Conflicted: A History Podcast · Evergreen Podcasts

The Gulf War 1991 – Part 2: The Storm

·1 hr 45 min·5 clips

British Airways Flight 149 landed in Kuwait and found fighter jets bombing the runway minutes later.

1. Conflicted: A History Podcast covers the 1991 Gulf War, Part 2: The Storm, as the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait turns into a wider international crisis. 2. Zach Cornwell hosts the episode, and he frames the story around Saddam Hussein, George H.W. Bush, and the new characters who enter the conflict. 3. The episode asks what happened immediately after Iraq entered Kuwait and why the United States moved from uncertainty to military commitment. 4. British Airways Flight 149 lands at Kuwait International Airport at 4:13 a.m. on August 2, 1990, and passengers see an empty terminal, canceled flights, and nervous Kuwaiti cleaning crews. 5. Three fighter jets bomb the runway, cabin crew shout "Get off, get off, get off," and the passengers run off a plane that had just taken on 57,000 gallons of jet fuel. 6. Iraqi soldiers in the terminal make clear that the first hostages of the Gulf War have been taken. 7. Across Kuwait, 100,000 Iraqi soldiers and 2,000 tanks seize radio stations, communications arrays, power plants, banks, and seaports. 8. The Kuwaiti Army, described as a token force of 16,000 troops, collapses before it can mount serious resistance. 9. Iraqi commandos attack the seaside palace of the Emir, who had ignored Saddam's threats and Kuwait's oil production disputes. 10. The Emir and the rest of the royal family flee in Mercedes Benz limousines to Saudi Arabia after a warning call that the invasion is underway. 11. Saddam Hussein believes the invasion will be a "complete walkover" and thinks he now controls one-fifth of the world's oil supply. 12. The narration says Saddam expected the United States to issue complaints and then accept a fait accompli in Kuwait. 13. George H.W. Bush is introduced through Pearl Harbor, Yale's Skull and Bones Society, the oil business in Texas, and a long Republican career. 14. Bush's reputation as a "wimp" in Newsweek becomes part of the setup for how he responds to the crisis. 15. On the White House lawn, Bush says, "This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait," after convening his National Security Council. 16. Inside that meeting, Colin Powell says, "Does anybody really care about Kuwait?" while Dick Cheney and an Energy Department representative initially sound unconcerned. 17. Bush's advisers warn that letting Iraq keep Kuwait would set a precedent in the post-Cold War world, and Margaret Thatcher tells him not to "go wobbly." 18. Dick Cheney flies to Riyadh, meets King Fahd over cardamom tea, and asks permission to bring U.S. troops into Saudi Arabia as a shield against Iraq. 19. The episode uses reported speeches, diary entries, and vivid scene-setting to move between the runway in Kuwait, the White House lawn, and palace politics in Riyadh. 20. Anyone interested in Gulf War diplomacy, Saddam Hussein, or George H.W. Bush should listen. 21. Anyone seeking a light, fast history recap with no military detail may skip it.

As heard by us

A tense prewar chapter that connects Desert Storm to the people and ideas gathering behind it.

Conflicted frames the buildup to Desert Storm as a story of pressure, tracing the American presence in Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi deadline, and the way a regional crisis hardens people before the war begins.

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Why you'd press play

When the prewar lead-up matters as much as the war itself.

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