History UsefulNotes / TheGulfWar

* SETA Corporation's ShootEmUp/[[SimulationGame Fighter Sim]] ''VideoGame/ASPAirStrikePatrol'' (AKA ''Desert Fighter''), despite the deliberate use of fake names. [[OutsideContextProblem Among other things.]] Notably averts the FollowTheLeader trend mentioned below; part of the game's main mechanics involve managing public opinion while not wasting supplies (fuel/aircraft/ammo) and quickly destroying enemy targets as much as possible. [[NintendoHard This is harder than it sounds.]]

* Tons and tons and ''[[FollowTheLeader tons]]'' of period arcade action games that all had "WarIsGlorious" as a unifying theme because the relative lack of casualties and the media's portrayal of Desert Storm as a total CurbStompBattle made it acceptable again to believe that war was cool. Primary offenders include ''VideoGame/TotalCarnage'', ''[[VideoGame/{{Commando}} MERCS]]'', ''Desert Assault'', and many more.

After six weeks of air strikes (one of which accidentally killed hundreds of civilians in a shelter), the ground liberation of Kuwait began. The UN forces, led by [[RedBaron "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf]], then pulled the oldest trick in the book. They made noise in the press about an amphibious Marine invasion from the east, launched a feint attack from the south, [[TakeAThirdOption and sent the bulk of their forces into the western desert to swing around and cut the Iraqis off from behind]]. It turned into a rout. On February 26 1991, a group of retreating Iraqis got subjected to air strikes on Highway 80 for several hours, which played badly in the world press. The event later became known as the "Highway of Death" because the highway was full of wrecked and burnt vehicle hulls, creating one of the most infamous image of the war [[note]]The air strike is sometimes argued to be a [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar war crime]], and civilians were caught in the crossfire, but it is technically not a war crime, as retreating enemy forces are still legitimate target and civilians are an "acceptable" casualty if their deaths are proportionate to the legitimate enemy forces that are actually targeted (for instance bombing a building with 100 enemy soldiers and 1 civilian is not a war crime, but bombing a building with 100 civilians and 1 enemy soldier is not). It is still definitely a rather ruthless move, but then again, that's war.[[/note]]. [[StatusQuoIsGod For whatever reason]], a full-scale invasion of Iraq did not take place. Kurdish and Shia uprisings against Saddam were brutally crushed. In essence, the United States conducted the sort of offensive that they had planned to defend against.

* Liquid Snake of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' is said to have fought in the war, being captured near the end and freed years later. He and the protagonist Solid Snake later discuss the war, with Liquid revealing that the "Gulf War syndrome" experienced by veterans of the conflict [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy was the result of the same sort of gene therapy experiments that lead to this game's Genome Army]]; the "official" story of it being caused by exposure to depleted uranium in tank armor was a cover-up in this game's universe.

The UsefulNotes/ColdWar was all but over by 1990, but the first Gulf War served as a demonstration of what the United States could have been capable of if things had gone hot in the 1990s or later. While Iraq used obsolescent [[RedsWithRockets export-quality Soviet equipment]] and some of its officers received training in the USSR, their forces were both grossly outnumbered and outclassed and did not use Soviet Operational Art. It is interesting to note, however, that many casual analysts and military fanboys see the poor performance of the Iraqi military's Soviet-produced equipment as definitive proof that the USA would have won the Cold War in Europe if it had been a conventional conflict — this is in large part due to [[ArmchairMilitary their enthusiasm for equipment and weapons]] at the expense of boring and irrelevant things like [[StrategyVersusTactics actual strategy]] or [[EasyLogistics logistics]].

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After six weeks of air strikes (one of which accidentally killed hundreds of civilians in a shelter), the ground liberation of Kuwait began. The UN forces, led by [[RedBaron "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf]], then pulled the oldest trick in the book. They made noise in the press about an amphibious Marine invasion from the east, launched a feint attack from the south, [[TakeAThirdOption and sent the bulk of their forces into the western desert to swing around and cut the Iraqis off from behind]]. It turned into a rout. A group of retreating Iraqis got subjected to air strikes for several hours, which played badly in the world press. [[StatusQuoIsGod For whatever reason]], a full-scale invasion of Iraq did not take place. Kurdish and Shia uprisings against Saddam were brutally crushed. In essence, the United States conducted the sort of offensive that they had planned to defend against.

Saddam, who understood the psychological impact of ballistic missiles even before they started falling on him, decided to launch modified "Scuds" at Israel and bring it into the war. He hoped to shatter the UN coalition, many of whom didn't like Israel and might balk at helping defend it. U.S. MIM-104 Patriot antiballistic missiles made a go at stopping them, but faced with missiles that accidentally broke up on reentry and Saddam not aiming them at anything in particular, they couldn't do much.

* Cherry (of all characters) in "Sgt. Cherry and her Squealing Commandos" in '' Cherry Comics''. (And, yes, it is a satire.)

* ComicBook/ThePunisher, whose backstory was originally that of a [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]] veteran, for at least one story was {{retconned} into being a Gulf War vet instead. The logic given by [[Creator/GregRucka the writer]] is that if he was a Vietnam vet he would be approaching his seventies, while he wanted to portray Frank as a man in his early forties.

On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein, interpreted a comment by U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie ("we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait") as a green light to launch a military invasion of Kuwait, a small emirate that borders Iraq.[[note]]Glaspie would later claim that she had given no ambiguity in her statement, but for better or for worse, that's how Hussein interpreted it.[[/note]] He also thought that the Soviet Union would veto any attempt to take firm diplomatic action. He figured very wrong.

On 17 January 1991, Operation Desert Storm began. Iraq possessed one of the densest air defence networks in the world, which was centered around a French air defense system named "Kari". It basically lasted one night due to the Americans' secret weapon. Okay, the F-117 had already been revealed and taken part in the DEA operation that was Panama, but that had been easy. This was harder, and it proved itself. An EF-111 got a kill without firing a shot, B-52s set the world record for a long-distance airstrike by flying from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia, firing cruise missiles, and going home, and Iraq's air defenses were crippled. Iraqi fighters didn't do much better. Some pilots ejected when they saw the enemy, and eventually the Iraqi Air Force left ''en masse'' for Iran, who said "Thanks for the planes" and duly confiscated them.

Saddam, who understood the psychological impact of ballistic missiles even before they started falling on him, decided to launch modified "Scuds" at Israel and bring it into the war. He hoped to shatter the UN coalition, many of whom didn't like Israel and might balk at helping defend it. U.S. MIM-104 Patriot antiballistic missiles made a go at stopping them, but faced with missiles that accidentally broke up on reentry and Saddam not aiming them at anything, they couldn't do much.

* Music/RogerWaters' solo album ''Amused to Death'' was strongly influenced by the Gulf War and especially the way that it was covered by the media, much like how Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheFinalCut'' (which was functionally a Waters solo album) protested UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar.

* ComicBook/ThePunisher has recently had the Gulf War retconned into his past, replacing his longstanding status as a Vietnam Vet. The logic given by [[Creator/GregRucka the writer]] is that if he was a Vietnam Vet he would be approaching his seventies, while he wanted to portray Frank as a man in his early forties.

* One of the final chapters of ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' is set in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War. Given [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne an earlier chapter's setting]], the game seems to like less-depicted conflicts.