Why did the gulf war of 1991 start? There are many different reasons why the gulf war of 1991 started but one of the main reasons is in response of Iraqs invasion and annexation of Kuwait. The invasion and annexation of Kuwait “was a major conflict between Ba’athist Iraq and the Emirate of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, and subsequently led to direct military intervention by US led forces in the Gulf war and the setting alight by Iraq of 600 Kuwaiti oil wells.” This means that they used to United States to come in and fixed there problem. In 1990 Iraq blamed Kuwait for stealing Iraqi petroleum through slant drilling, which initially the start of it all. The entire reason they were fighting was because of oil. Saddam Hussein’s decision to attack Kuwait was made a few months before the actual invasion. The invasion was on 2 August 1990, and within at least two days of fighting most of the Kuwait armed forces were overrun or fell back. Which annexed the Emirate of Kuwait. Iraq’s refusal to withdraw from Kuwait led to the gulf