Editing Gulf War (section)

===Initial moves into Iraq===
[[File:DesertStormMap v2.svg|thumb|Ground troop movements 24–28 February 1991 during [[Operation Desert Storm]]]]
The war's ground phase was officially designated Operation Desert Saber.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} The first units to move into Iraq were three patrols of the British Special Air Service's B squadron, call signs Bravo One Zero, Bravo Two Zero, and Bravo Three Zero, in late January. These eight-man patrols landed behind Iraqi lines to gather intelligence on the movements of Scud mobile missile launchers, which could not be detected from the air, as they were hidden under bridges and camouflage netting during the day.{{sfnp|Riley|2010|p=207}} Other objectives included the destruction of the launchers and their fiber-optic communications arrays that lay in pipelines and relayed coordinates to the [[Transporter erector launcher|TEL]] operators launching attacks against Israel. The operations were designed to prevent any possible Israeli intervention. Due to lack of sufficient ground cover to carry out their assignment, One Zero and Three Zero abandoned their operations, while Two Zero remained, and was later compromised, with only Sergeant [[Chris Ryan]] escaping to Syria.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Elements of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Battalion [[5th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|5th Cavalry]] of the 1st Cavalry Division of the US Army performed a direct attack into Iraq on 15 February 1991, followed by one in force on 20 February that led directly through seven Iraqi divisions which were caught off guard.{{citation needed|date=February 2009}} On 17 January 1991 the 101st Airborne Division Aviation Regiment fired the first shots of the war when eight [[AH-64]] helicopters successfully destroyed two Iraqi early warning radar sites.<ref name="ReferenceA">Screaming Eagles 101st Airborne Division by Russ & Susan Bryant P.85</ref> From 15 to 20 February, the [[Battle of Wadi al-Batin]] took place inside Iraq; this was the first of two attacks by 1 Battalion 5th Cavalry of the 1st Cavalry Division. It was a feint attack, designed to make the Iraqis think that a coalition invasion would take place from the south. The Iraqis fiercely resisted, and the Americans eventually withdrew as planned back into the Wadi al-Batin. Three US soldiers were killed and nine wounded, with one M2 Bradley IFV turret destroyed, but they had taken 40 prisoners and destroyed five tanks, and successfully deceived the Iraqis. This attack led the way for the XVIII Airborne Corps to sweep around behind the 1st Cav and attack Iraqi forces to the west. On 22 February 1991, Iraq agreed to a Soviet-proposed ceasefire agreement. The agreement called for Iraq to withdraw troops to pre-invasion positions within six weeks following a total ceasefire, and called for monitoring of the ceasefire and withdrawal to be overseen by the UN Security Council.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The coalition rejected the proposal, but said that retreating Iraqi forces would not be attacked,{{citation needed|date=February 2009}} and gave 24 hours for Iraq to withdraw its forces. On 23 February, fighting resulted in the capture of 500 Iraqi soldiers. On 24 February, British and American armored forces crossed the Iraq–Kuwait border and entered Iraq in large numbers, taking hundreds of prisoners. Iraqi resistance was light, and four Americans were killed.<ref name="leyden.com">{{cite web|author=Andrew Leydon |url=http://www.leyden.com/gulfwar/week6.html |title=Carriers in the Persian Gulf War |publisher=Leyden.com |access-date=18 March 2010}}</ref>