Commonly referred to as "Gulf War" in the West, actually "2nd Gulf War" after the 1st Gulf War opposed Iraq to Iran from 1980 to 1988 at the cost of about half a million dead on both side, the Gulf War happened from January 17, 1991 till February 28, 1991. It opposed a 29 nation-coalition led by the United States against Saddam Hussein's Iraq after the invasion by Saddam's forces of neighboring Kuwait. Main allies of the US in this war were Great Britain, France and Saudi Arabia, for a total of over 700,000 troops deployed, 99.5 % American. Stalling negotiations at the United Nations headquarters in New York following Saddam's illegal invasion of Kuwait led to a US-inspired ultimatum issued by the United Nations Security Council and then to the start on January 17, 1991 of a massive bombing campaign against both Iraqi troops present in Kuwait and Iraqi cities when Saddam Hussein refused to withdraw his troops from Kuwait.

A US Department of Defense controlled, CNN exclusive media coverage then displayed the image of a clean, sanitized, "surgically accurate" campaign of bombing from the part of the allies against Saddam Hussein's forces. The evidence on the ground as well as bombing raid reports suggest instead the use of massive carpet-bombing alleged to have dropped 85,000 tons of bombs, or the equivalent of seven and-a-half Hiroshimas, primarily on civilian infrastructures and at the cost of about 200,000 civilian lives according to former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

A massive ground offensive started on February 24, sending hundreds of thousands of US-led troops across Kuwait. Almost no resistance was met according to the own account of veterans having taken part in the offensive. Only a few thousands Iraqi POWs were rounded up while hundreds of fleeing Iraqi soldiers as well as civilians from various nations were pounded along the infamous "Highway of Death". The allied coalition secured Kuwait on February 26 as US troops pushed inside the Iraqi territory. Two days later, on February 28, 1991, Washington was declaring cease-fire unilaterally as rebellions against Saddam Hussein's regime were starting to spread all across Iraq. Despite an armistice signed by the Iraqis in early March 1991, bombings of Iraqi cities and desert outposts have been going on ever since on a weekly basis and till this day, carried out by US and British air forces against supposedly offensive Iraqi anti- aircraft positions and without any mandate from the United Nations.

The origins of the crisis that led to the Gulf War, the reality about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein against other Persian Gulf nations besides Kuwait, the suppliers of Saddam's arsenal as well as the West's strategical war goals and achievements as a result of this war have been the matter of a deep controversy for now over a decade. "Hidden Wars" raised all of these questions and more basing itself on never seen before documents recently released under the US "Freedom of Information Act", rarely seen war footage and testimonies by many different players in this modern and complex crisis, including in particular a very enlightening interview of former Desert-Storm Commander, General Norman Schwarzkopf.