It's Your Ship

Two significant military operations are alluded to frequently in the book. The first is Operation Desert Storm, which took place from January 17 to February 28, 1991. Abrashoff had been a combat systems officer aboard the USS England at the time. This military action was a response to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s invasion of neighboring Kuwait. Hussein had sought to occupy Kuwait and gain hold of that nation’s oil industry, which would have increased Iraq’s standing in the world oil market. The invasion also threatened neighboring Saudi Arabia, a nation that had a far more amicable relationship with the West, and the United States in particular, than did Iraq. Ironically, Iraq had been supplied with military equipment, artillery, and other resources in a war with Iran that had recently come to a close. After Hussein invaded Kuwait, a massive military response, led by the United States was conducted. Initially, the operation was termed “Operation Desert Shield,” and more than 500,000 American troops were deployed to Saudi Arabia to provide that country military protection. This then became Operation Desert Storm, which lasted only a month and led to the liberation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army (Collins, Shannon. “