The Gulf War between an international coalition led by the United States and Iraq was fought in 1990 and 1991. The American President at the time was George Bush Sr.

In 1990, tensions between Iraq and Kuwait had reached their highest point in history. The Iraqi government lamented the loss of revenue to Iraq as a result of the extensive oil reserves in Kuwait. So, Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government invaded and occupied the country of Kuwait in what is known as the Iraq-Kuwait War. This led to widespread condemnation from the international community and, eventually, to a United States-led invasion and liberation of Kuwait in what is now known as the first Gulf War.

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait took place over two days in August of 1990. The Iraqi army quickly overran their counterparts in Kuwait and the government of Saddam Hussein announced that Kuwait had been annexed by Iraq. The aggressive action was universally condemned by the world powers, including Russia, France, China, and India, and shortly thereafter, the United States issued an ultimatum that Iraq withdraw from Kuwait or face war. The Gulf War between the United States-led coalition and Iraq followed.

Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm were the two major "operations" undertaken by the coalition forces against Iraq during the Gulf War. Operation Desert Storm was intended to retake Kuwait and remove Iraqi forces from the country, and Operation Desert Shield was meant to protect Saudi Arabia from Iraqi invasion.

The Iran-Iraq War was fought between the Shia government of Iran, led by Ayotollah Khomeni and the Sunni government of Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein. The war was essentially fought over Iraqi government fears that the Shia popular rebellion of Iran would spread to Iraq.