January 12: U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the use of military force in Iraq and Kuwait. The votes were 52–47 in the U.S. Senate and 250–183 in the House of Representatives. These were the closest margins in authorizing force by the U.S. Congress since the War of 1812.
12 January: United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar meets Saddam Hussein in Baghdad but does not reach an agreement with the Government of Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
12 January: Soviet special envoy Yevgeny Primakov meets with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad to discuss the possible Coalition invasion of Kuwait.
15 January: Saddam Hussein announces that Iraq will consider withdrawing its troops from Kuwait under some conditions.
15 January: 580,000 Coalition troops are stationed in the Gulf region, opposing 540,000 Iraqi troops.
15 January: First U.S. government statement relating to Operation Desert Storm is made.
15 January: Iraq ignores all UN resolutions.
16 January: Coalition forces led by the U.S. start deploying to Kuwait via the Persian Gulf and the Saudi Arabian border, triggering the first official infantry combat.
16 January: President George H.W. Bush addresses the nation from the Oval Office on the beginning of US-Led Coalition forces strikes at the beginning of Operation Desert Storm.[7]
17 January: Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz meets President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow where they discuss the Soviet peace plan.
17 January: Operation Desert Storm is launched and the first air attacks are launched on Iraq and Kuwait.
18 January, 01:00 GMT: Iraq fires 12 Scud missiles at the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, slightly injuring 12 people. The United States tells Israel to not retaliate, out of fear that it will escalate the war and trigger the collapse of the Arab Coalition. The U.S. deploys Patriot missiles to Israel and Saudi Arabia.
21 January: Foreign Minister of Iraq Tariq Aziz accepts the Soviet peace plan. President Bush refuses the peace plan as unrealistic for the coalition.
22 January: Iraq burns Kuwaiti oil fields. About 600 oil fields are on fire.
24 January: Iraq continues to burn Kuwaiti oil fields and dumps the oil into the Persian Gulf.
24 January: Coalition forces capture the small Kuwaiti island of Qaruh.
25 January: Iraqi troops dump millions of gallons of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.
29 January: United States and the Soviet Union offer a ceasefire to Iraq if it withdraws all its troops from Kuwait.
29 January: Iraqi forces invade the town of Khafji in Saudi Arabia. Iraqi forces are quickly engaged by Saudi Arabian and Qatari troops with help from the U.S. Marines.
30 January: Coalition starts its first land operations in Kuwait and Southern Iraq.
1 February: Iraqi forces are driven out of Saudi Arabia.
22 February: U.S. President George H. W. Bush issues a 24-hour ultimatum: Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait to avoid starting a ground war.
24 February: U.S.-led Coalition forces invade Iraq and Kuwait at around 4 a.m. Baghdad time. Special Air Service was the first to enter Iraqi territory.
25 February: 20,000 Iraqi troops surrender to the coalition. By the end of February, about 100,000 Iraqi troops will have surrendered.
25 February: Iraq launches Scud missile attacks on Dhahran in Saudi Arabia which kills 28 American troops and injures 98 civilians.
26 February: President of Iraq Saddam Hussein announces that Iraq will withdraw from Kuwait totally and accept the UN resolution. Saddam still does not renounce Iraqi claims over Kuwait.
26 February: About 10,000[citation needed] retreating Iraqi troops are killed when coalition aircraft bombed their stolen civilian and military vehicles. This becomes known as the Highway of Death.
26 February: Iraqi troops flee from Kuwait City.
27 February: U.S. Marines and Saudi Arabian troops enter Kuwait City.
27 February: 101st Airborne Division is less than 250 km from Baghdad over Highway 8.[8]
27 February: President Bush announces that the Liberation of Kuwait has started and the cessation of hostilities will end that day at 04:00 GMT.
27 February: Coalition announces they have destroyed almost half of the all Iraqi divisions and 500,000 Iraqi troops has been taken as POWs.
28 February: President of the United States George H.W. Bush announces the ceasefire, declaring that Kuwait is free and the Iraqi Army is defeated.
28 February: Iraq announces that it will accept all UN resolutions.