On February 24, 1991, American tanks cross the Saudi Arabian desert toward the Iraqi border, the ground assault of a coalition built to force Saddam Hussein's army out of Kuwait. The film traces how Hussein got there: an Iraqi economy wrecked by the war with Iran, and an invasion that overran Kuwait's oil fields in a little over 36 hours. It follows the diplomatic path that led to war, the United Nations demand for immediate withdrawal, Iraq's refusal, and the assembly of a US-led coalition eventually numbering 620,000 troops. Footage covers the buildup in the desert, the armor crossing into Iraqi and Kuwaiti territory, and the collapse of Iraqi positions once the ground war began. The film stays close to the military mechanics of the campaign, tanks, troop numbers, timelines, rather than the politics that followed, tracking a war fought and largely decided within weeks.