Highway of Death Casualties
Every time there is a war, there are unwanted casualties. Obviously, no troop wants to lose their men, but death is something that is quite inevitable in the battlefield. However, the Highway of Death casualties at the Gulf War were a little less than expected. All the parts involved in the Gulf War – or Persian War – were looking to end the battle by directly confronting the Iraqi troops. During the war, there were about 100,000 Iraqi casualties, but it isn't clear how many lost their lives on the Highway of Death. There were fewer casualties for the coalition forces, which included the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, among others.
Statistics by U.S. Media
Journalists and the media in general were following the Gulf War closely, when it first erupted back in 1990. A lot of them contributed in creating reports on the lives lost during the war and at the Highway of Death. About 400 of them were assigned to cover the Saudi Arabian casualties, while others were kept on the dark, with not too much information to report. When the Highway of Death incident broke out, about 1,400 journalists were present in the area to cover the story. These were big news since the Iraqis were going to surrender, and the war was going to end. In regards to Iraqis death casualties, their leader, Saddam Hussein, at first stated that the number rounded the 3,000. However, this was never confirmed.
What Really Happened
The majority of the American people have heard about the Gulf War. Nonetheless, not all of them are entirely sure about what happened in the Highway of Death. Moreover, some of them haven't even heard about that term. The coalition – that means the U.S. and allies –had planned to act fast; they wanted to start and end the operation in record time. Of course, part of their plan was to minimize the death casualties, while still achieving their goal. They were capable of shutting down the highways quickly, but the Iraqi troops responded with their counterattack. The Highway of Death incident lasted about ten hours, leaving more Iraqi death casualties than American. The attack was started with the help of bulldozers that headed towards the trench line. There were also U.S. Military aircrafts that enclosed the Iraqi vehicles in the highway.
Rebuilding the Highway of Death
Despite the number of journalists that were present at the Highway of Death, the news was not published until two weeks later. The reason behind this is that the coalition decided it was best to let the turmoil cool off, before announcing the Highway of Death casualties. There was a lot of controversy after the news broke out, because some stated that the coalition was in the wrong to attack the Iraqi troops. Nonetheless, their alliance was authorized by the United Nations, and they were acting in defense of the Republic of Kuwait. Many years after the war was over (late 1990s), the Highway of Death was rebuilt by the Iraqi government. Ironically enough, it was heavily used by the American troops in 2003.