Tenth anniversary of the Gulf War: A look back

January 16, 2001
Web posted at: 4:08 p.m. EST (2108 GMT)

In this story: Correspondents witnessed raids Air attack lasted six weeks F-22 combines stealth with supersonic speed RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Jamie McIntyre, CNN Military Affairs Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It was 10 years ago Tuesday that the United States led a military coalition against Iraq, starting with an air campaign that changed the nature of modern warfare.

The air assault that launched the Gulf War began one day after the expiration of a United Nations' deadline for Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait.

CHAT TRANSCRIPTS Peter Arnett: A look back at Operation Desert Storm Bernard Shaw: A look back on the 10th anniversary of the Gulf War CNN's Brent Sadler looks at Iraq since the Gulf War    VIDEO CNN's Wolf Blitzer interviews CNN anchor Bernard Shaw and former CNN correspondent Peter Arnett Play video: PART 1 PART 2 Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre looks back at the air war and the lessons it holds for military leaders a decade later Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   RESOURCES In-Depth Special: The Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm   • Timeline   • Facts   • Video calendar   • Gulf war weapons info   ALSO Ten years later, Iraq still claims victory in Persian Gulf War Israelis-Palestinians set for more talks Tuesday despite a violent Monday Iraq-U.N. weapons talks postponed until after February CNN's Jane Arraf on changing attitudes in the Persian Gulf   ON CNN The hour-long documentary "The Unfinished War: A Decade Since Desert Storm" debuts on CNN at 10 p.m. ET and CNN International at 1500 GMT (times and additional airings).   MESSAGE BOARD   • Share your Gulf War memories   • The U.S. military      QUICK VOTE Should sanctions on Iraq now be lifted? Yes No Scaled down but not lifted completely View Results

The first planes to bomb Baghdad in the early morning darkness were U.S. Air Force F-117s. The radar-evading stealth aircraft were both the embodiment of superior U.S. weapons technology, and the harbinger of a new high-tech war.

"The Gulf War set a mark on the wall for the conduct of warfare. People now expect conflict to be short duration, decisive, with a minimum of casualties," said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Dave Deptula.

Correspondents witnessed raids

Ten years ago, Deptula was a young Air Force lieutenant colonel and part of the team of military planners who holed up for months plotting the air attack against Iraq. One of the original targeting maps adorns his Pentagon office.

CNN correspondents were eyewitnesses to the first strike against the Iraqi capital.

"Wow! Holy Cow, that was a large airburst, filling the sky," CNN's John Holliman reported in a live broadcast on January 16, 1991.

"I think, John, that airburst took out a telecommunications center," said CNN's Peter Arnett, who was watching from the same hotel window in downtown Baghdad.

"Actually our first bit of battle damage assessment, the most important feedback we got that night was provided by CNN, when they went off the air ...," said Deptula.

When David French, a CNN anchor in Washington, reported that he thought the network was having a technical problem that night, he was inadvertantly giving the Pentagon information.

"What it showed us was what had been hit was a critical telecommunication center," said Deptula.

Air attack lasted six weeks

Six weeks of bombing were followed by a four-day ground campaign before Iraq surrendered. The Gulf War proved what stealth technology, combined with precision weapons, could accomplish, according to Deptula.

"In the past, when we didn't have stealth and precision, it required many aircraft to attack one target," he said. "Today, we have moved into an era in which we can attack many targets with just one aircraft."

Smart bombs made up only 7 percent of what was dropped on Iraq. By 1999, when the United States led a NATO bombardment of Serbia, the percentage had increased to 30 percent, and U.S. casualties, which were low in the Gulf War, dropped to zero in Yugoslavia, something unprecedented in air combat.

That technological edge is what has allowed the United States to enforce no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq with virtual impunity. Over 200,000 sorties have been flown over Iraq since the war, without the loss of a single aircraft, although at a cost of roughly $2 billion per year.

F-22 combines stealth with supersonic speed

Deptula was fired upon while flying an F-15 over Iraq in the late 1990s, when he was in charge of operations in the Northern no-fly zone. He cautions even the best technology can't beat the odds:

"The longer and longer we engage in overseas activities like that the higher and higher the probability becomes that something is going to go wrong," he said.

As for what's next, Deptula now heads the Air Force office that's pushing the $200-million F-22, as just what the U.S. needs to keep its advantage over the rest of the world. The F-22 combines stealth with the ability to cruise at supersonic speeds.

Still on the drawing board -- remote-controlled fighters, where pilots sit safely at a computer on the ground.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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