The Gulf War
From TeeVeePedia, the Internet TV Encyclopedia.
The Gulf War, officially titled The CNN War: Sponsored By Gulf Oil, was fought from 1990 to 1991 between America and Iraq. The most closely covered war in television history, The Gulf War also has the distinction of being the highest rated war ever fought.
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Events Leading To The Gulf War
Experts agree that Ted Turner was the main person behind the production of The Gulf War. With Congress taking a well earned Christmas break and then-President Lex Luthor relaxing at his winter estate in Latveria, Turner decided to take control of the American military. Using his expertise gained as the villainous "Billionaire Ted" on the TBS show WCW Raw, Turner broadcast a series of announcements from the mysterious Saddam Hussein. Hussein, calling himself the "leader" of "Iraq" (which was in reality a bunch of Middle Eastern oil wells owned by the Gulf Corporation), said that he would start the "Mother of All Wars" that would be worse than World War II and The Cold War combined.
The Gulf War
After several broadcasts by Hussein, a misguided Justice League Unlimited declared that "there will be peace in our time" in Iraq. The organization of super-heroes declared all of Iraq a "No-Flying, No Tights Zone"—denying other super-powered individuals the right to operate within Iraq's borders—and said that there would be "dire consequences" if Iraq continued along its "path to destruction".
Operation Desert Shield
Needing time to ship CNN anchors Wolf Blitzer, Arthur Kent and Stone Phillips to the region to host The Gulf War, Turner asked JLU to stall for a month or so. The United Nations (acting benevolently thanks to a $2 billion "donation" from Turner) sent Aquaman to the desert region, thereby guaranteeing that any action would take at least a month. During this time, Turner hired actors Harrison Ford and Morgan Freeman to play the roles of American military commanders Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell. With cameras in place, Turner declared the start of hostilities in February 1991.
Operation Desert Storm
See TeeVeePedia's section on video games and imagine lots of fire and explosions, all announced as "Breaking News" by CNN reporters.
Aftermath Of The Gulf War
With Iraq "placated" and CNN (along with CNN Headline News) enjoying record ratings, Turner declared The Gulf War a success and retired to his Montana ranch with anti-war activist Jane Fonda at his side. In fact, The Gulf War was one of America's great successes as it led to the establishment of Iraq as an "Evil Empire" to replace Russia. In addition, the character of Saddam Hussein became one of the great stock villains of his time, rivaled only by President George W. Bush. The success of The Gulf War was in fact its undoing, as it led to CNN and Fox News Channel creating a less successful sequel, The Iraq War, in 2003.
