On March 2, 1991, the UN Council passed a resolution requiring Iraq to:

• Abandon its attempts to annex Kuwait and make restitution;
• Release all prisoners of war;
• Report the location of its minefields;
• Give up weapons of mass destruction;
• Appoint persons to conduct peace negotiations.

Allied troops were instructed to remain on a certain line.

One of the main reasons for the victory of NATO forces in the war is traditionally considered to be their technical superiority over the Iraqi army. It might well be said that the war was also a vivid demonstration of NATO’s strength to the world. During the war the countries participating in the anti-Iraqi coalition used all the weapons they had (except nuclear and chemical weapons). However, it would not be entirely accurate to attribute the outcome of the war to a single reason. Moreover, it cannot be argued that Saddam’s army was totally ineffective and fought solely with obsolete and low-quality weapons. U.S. headquarters had expected that Iraq had mostly Soviet weapons and would use tactics practiced by the Soviet army. But that was not the case. Iraq had a very diverse arsenal, including weapons used by the members of the anti-Iraqi coalition. By the standards of the time, the Iraqi side was pretty well equipped. The army was well-versed in terrain, experienced and trained to move very quickly in very difficult maneuvers. But there was no unity in the general staff, the senior officers were not able to act together, and the junior officers were afraid to take the initiative.

The U.S. military acted in a much more coordinated manner, although it had its faults: In several operations against Iraqi forces, the American losses were not from the enemy but from their own “friendly fire,” which the crews of some vehicles mistakenly directed at their comrades. A great advantage of the Americans and their allies was the flawless operation of the supply system, which supplied huge quantities of fuel for the mechanized armada. During the war, the Americans made extensive use of the media, broadcasting the idea of unity in the Arab world and the isolation of Iraq.

The official casualty figures for this war state that coalition troops lost 300 men and Iraq lost 8,000 to 10,000 men. It is likely that the figure for Iraqi losses was deliberately inflated by the U.S. military. But on the other hand, investigative journalism reports that many U.S. units continued to fire after the official cessation of hostilities. They killed not only enemy soldiers but also civilians.

Overall, the Gulf War led to:

• Iraq’s ultimate impoverishment and Kurdish and Shia Muslim uprisings;
• The economic crisis in Kuwait;
• An environmental disaster in the region (Iraqis set fire to Kuwait’s oil fields and released oil into the water, resulting in poisoned water and soil, killing many birds, fish and animals);
• A serious hole in the U.S. budget (huge amounts of money were spent to move people and equipment back to the U.S., and the process of sending them dragged on until September);
• Establishment of the control of NATO forces over Iraq (Saddam tried to get rid of that control, but it led to the overthrow of the Iraqi leader and his further execution in 2006).

As for oil prices, which caused the start of this war, despite the predictions of international observers, the expected sharp increase in the price of a barrel did not happen.