This Day in History: <br />The Persian Gulf War Begins January 16, 1991 The UN midnight deadline for the <br />Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait expired, <br />leading to the commencement of <br />Operation Desert Storm. Beginning at 4:30 p.m. EST, <br />aircraft from the U.S.-led <br />military coalition pounded <br />targets in and around Baghdad. During the next six weeks, <br />the allied force engaged in a <br />massive air war against Iraq’s <br />military and civil infrastructure. On February 24, a massive <br />coalition ground offensive began, <br />quickly overwhelming Iraq’s outdated <br />and poorly supplied armed forces. On February 28, <br />President George H.W. <br />Bush declared a cease-fire. 125 American and an <br />estimated 20,000 Iraqi soldiers <br />were killed in the Persian Gulf War.
