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Iraq has laid claims to Kuwait, a small oil-rich state in the Persian Gulf, ever since its creation in the late 1950s, when Britain granted it independence. Mounting war debts incurred by an internecine war with neighbouring Iran, the falling world price of oil, and the arguable provocation of a build-up of American troops in Saudi Arabia, led Iraq to invade and annex Kuwait on 2 August 1990. A coalition of 28 nations, led by the USA and including Britain, France and Egypt, embarked upon an air offensive lasting six weeks. During a 100-hour ground war the 200,000 strong Iraqi army holding Kuwait was driven back. The conflict was to create between two and three million refugees and resulted in severe environmental damage as the retreating Iraqi army blew up oil wells and allowed them to burn, and oil spills affected large areas of the region.Despite the result, the conflict (like the Falklands before) is a further example of Britain \'punching above her weight\' in international politics due to belligerent governments, heavy reliance on US foreign policy decisions and her nuclear capability.
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