Baghdad (CNN) -- Twenty years after the United States and its allies launched Operation Desert Storm to roll back Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, Iraq still owes its smaller neighbor billions in reparations and more than 1,000 people are still missing.
It was in August 1990 that Iraq invaded, declaring that Kuwait was its 19th province. The United States led a counteroffensive starting January 16, 1991.
While the era of Saddam Hussein is now part of history, the impact of the invasion he ordered is anything but.
"Kuwait was of course traumatized by the invasion in 1990," said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group, which monitors conflicts around the world. "It has yet to overcome the fear that Iraq will yet again want to show that Kuwait is the 19th province rather than an independent neighboring state -- and Kuwait will want some kind of guarantees that will not be repeated". CNN
