ABSTRACT
The immense environmental ramifications of operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm are just now coming into view. The images of oil-soaked birds and the towering infernos in the Kuwaiti oil fields held the world's attention for a brief time, but long after the hostilities cease and media reports diminish, the environmental degradation caused by the conflict remains. It will take decades to restore the environment to its pre-war condition, assuming this restoration is even possible. Short-term problems have been replaced by longer-term ones with regional and possibly global repercussions.
