Operation Instant Thunder

[1] it was planned to be an overwhelming Aerial Strike which would devastate the Iraqi military with a minimum loss of civilian as well as American life.

[2][3] The planning of the operation made use of Warden's Five Rings intellectual model,[3] which prioritized different aspects of a nation's war machine into a hierarchy of concentric circles.

This was to be accomplished by eliminating enemy radar, cutting off runways used by the Iraqi military and neutralizing any surface-to-air missile batteries.

This first phase of the operation would also include the bombing of selected military command posts as well as suspected locations of chemical weapons.

By the time fighting began on January 17, 1991, the three phases were consolidated into Operation Desert Storm, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell was reluctant to support any action which did not include a ground offensive.