If you ask a history textbook how long was the gulf war, you’ll get a very specific, tidy answer: 42 days. That sounds like a blip. It started on January 17, 1991, with a massive air campaign and ended with a ceasefire on February 28. But that’s kinda like saying a marathon only lasts for the time your feet are moving. It ignores the months of buildup and the decades of messy aftermath.
History is rarely that clean.
To really understand the timeline, you have to look at the "Desert Shield" phase and the "Desert Storm" phase. Most people only remember the "Storm" part—the green-tinted night vision footage on CNN and the smart bombs. But the actual commitment of troops started way back in August 1990.
Why the 100-Hour Ground War is a Misleading Metric
When people talk about the length of this conflict, they often focus on the ground invasion. That lasted exactly 100 hours. Think about that for a second. One of the largest military assemblies in human history, involving a coalition of 35 nations led by the United States, basically wrapped up its primary objective in less time than it takes to get through a long work week.
General Norman Schwarzkopf didn't want a war of attrition. He wanted a "left hook."
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By the time the tanks started rolling across the border from Saudi Arabia into Kuwait and Iraq, the Iraqi military was already hobbled. The air campaign had been pounding targets for over a month. So, when the question of how long was the gulf war comes up in trivia, "100 hours" is the punchline for the ground phase, but the air war was the heavy lifter. It lasted about 1,000 hours.
The disparity is wild.
Iraq had the fourth-largest army in the world at the time. On paper, this should have been a grueling, months-long slog. Saddam Hussein promised the "Mother of All Battles." Instead, it was a lopsided technological showcase that changed how we view modern warfare.
The Buildup: Operation Desert Shield
We can't just ignore the five months of tension before the first shot. Saddam invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Within days, the U.S. began moving assets. This was Desert Shield. It wasn't "war" yet, but for the soldiers sitting in the sand, sweating in 120-degree heat, it certainly felt like it.
If you count from the day Iraq invaded Kuwait to the official ceasefire, you're looking at nearly seven months.
- August 2, 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait.
- August 7, 1990: Operation Desert Shield begins.
- November 29, 1990: UN Resolution 678 gives Iraq a deadline to withdraw.
- January 15, 1991: The deadline passes.
The tension during those months was suffocating. People were genuinely afraid this would turn into a nuclear conflict or a chemical weapons nightmare. Honestly, the waiting was almost as significant as the fighting.
Breaking Down the 42 Days of Desert Storm
The actual combat phase, Operation Desert Storm, is what most people mean when they ask how long was the gulf war.
It began at 3:00 AM Baghdad time on January 17, 1991. The first few hours were a masterclass in SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses). F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters slipped through Iraqi radar and dropped laser-guided bombs on communications centers. It was the first time the world saw "surgical" warfare on live television.
For the next five weeks, it was almost entirely an air war.
The coalition flew over 100,000 sorties. They dropped 88,500 tons of ordnance. It was relentless. Baghdad's skyline was constantly lit up by "triple-A" (anti-aircraft artillery) that looked like deadly fireworks, but it did very little to stop the high-altitude bombers.
The Ground Offensive: February 24–28
This is the famous 100 hours. On February 24, the coalition launched a massive multi-pronged attack. While the world expected a frontal assault on the "Saddam Line" in Kuwait, Schwarzkopf sent the bulk of his armored forces deep into the Iraqi desert to outflank them.
It was a total collapse.
By February 27, Kuwait City was liberated. Iraqis were retreating in mass along what became known as the "Highway of Death." President George H.W. Bush declared a ceasefire effective at midnight on February 28.
Just like that, it was "over."
The War That Never Really Ended
Here is where the "how long" part gets tricky. If you ask a veteran who dealt with "Gulf War Syndrome" or a pilot who flew the "No-Fly Zones" throughout the 1990s, they’ll tell you the war didn't end in February 1991.
Technically, the peace was a ceasefire, not a formal treaty that settled everything.
The U.S. and its allies had to maintain Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch for the next 12 years. They were patrolling the skies, getting shot at by Iraqi SAM sites, and occasionally dropping bombs right up until the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
So, was it 42 days? Or was it a 13-year low-intensity conflict?
The Human and Environmental Cost
We shouldn't let the short duration fool us into thinking it was "easy."
- Casualties: The Coalition lost around 300 troops. Iraq lost tens of thousands (estimates vary wildly from 20,000 to over 100,000).
- Environmental Disaster: Retreating Iraqi forces set fire to over 600 oil wells. It took until November 1991 to put them all out. The sky in Kuwait stayed black for months.
- The Aftermath: The uprisings in the north and south of Iraq immediately followed the ceasefire, leading to a humanitarian crisis that lasted for years.
When we talk about how long was the gulf war, we have to acknowledge that the trauma for the region lasted decades. The sanctions alone, which remained in place after the 42 days of fighting, fundamentally altered Iraqi society for a generation.
Expert Nuance: Why the Duration Matters Today
Military historians like Rick Atkinson and scholars at the West Point Military Academy often point to the Gulf War as the end of the "Vietnam Syndrome." The brevity of the war was intentional. The U.S. political leadership was terrified of a long, drawn-out conflict.
They wanted in. They wanted out.
This speed created a false sense of security about future Middle Eastern interventions. It made war look "clean." It made it look like you could solve deep-seated geopolitical issues in six weeks. When the 2003 Iraq War started, many expected a repeat of the 1991 timeline. They were wrong.
The 1991 conflict was a conventional war against a conventional army in an open desert. It was perfectly suited for a short duration.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs and Students
If you're researching this for a project or just trying to win an argument at a bar, keep these distinctions in mind:
- The "Official" War: January 17, 1991 – February 28, 1991 (42 days).
- The Ground War: February 24, 1991 – February 28, 1991 (100 hours).
- The Total Conflict Buildup: August 2, 1990 – February 28, 1991 (210 days).
- The Long Tail: If you include the No-Fly Zones and the enforcement of UN resolutions, the "conflict" lasted until the 2003 invasion.
To get the best grasp of the timeline, don't just look at the start and end dates of the bombing. Look at the UN Security Council resolutions from late 1990. They provide the legal framework that explains why the war started when it did and why it stopped where it did (specifically, why the Coalition didn't go all the way to Baghdad in '91).
The best way to honor the history is to realize that "short" wars still have long-term consequences. Read "Crusade" by Rick Atkinson for the most detailed day-by-day breakdown of those 42 days. It’ll change how you think about military "efficiency."
Understanding the length of the Gulf War requires looking past the 42-day calendar. You have to see the months of desert waiting and the years of aerial patrols that followed. Speed in the field doesn't always mean a quick resolution in history.