The Saddam Line consisted of defensive fortifications constructed by Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

's Iraqi Army

Iraqi Army

The Iraqi Army is the land component of the Iraqi military, active in various forms since being formed by the British during their mandate over the country after World War I....

 on Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

's border with Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 after Iraq had invaded and occupied its neighbor

Invasion of Kuwait

The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, which subsequently led to direct military intervention by United States-led forces in the Gulf...

 in August 1990. The Western media presented fears that it would present a formidable obstacle to the liberation of Kuwait

Liberation of Kuwait campaign

The Liberation of Kuwait was the campaign to retake Kuwait from Iraq after the massive air campaign, between 24–28 February 1991. U.S. troops and the Coalition entered to find the Iraqis surrendering en masse; however, pockets of resistance existed, particularly at Kuwait International Airport...

, consisting of "flame trenches" (ditches filled with oil to be ignited in case of attack) and "sand berms, trench works, tank ditches, barbed wire and minefields", backed by the threat of chemical and biological weapons. However, those fears turned out to be unwarranted. The coalition

Coalition of the Gulf War

The Coalition of the Gulf War were the countries officially opposed to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait during the 1990 / 1991 Persian Gulf War.-Coalition by number of military personnel:-United States:*Norman Schwarzkopf*Colin Powell*Calvin Waller...

assault, beginning at 4 am on February 24, 1991, met "only sporadic resistance", and by 6:45 am, troops had broken through the Saddam Line, showing it to be a "fraud promoted equally by the Iraqis and the U.S. military and their compliant media."