Week 1 Allied Sorties 4,700+ Scuds Launched 11 Allied Planes Lost 10

The air attack began with Tomahawk cruise missiles slipping through Iraqi radar to hit high-priority targets. A radar-evading F-117A Stealth fighter dropped the first laser-guided bomb, a direct hit on a Baghdad telecommunications center. Allied aircraft worked in concert to blind Iraqi radar. F-4G Wild Weasels destroyed anti-air-missile sites. Iraq fired its first Scud missiles at Tel-Aviv and Haifa. The allies stepped up attacks against Scud launchers, and the United States sent Israel Patriot missiles.

Week 2 Allied Sorties 15,300+ Scuds Launched 43 Allied Planes Lost 7

Allied planes continued to bomb supply routes to Republican Guard units and troops along the Iraq/Kuwait border. B-52s pummeled the Guard units with heavy bombing. Iraq set several oilfields ablaze in Kuwait and began pumping millions of gallons of crude oil into the gulf, creating the world’s biggest oil spill, threatening coastal wildlife and desalination plants. Scud attacks on Israel and Saudi Arabia continued. Iraq paraded allied prisoners on international television.

Week 3 Allied Sorties 17,000+ Scuds Launched 6 U.S. KIA 12

Iraq probing forces engaged allied troops in the first ground battles at Khafji and points to the west. After 36 hours of fighting, Saudi and Qatari troops, with U.S. support, retook Khafji. In fighting near Wafra and Umm Hujul, 11 Marines died–at least seven victims of “friendly fire.”

Allies declared air supremacy, having destroyed Iraq’s air defenses; at least 89 Iraqi planes flew to Iran, where they stayed until the war’s end. Allies also cut off resupply routes to Iraq’s troops; major roads and bridges were bombed out.

Week 4 Allied Sorties 20,000+ Scuds Launched 2 U.S. KIA 0

After 47,000 allied air sorties, U.S. analysts puzzled over the campaign’s results. CIA pessimists estimated the Republican Guard had been “degraded’ by 5 percent. Pentagon analysts believed the Guard’s effectiveness was down 25 percent. Either number was well below the 50 percent target. The battleship Wisconsin opened fire with its 16-inch guns for the first time since the Korean War. The fierce bombardment prompted Jordan’s King Hussein to accuse the United States of trying to destroy Iraq.

Week 5 Allied Sorties 19,000+ Scuds Launched 8 U.S. KIA 5

Stealth F-117A fighters dropped two 2,000-pound bombs on an air-raid bunker in Baghdad, killing 300 civilians inside. The United States insisted the bunker had a military use. “Newsweek’ learned allied intelligence had identified the bunker as one of perhaps two dozen intended to protect Saddam’s inner circle. Still, Americans were horrified. Saddam, sensing a propaganda coup, announced he would discuss withdrawing from Kuwait. But the offer was conditional, and President Bush dismissed it as a “cruel hoax.”

Week 6 Allied Sorties 18,000 Scuds Launched 7 U.S. KIA 6

Anticipating a ground war, Iraq’s foreign minister Tariq Aziz, shuttled between Baghdad and Moscow, trying to broker a peace deal. Moscow announced Iraq had agreed to leave Kuwait unconditionally and then gave conditions. President Bush, sensing Saddam was on the ropes, rejected the plan. The Soviet’s refined Iraq’s terms. A stern George Bush gave Iraq 24 hours to give up. Baghdad fired a Scud missile at Israel. At 8 p.m. (EST) Feb. 23, the largest U.S.-led assault since World War II was launched.

Week 7 Allied Sorties 7,500+ Scuds Launched 3 Iraqi Prisoners 56,000+

When the ground war finally came, victory was stunningly quick. Demoralized by six weeks of intense bombing, Iraqi frontline troops surrendered en masse. U.S., French and British forces bypassed Iraqi fortifications, charging to within 150 miles of Baghdad. They routed the Republican Guard in the biggest tank battle in 50 years. Jubilant Kuwaitis celebrated freedom–and surveyed the damage. Four days after the ground war began, President Bush declared victory.