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I worked in the Intelligence Center supporting Army Central Command just
north of Riyadh. A sergeant from my battalion was detached up north and
took these pictures in February and March 1991, during the air and ground war,
and the week that followed the cease fire on February 28.
Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the photo
Kuwait in the early afternoon
During the air offensive, the Iraqi Republican Guard set Kuwati oil refineries ablaze. Within days an oily smoke plume obscured vision for many miles. We could smell it nearly 100 miles south. This picture, taken at 4PM, shows the effectiveness of the cover provided by the refinery fires. Suspended smoke particles made the desert eerily cold and quiet. Desert Storm was composed of many smaller offensive attacks. Operation Red Storm showered lead Iraqi elements with HE artillery rounds, providing a distraction while attack helicopters acquired targets. Februrary 26: the ground offensive begins and Allied APCs move forward. The cease fire was called on Febrary 28, 1991, and the highway leading north out of Kuwait littered with the debris of hundreds of Iraqi tanks, APCs, and trucks. Soldiers nicknamed it the Road of Death. After the cease-fire, Kuwati citizens come back to their homes, returning all that they fled with months before.
During the air offensive, the Iraqi Republican Guard set Kuwati oil refineries ablaze. Within days an oily smoke plume obscured vision for many miles. We could smell it nearly 100 miles south.
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