BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts Hello,
this is the first in a three-part series of old newscasts that we're doing on the first Gulf War.
The date we're looking at in particular, our jumping off point, is the 17th of January 1991,
the start of the air offensive phase of what was known as Operation Desert Storm.
The reason for Operation Desert Storm was because of the actions of the oppressive dictator Saddam Hussein,
who had led Iraq since 1979.
At times the US had actually supported his regime,
but in 1990 Iraq Iraq invaded its neighbour Kuwait because of disputes over territory,
oil and debt, something that had been condemned by a whole load of countries all across the world.
The West was also concerned by the threat that Iraq posed to other countries in the region,
like Israel and Saudi Arabia.
And the US had assembled a large coalition of countries to defend Saudi Arabia.
Western troops were joined by a number of Arab nations in an unprecedented display of global unity.
Saddam Hussein.
In November 1990,
the UN Security Council gave Saddam Hussein an ultimatum that Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait by the 15th of January 1991.
He didn't.
So we're looking at the 17th of January,
two days later, when those allied countries have gathered troops,
mostly in Saudi Arabia, where Kate Adie and Justin Webb started the war.