disarm in Kuwait and unconditionally withdraw from all of Kuwait by a specified date. If Iraq refuses—

There's no need to say more; the 440,000 troops deployed in southern Iraq have already said it all.

The ultimatum was sent to Baghdad, and Saddam convened his Revolutionary Command Council—his cabinet, his top military officers, and those in key positions he had replaced, all of whom were Tikrit relatives.

They discussed for several hours, and then Saddam rejected the U.S. ultimatum.

He still held a sliver of hope, not believing that the United States would actually go to war, not believing that a Democratic president like Gephardt, who rose to power through anti-war stances, would order hundreds of thousands of Americans to fight a war, and not believing that American domestic politics could withstand the casualties of a Middle East war.

He bet that the US was bluffing.

Moreover, he now has some ammunition and radar from Iran, and he feels he can hold on!

Don't panic, this is a strategic adjustment!

Saddam Hussein had already deployed approximately 60 troops in Kuwait and southern Iraq. His defensive system followed classic Soviet doctrine—defense in depth—with sand dunes, trenches, barbed wire, and minefields along the front lines, the trenches filled with oil for potential ignition. The second line consisted of armored reserves, with the elite Republican Guard deployed in the rear as strategic reserves.

On the evening of January 18, Iraq formally replied to UN Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar:

The Republic of Iraq refuses to disarm and withdraw its troops.

The whole world knows what this means. The standoff between millions of troops in the desert has finally reached its final second.

In the early hours of January 19, the multinational coalition led by the United States declared war on Iraq, and Operation Desert Storm officially began.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

2:38 a.m. in the southern Iraqi desert.

Two MH53 Pavement special operations helicopters flew at a low altitude of twenty meters, skimming the ground. They had turned off all external lights. The crew members in the cockpit wore night vision goggles, and the world in front of them was a green, coarse-grained desert, with the outlines of the dunes appearing as slowly undulating green waves in the night vision goggles.

Behind them followed eight Apache attack helicopters, their target being two early warning radar stations in southern Iraq.

These two radar stations are the southernmost eyes of Iraq's air defense network. Once they detect a large-scale aerial formation entering Iraqi airspace, they will send an alarm back to Baghdad, activating the entire Iraqi air defense system.

For the F117s and fighter-bomber formations behind to fly safely over this sky, these two pairs of eyes must first go blind!

At 2:45 a.m., the road workers fired a signal flare to mark the target location.

"boom!"

Eight Apache helicopters simultaneously launched their Hellfire missiles, which trailed long, fiery tails that drew orange-red arcs in the night. Flames and debris shot into the air, and the metal frame of the radar antenna was torn to shreds like paper and scattered on the sand in the explosion.

At almost the same moment, another formation was passing through the gap; they were F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter-bombers.

They took off from Khamis Mushait Air Base in Saudi Arabia, flew in formation across the desert, through the gap in the Apache helicopter's air defenses, and headed straight for Baghdad.

The F-117's shape made it almost invisible to Iraqi radar. Its entire fuselage was designed as a polyhedron—each plane tilted at a specific angle to reflect radar waves in other directions. This was the first time the F-117 had been used on a large scale in actual combat, and its very existence was one of the top secrets of the U.S. Air Force.

At 3 a.m. over Baghdad.

The F-117 began dropping its bombs. The laser-guided bomb fell from its bomb bay, its laser seeker locking onto a spot of light on the ground—a spot illuminated by the F-117's own laser designator. The bomb plunged downwards along that invisible beam of light with the acceleration of free fall!

Their target was Iraq's air defense command center.

"boom!"

The bomb penetrated the building's roof and exploded inside. Flames and debris first shot out from several windows simultaneously, then the roof collapsed, and finally the entire structure crumbled inwards as if it had been hollowed out from the inside!

Seconds later, another bomb hit a communications hub, and yet another hit a government building.

For those few minutes, the Baghdad night sky transformed into a lightbox flashing alternating between orange and white.

Meanwhile, on the roof of the Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, a CNN camera was filming.

The camera was equipped with a night vision lens, and viewers around the world saw the same scene: the green Baghdad skyline, the green building outlines, and then beams of light shooting into the sky from the ground—that was Iraqi anti-aircraft fire, with anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns firing wildly into the sky, and tracer bullets drawing glowing arcs.

Anti-aircraft artillery was firing wildly, targeting an unseen enemy.

With radar unable to detect the F-117, Iraqi air defense forces could only use searchlights to locate the enemy aircraft. The disorganized air defense system struggled to function effectively in this sudden attack, and civilians could only watch as buildings were blown up one after another.

Chaos spread through Baghdad as people fled in darkness and firelight, unsure of where to go.

This was the first war in human history to be broadcast live in its entirety. Viewers around the world sat in their living rooms, watching a city being bombed through their television screens.

The airstrikes continued throughout the night, and by dawn, the smoke over Baghdad had not yet dissipated. Black smoke billowed from many buildings throughout the city—air defense command centers, communications hubs, intelligence headquarters, and several Republican Guard barracks.

The Iraqi Air Force attempted to retaliate. In the first few days of the war, Iraqi fighter jets, such as MiG-29s, MiG-25s, and Mirage F1s, scrambled from various air bases to try to intercept coalition attack formations.

However, the US F-15s performed well in combat under the guidance of early warning aircraft. The Iraqi Air Force relied heavily on ground radar. After a large number of radars were destroyed, the Iraqi Air Force found it difficult to gain an advantage in combat. In most cases, Iraqi fighters were shot down by US AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-120 missiles before they could even see their opponents.

More than 30 Iraqi fighter jets were shot down in the first three days of air combat, after which the Iraqi Air Force gave up.

On January 27, large-scale aircraft transfers began at Iraqi air bases. One, two, ten, twenty... batches of Iraqi warplanes took off from various bases, flying in formation to the north and east.

Some planes headed north into Soviet territory, while others flew east towards Iran. Initially, US AWACS aircraft assumed this was an Iraqi Air Force attempt to outflank coalition forces from the north. F-15s were scrambled to intercept them. But when the AWACS tracked the planes' routes, everyone was stunned—the Iraqi planes were landing directly at Soviet bases!

More than a hundred fighter jets arrived in the Soviet Union, with a small number heading to Iran. Most of these were older models: Su-24s, Mirage F1s, MiG-29s...

Everyone was very puzzled as to why the Iraqi Air Force didn't stay in their own country and fight to the last, instead flying in droves to the Soviet Union.

Later investigations revealed that this was because Saddam Hussein, under pressure from Soviet intelligence a few months earlier, had carried out a major purge of the military's top brass—replacing a number of capable generals in positions of real power with Tikrit's family cronies.

The Air Force was the hardest hit branch of the military. Air Force generals who had received Soviet training, understood flight tactics, and held real power over squadrons and wings were dismissed, reassigned, or even imprisoned one by one!

Some of these people did not wait to die after being dismissed from their posts. They contacted the Soviet Union through the KGB or the embassy, ​​and the Soviet Union gave them a way out.

The moment the war began, these people knew Iraq was doomed. Staying in Iraq meant either being killed by American bombs or being executed by Saddam as a deserter; the only way to survive was to fly out with a plane.

Thus, Saddam lost more than half of his air force at the most critical moment. In the ensuing fighting, the Iraqi Air Force essentially never flew again.

But the coalition airstrikes continued. American planes flew hundreds of sorties every day, plowing through Iraq's air defense positions, military bases, command posts, bridges, and roads like a plow.