ABSTRACT
In response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990, a small team of air power experts in the Pentagon, the so-called ‘Checkmate office’, proposed a conventional strategic air campaign to liberate Kuwait. 1 The team, which was under the guidance of Colonel John Ashley Warden III, sought to force Iraq’s Army from Kuwait by applying air power directly against the sources of Iraqi national power. The concept, ‘Iraqi Air Campaign Instant Thunder’, called for focused and intense attacks on the Iraqi politico-military leadership and its associated command, control and communication systems. Rather than destroying the enemy heartland by devastating its people, industry or economy, this concept concentrated on concurrent and precise targeting of the regime itself. 2 The Instant Thunder proposal underwent several changes prior to the execution of the air war, but the original concept remained at the heart of what became the strategic air campaign – the initial phase of Operation Desert Storm. 3
