Several events actually. Indirectly it was the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988). After the war was over, with no real winner at that, Saddam's Iraq owed Kuwait roughly 13–14 billion dollars and it was not able to pay them back. read more
For the first time since the Cold War, the U.S. and Russia both wanted to oppose Iraq's actions against Kuwait and decided to stop the sale of weapons to the country. Russia had been a major supplier. read more
The 1991 Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations mandated by the United Nations and led by the United States.The lead up to the war began with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 which was met with immediate economic sanctions by the United Nations against Iraq. read more
Though the Persian Gulf War was initially considered an unqualified success for the international coalition, simmering conflict in the troubled region led to a second Gulf War–known as the Iraq War–that began in 2003. read more