25 years later, a look at the ‘good’ Iraq war

It’s hard to think of any war as a good one. Lives are lost, fortunes are spent, and little good often comes of it. But for many of the veterans and planners who gathered here recently to remember and reminisce, Operation Desert Storm was that rare thing: a good war.

“We had clear guidance. We had good intel. We knew what we had to do, we did it, and we left,” said retired major general Mike Myatt, who helped lead the Marines’ assault into Kuwait 25 years ago this February.

The crisis began on Aug. 2, 1990, when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s army occupied neighboring Kuwait. The invasion was triggered by a dispute over debts from Iraq’s 10-year war with Iran, but Saddam had long coveted Kuwait’s oil fields. There were fears Saudi Arabia was next. A United Nations resolution authorized a U.S.-led coalition to expel the Iraqis from Kuwait.

More than 700,000 troops from America and 13 allied countries faced off against a million Iraqi soldiers. The battle area covered 50,000 square miles. Iraq’s troops were battle-tested and had built elaborate fortifications in the Kuwaiti desert. U.S. troops hadn’t fought a major war since Vietnam and were fielding new and untested weapons. Analysts predicted some American units would suffer 80% casualties. Myatt’s First Marine Division was issued 10,000 body bags.

I was assigned to his division as a pool reporter. Truth be told, I lobbied hard for the job. I had gotten to know Myatt and many of his commanders and front-line troops. It was clear they’d lead the attack into Kuwait.

When the ground assault commenced Feb. 24, the Marines poured through a few narrow lanes in the Iraqi minefields, cut off front-line troops and raced for the interior. Within 100 hours, the Marines reached Kuwait City, the Army smashed Saddam’s forces to the north, and President George H.W. Bush ordered a cease-fire. Altogether, the Americans lost fewer than 300 troops. Estimates of Iraqi battle losses reached 100,000.

The decision to declare a cease-fire before Saddam’s army was destroyed and while Saddam remained in power has been the subject of much debate — particularly after President George W. Bush launched a far bloodier war to depose Saddam in 2003.

I remember the division’s assistant commander, Brig. Gen. Tom Draude, standing at the Marines’ final objective at Kuwait’s airport and wondering aloud whether his children would have to return one day to finish the job.

But Draude said last week that he now believes continuing the war would have been a “terrible mistake.” The U.N. resolution did not include an invasion of Iraq, and the coalition would not have held if the Americans had continued the war. “We were designed to accomplish the mission: Eject the Iraqis, restore the national government of Kuwait, and then come home,” he said. “And that’s what we did.”