Editing Gulf War (section)

==End of active hostilities==
{{See also|Kuwaiti oil fires}}
[[File:Gulf War Saudi Flag.JPEG|thumb|upright|left|Civilians and coalition military forces wave Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian flags as they celebrate the retreat of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.]]

In coalition-occupied Iraqi territory, a peace conference was held where a ceasefire agreement was negotiated and signed by both sides. At the conference, Iraq was authorized to fly armed helicopters on their side of the temporary border, ostensibly for government transit due to the damage done to civilian infrastructure. Soon after, these helicopters and much of Iraq's military were used to fight an [[1991 uprisings in Iraq|uprising in the south]]. On March 1, 1991, one day after the Gulf War ceasefire, a revolt broke out in [[Basra]] against the Iraqi government. The uprising spread within days to all of the largest Shia cities in southern Iraq: [[Najaf]], [[Amarah]], [[Diwaniya]], [[Hilla]], [[Karbala]], [[Kut]], [[Nasiriyah]] and [[Samawah]]. The rebellions were encouraged by an airing of "The Voice of Free Iraq" on 24 February 1991, which was broadcast from a CIA-run radio station out of Saudi Arabia. The Arabic service of the Voice of America supported the uprising by stating that the rebellion was well supported, and that they would soon be liberated from Saddam.<ref>[[Robert Fisk|Fisk, Robert]]. ''[[Robert Fisk#Works|The Great War for Civilisation]]'', Vintage (2007 reprint), at p. 646.</ref>

In the North, Kurdish leaders took American statements that they would support an uprising to heart, and began fighting, hoping to trigger a [[coup d'état]]. However, when no US support came, Iraqi generals remained loyal to Saddam and brutally crushed the Kurdish uprising and the uprising in the south.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2007-08-21|title=Flashback: the 1991 Iraqi revolt|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2888989.stm|access-date=2021-03-25}}</ref> Millions of Kurds fled across the mountains to Turkey and Kurdish areas of Iran. On April 5, the Iraqi government announced "the complete crushing of acts of sedition, sabotage and rioting in all towns of Iraq." An estimated 25,000 to 100,000 Iraqis were killed in the uprisings.<ref name="ENDLESS">{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/Iraq926.htm |title=ENDLESS TORMENT, The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath |publisher=Hrw.org |access-date=2009-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615171955/http://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/Iraq926.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,HRW,,KWT,467fca591e,0.html |title=Refworld &#124; Human Rights Watch World Report 1992 – Iraq and Occupied Kuwait |publisher=UNHCR |access-date=2013-08-14}}</ref> These events later resulted in [[no-fly zone]]s being established in northern and southern Iraq.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

In Kuwait, the Emir was restored, and suspected Iraqi collaborators were repressed. Eventually, over 400,000 people were expelled from the country, including a large number of [[Palestinian people|Palestinians]], because of PLO support of Saddam. Yasser Arafat did not apologize for his support of Iraq, but after his death [[Mahmoud Abbas]] formally apologized in 2004 on behalf of the PLO. This came after the Kuwaiti government formally forgave the group.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4089961.stm |work=BBC News |title=Abbas apology to Kuwait over Iraq |date=12 December 2004}}</ref>

There was some criticism of the Bush administration, as they chose to allow Saddam to remain in power instead of pushing on to capture Baghdad and overthrowing his government. In their co-written 1998 book, ''[[A World Transformed]]'', Bush and Brent Scowcroft argued that such a course would have fractured the alliance, and would have had many unnecessary political and human costs associated with it.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

In 1992, the US Defense Secretary during the war, Dick Cheney, made the same point:

{{blockquote|I would guess if we had gone in there, we would still have forces in Baghdad today. We'd be running the country. We would not have been able to get everybody out and bring everybody home.

And the final point that I think needs to be made is this question of casualties. I don't think you could have done all of that without significant additional US casualties, and while everybody was tremendously impressed with the low cost of the (1991) conflict, for the 146 Americans who were killed in action and for their families, it wasn't a cheap war.

And the question in my mind is, how many additional American casualties is Saddam [Hussein] worth? And the answer is, not that damned many. So, I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the President made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/national/192908_cheney29.html|title="Cheney changed his view on Iraq", by Charles Pope, ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', 29 September 2004|date=28 September 2004|access-date=7 January 2005}}</ref>}}

On 10 March 1991, 540,000 US troops began moving out of the Persian Gulf.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

On 15 March 1991, [[Sheikh]] [[Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah]] returned to Kuwait, staying at the private home of a wealthy Kuwaiti as his own palace had been destroyed. He was met with a symbolic arrival with several dozens cars filled with people honking their horns and waving Kuwaiti flags who tried to follow the Emir's convoy. According to ''The New York Times'', he faced a population divided between those who stayed and those who fled, a government straining to reassert control and a rejuvenated opposition that is pressing for greater democracy and other postwar changes, including voting rights for women. Democracy advocates had been calling for restoration of Parliament that the Emir had suspended in 1986.<ref>New York Times, 15 Mar. 1991, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/15/world/after-war-kuwait-kuwaiti-emir-tired-tearful-returns-his-devastated-land.html After the War: Kuwait: Kuwaiti Emir, Tired and Tearful, Returns to His Devastated Land] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012095410/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/15/world/after-war-kuwait-kuwaiti-emir-tired-tearful-returns-his-devastated-land.html |date=12 October 2017 }}"</ref>