Battle for the Gulf

A documentary series tracing the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the 1991 Gulf War, but told from the Arab perspective. Participants and decision-makers recount previously untold stories, and break with the mythologising Western accounts that relegate the Arabs to spectators in their own history. The war was portrayed as a victory for the New World Order that established the US as the world's only super power; yet the reality is far less clear-cut, as this series reveals.

1 -The Growing Crisis
From the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, OPEC and the oil crises, Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations to the end of the Jeddah Conference, 31st July 1990.

2 - Invasion and Arab Reaction
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the reaction of the Arab states from 2nd August to the eve of the Cairo conference on 10th August, including the missions to Baghdad.

3 - On the Move
The Cairo conference, the diplomatic offensive, the exodus of refugees, the military mobilisation, and the Allied decision to go offensive on 8th November 1990.

4 - Occupation and Resistance
The occupation of Kuwait, the organisation of the resistance, the military build-up and the final diplomatic rounds. The Geneva conference. The air war opens.

5 - Desert Storm
The air war, the retaliatory Scud missile attacks, and the ground offensive to the moment of Iraq's surrender.

6 - Aftermath
Surrender at Safwan : a secret deal? The rebellions by Kurds in the north and Shia in the south; the imposition of sanctions on post-war Iraq. The effects of the war on Iraq, on Saudi Arabia and on Palestine.

7 - Discussion
Arabic and English-language discussion of key controversies and the current (1996) state of affairs.