The Sandbox
Copyright© 2025 by Vonalt
Chapter 8: The Invasion
I constantly remained at General GNS’s side the night the invasion finally happened. Our group received regular updates on field progress, and I kept the General informed of the latest intelligence from the front. The decoy invasions worked precisely as planned, drawing the attention and response of Iraq’s main battle forces. The real invasion force meanwhile surged across the border, encountering little to no resistance in most areas.
The results were disastrous for Iraqi forces in the few locations where they chose to stand and fight. The new munitions we employed against their Russian-made battle tanks caused far more damage than our forces had anticipated. Several tank engagements in the open desert resulted in complete routs for the Iraqi units. Once-formidable Republican Guard tank squadrons were reduced to fields of twisted metal, while damage to Coalition armor remained minimal.
The speed and precision of the offensive stunned observers. Key defensive lines had collapsed within hours. Command posts, once thought impregnable, were overrun or abandoned. Iraqi communications faltered under the strain, with conflicting orders and radio silence leaving many units isolated and confused.
The Iraqi Army began surrendering in droves as Coalition troops surged across the border. There were so many prisoners that our personnel simply pointed in the direction where they were to go, and massive columns of Iraqi soldiers complied, marching as instructed. Those who did not surrender were swiftly eliminated. Entire units of the Iraqi Republican Guard were wiped out. Their forces stood little chance when bombarded from the air and decimated by Coalition armor equipped with the new high-impact tank rounds.
Iraqi forces set fire to the Kuwaiti oil wells in retreat, creating an environmental disaster of staggering proportions. The infernos burned out of control, their thick black smoke columns endlessly stretching across the horizon. While the fires were not an immediate operational concern, as addressing them fell under the jurisdiction of another agency, their impact was quickly felt. Troops on the ground began reporting illnesses believed to be caused by exposure to the dense, oily smoke. Many of these symptoms would persist for years, leaving the VA struggling to diagnose and treat what came to be known as Gulf War Syndrome.
The fighting continued for several days marked by overwhelming Coalition dominance, until a cease-fire was officially declared.
No one was certain about the extent of collateral damage caused by the fighting in Kuwait or the full scale of destruction inflicted on Iraqi military equipment. Tasked with assessing the aftermath, some members of my Intelligence Group, headed by me, were reassigned as a damage assessment team. A personal security detail was attached to us to ensure our safety. A Special Operations team familiar with Iraqi military hardware also joined the mission to assist in identifying destroyed assets and evaluating the impact on Kuwaiti infrastructure.
I submitted a request for two M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, three heavily armored Humvees, and enough provisions to support a one-week operation. We drew standard-issue M16 rifles, sidearms, and a light machine gun for one of the Humvees from the armory. Anticipating potential delays, I also requested additional gear and supplies to extend the mission for another week, just to be safe.
The only item that we initially overlooked was bottled water, a critical oversight in the desert environment. One of the Special Forces operators fortunately noticed, and quickly secured an ample supply.
My team traveled across Kuwait and into southern Iraq for ten days, surveying the devastation our forces had inflicted on the Iraqi Army. We followed the infamous route where Coalition air superiority had decimated retreating Iraqi units attempting to flee back to Iraq. The road was littered with the charred remains of vehicles, many still containing the burned corpses of soldiers and the looted goods they had tried to carry back to Baghdad. It was a haunting sight, one that would stay with me for the rest of my life.
I believe that Randy and the rest of the ‘Twin Mountains’ team felt the same way. They had all seen combat before, yet this experience left a lasting impression. I thought that only a madman would ever choose to willingly wage war. The sane among us would seek to avoid it at all costs.
In addition to the destruction that we had dealt to the Iraqi Army, there also was the catastrophic damage inflicted on the Kuwaiti oil fields by the retreating Iraqi forces. I had no idea how much crude oil was going up in flames each day, but it had to be in the millions, if not billions, of dollars in losses as we watched the infernos endlessly stretch across the desert as we drove past the burning fields. It was a staggering display of environmental and economic devastation. This had to be one of the most expensive wars ever fought, all because of a dictator’s greed and his lust for his neighbor’s wealth.
I was stunned to learn that Saddam Hussein would remain in power when we finally returned to the base and filed our report. Some so-called political ‘expert’ argued that allowing him to stay would preserve stability in the Middle East and serve as a counterbalance to Iranian Revolutionary Guard influence. It was a decision that defied logic, and one that history would later prove to have been disastrously misguided.
Things within my unit had largely returned to their prewar routine three weeks after the defeat of the Iraqi Army. The General called me into his office one morning. I walked in, snapped a salute, and stood at ease, just as I always did. The General looked up from his desk, gave me a rare smile, and casually tossed an envelope in my direction. I caught it midair, a bit surprised.
Still smiling, the General looked me in the eye and said, “You deserve it. Now get out of here, us real soldiers still have work to do.”