Editor's note These images from 1991 issues of The Battalion chronicle
the effect the Gulf War had on the campus at that time. Over the coming month, The
Battalion enterprise desk will examine those issues surrounding the confl ict.
"This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait," said President George H.W. Bush in remarks to reporters in August of 1990 about the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The invasion ignited international outrage and developed into the defining issue of Bush's presidency.
The fall of the Soviet Union, the emergence of rap music and the Gulf War are all memories of the early '90s. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War and the President George H.W. Bush Library is planning a celebration to honor and remember the leaders, the heroes and the conflict.
In the evening hours of Jan. 17, 1991, U.S. military forces launched Operation Desert Storm with a massive airborne bombing campaign. The purpose of the operation was to liberate the people of Kuwait from the invading Iraqi army belonging to Saddam Hussein.
On Feb. 23, the ground war started as coalition forces moved towards Kuwait City and ended in a 100-hour push across the desert, destroying what was at the time the fourth largest army in the world. This victory was one of the most one-sided military victories in world history. Hostilities ceased on Feb. 28 when Bush ordered a cease-fire and declared Kuwait liberated.
Today the President George H.W. Bush Library, the Scowcroft Institute and the Bush School of Government and Public Policy will present a 20th anniversary event at Reed Arena commemorating the conflict.
The event will have numerous dignitaries in attendance, including key Kuwaiti representatives such as His Royal Highness, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, The Amir of the State of Kuwait, His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah.
Top U.S. officials who were in office during this historic period will also attend the commemoration, including former Vice Presidents Richard B. Cheney and J. Danforth Quayle and former secretaries of state James A. Baker III and Gen. Colin Powell. Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser to Presidents Bush and Gerald R. Ford and retired Gen. Walter E. Boomer, United States Marine Corps. Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin will open with remarks. The 41st president will present the occasion.
The event is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. today in Reed Arena. Doors will open at 3:30 p.m., and attendees are urged to be in their seats by 4:45 p.m. The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M and the Shell Oil Company are sponsoring the event.The event will air live on KAMU.
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