The Saddam Line consisted of defensive fortifications constructed by Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Army on Kuwait's border with Saudi Arabia after Iraq had invaded and occupied Kuwait in August 1990.
The Western media presented fears that it would present a formidable obstacle to the liberation of Kuwait, consisting of "flame trenches" (ditches filled with oil to be ignited in case of attack)[1][2] and "sand berms, trench works, anti-tank ditches, barbed wire and minefields",[3] backed by the threat of chemical and biological weapons. The objective of Hussein was to force the coalition to engage in costly trench warfare.[4] However, those fears turned out to be unwarranted. The Coalition assault, beginning at 4 a.m. on February 24, 1991, met "only sporadic resistance", and by 6:45 a.m., troops had broken through the Saddam Line.[5] The US forces charged the Iraqi lines with M1 Abrams tanks modified with minesweeping plows and M728 Combat Engineer Vehicles which buried the trenchlines, and in many cases, buried Iraqi troops alive, the number of which has been estimated to be "in the thousands".[4]
See also
References
- ^ Staff (n.d.). "Iraq and the Gulf War 1990-1991". (Directorate of Intelligence document) U.S. Department of Defense (via the Federation of American Scientists). Retrieved February 24, 2012.
- ^ Drogin, Bob (February 25, 1991). "'Saddam Line' Falls Easily to Marines". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
- ^ Staff (February 10, 1991). "Breaching The 'Saddam Line'". Newsweek. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
- ^ a b "The 'Bulldozer Assault' of Desert Storm Saw the US Army Opt Out of Trench Warfare". www.military.com. 18 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
- ^ Kellner, Douglas (1992). "Chapter 8 – Countdown to the Ground War" (PDF). The Persian Gulf TV War. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press (via the University of California, Los Angeles). ISBN 978-0-8133-1614-7. Retrieved February 24, 2012.