Iraq News Now

Thirty years have passed since Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein invaded neighbouring Kuwait, but despite hints of a diplomatic rapprochement, people in both countries say the wounds have yet to heal.

On August 2, 1990, Saddam sent his military, already exhausted by an eight-year conflict with Iran, into Kuwait to seize what he dubbed "Iraq's 19th province."

Also read: How the Iraq-Kuwait crisis unfolded 30 years ago

The two-day operation turned into a seven-month occupation and, for many Iraqis, opened the door to 30 years of devastation that has yet to end.

From Baghdad to Basra, Kirkuk to Babylon, Iraqis agree that the incursion "marked the beginning of the end."

"Since the invasion of Kuwait, we haven't known peace or security," said Um Sarah, a retired teacher in Baghdad.

"It's only gone from bad to worse, like we were cursed."

Iraq's occupation of its much smaller neighbour ended swiftly with US-led Operation Desert Storm.

Near the northern Kuwait-Iraq border, a refugee family heads towards home on March 2, 1991 after being imprisoned in Iraq for a month during the war. AP Photo

But it was followed by a decade of crippling sanctions, another US invasion in 2003, civil war, sectarian violence and the militant proto-state of the Daesh group, only defeated in late 2017.

To survive, Iraqis had to get crafty: reusing every bit of plastic or metal, rewearing old clothes and bartering instead of buying.

"For the first time, I saw a senior officer with the rank of colonel using public transportation to get around," said ex-soldier Sarmad Al Bayati.

'They hung her'

A US soldier standing night guard as oil wells burn in the distance in Kuwait on February 26, 1991. Reuters

"With the embargo, products weren't entering anymore and all of my father's capital - 100,000 dinars - was worth nothing," said the 50-year-old Baghdad resident.

Iraq's currency and its homegrown industries have yet to recover, even three decades on.

While Iraq languished, Kuwait prospered: its currency is one of the most valuable in the world and its people are some of the wealthiest.

Aircraft carrier USS America traverses the Suez Canal on its way to the Red Sea to take part in the Gulf War, in January 1991. AFP

But they are still haunted by Saddam's invasion.

Entire neighbourhoods were destroyed, hundreds of Kuwaitis were tortured or executed, and thousands more were taken as prisoners of war.

"They hung her with electrical wires," she recalled.

Even politically, the war's bitter legacy is taking years to undo.

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait sparked an exodus of foreign residents. - AFP Photo

Shuruq Qabazard, who was a young girl during the invasion, said the last 30 years have helped her empathise with Iraqis.