The Mistake That Led to Saddam Hussein's Downfall

January 16, 1991; 1:00 a.m. Escorted by four special operations helicopters, four pairs of Apache helicopters flew low and entered Iraqi airspace without using any lights. Their target was an Iraqi radar station.

At first glance, it may seem that the Gulf War began because of Saddam Hussein’s obstinacy. After all, on August 2, 1990, Saddam ordered his country’s armed forces to invade Kuwait.

Saddam had assumed that the Arab states would not agree to the deployment of foreign troops. But the United States and the United Kingdom quickly condemned the invasion of Kuwait.