Rise of Saddam Hussein

Persian Gulf War Discovery Ticket Re-Performance Lesson

Durham Middle School

​Saddam Hussein

Hussein was the 5th president of Iraq from July 1979 to April 2003. He was known around the world as a brutal leader (and dictator) who had fought a viscous war with Iran and killed thousands of Kurds (many believed through the use of chemical weapons) in the northern part of Iraq.

Iraq Invades Kuwait

Iraq had long claimed Kuwait as part of its territory and Saddam Hussein also stated that Kuwait was mistreating Iraq, stealing oil, producing more oil than OPEC allowed, and also said Kuwait owed Iraq money from the Iran-Iraq War, for those reasons, Hussein decided to invade Kuwait on August 2, 1990.

​Persian Gulf Conflict

​Several people had to flee Kuwait and those who remained suffered brutal treatment. The United States, an ally of Kuwait, demanded the immediate withdrawal of Iraqi forces.  President George H.W. Bush and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher built a coalition of 698,000 troops from 28 countries to try to remove Hussein’s army from Kuwait. 

​Persian Gulf Conflict

​On November 29, 1990, the United Nations warned Iraq that it needed to be out of Kuwait by January 15^th 1991 and return all British and American hostages. On January 13^th, Iraq made it clear that they would not give in and Hussein even declared that this would be the “mother of all battles” and Americans would die.

​Persian Gulf War Begins

​On January 16th 1991, air attacks on Iraq began, and within days, most of the Iraqi air force was destroyed. In an effort to make Arab countries join his side, Hussein launched missiles at Israel, but this didn’t work. The ground war broke out on Sunday February 24^th, 1991 and within 100 hours the “mother of all battles” was over. 

Multiple Choice

What year did the Persian Gulf War happen?

• 2001

• 2003

• 1994

• 1991

Multiple Choice

During the Persian Gulf War, who was the president of the United States, and who was the leader of Iraq?

• David Ben Gurion/Anwar Sadat

• George H.W. Bush/Saddam Hussein

• William Clinton/Yasser Arafat

• Barak Obama/Osama bin Laden

Multiple Choice

What was Hussein's reputation around the world?

• Hussein was considered a brutal leader who killed thousands of Kurds in Iraq.

• Hussein was regarded as a capable leader and statesman.

• Hussein was considered a humanitarian interested in bringing peace to the Middle East.

• Hussein was considered a supporter of democracy and he wanted to bring freedom to Iraq.

Multiple Choice

Why did the United Nations coalition launch an air attack on Iraq?

• Because Iraq did not leave Kuwait and return all American and British hostages

• Because Iraq set fire to Kuwait's oil fields

• Because al-Qaeda was training there

• Because they wanted to keep other countries from taking Iraq's side