Lessons to remember from the last pre-internet war

Nearly 30 years ago, the guns of August were unleashed, and they still reverberate.

The phrase "the day the world changed" is often overused. But Aug 2, 1990, lives up to the billing. It was also the last major conflict before the internet era. In the immediate aftermath, the atmosphere in the Persian Gulf was almost surreal. After 100,000 Iraqi troops and 700 tanks drove into Kuwait on that hot August day, I was questioned by police in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Just days before the invasion, the page 1 headline on the British newspaper The Independent screamed "Iraqi tanks mass on Kuwait border". I went over to our translator at Gulf Times in Doha, where I then worked as the sports editor, to tease him.