COUNTDOWN TO CONFRONTATION.

Byline: Associated Press 

From the Gulf War to the standoff over weapons inspections, here are some of the key events leading up to the current confrontation between the United States and Iraq:

1990

Aug. 2: Iraq invades Kuwait.

Aug. 6: United Nations imposes on Iraq sweeping trade sanctions, which are still in force.

1991

Jan. 17: U.S.-led coalition launches air war against Iraq.

Feb. 26: Allied troops take control of Kuwait.

Feb. 28: Cease-fire announced.

March 2: U.N. Security Council lays down conditions, including destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and reparations for Kuwait. These conditions must be met before sanctions are lifted.

1992

Aug. 27: A no-fly zone is imposed over southern Iraq to stop Iraqi air attacks on Shiite Muslim rebels. The United States and some allies begin air patrols.

1993

Jan. 7: After Baghdad refuses to remove missiles that the United States says it has moved into southern Iraq, allied warplanes and warships attack missile sites and a nuclear facility near Baghdad.

June 27: U.S. warships fire 24 cruise missiles at intelligence headquarters in Baghdad in retaliation for what the United States calls the plot to assassinate Bush.

1994

Oct. 7: Iraqi troops move toward Kuwait, then pull back when U.S. dispatches carrier group, 54,000 troops and warplanes.

1996

Sept. 3-4: U.S. ships and airplanes fire scores of cruise missiles at Iraqi anti-missile sites to punish the Iraqi military for venturing into the Kurdish ``safe haven'' in northern Iraq.

Sept. 11: Iraqi forces fire a missile at two F-16s in the northern no-fly zone. The United States responds by sending more bombers, stealth fighters and another aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region.

November: Two U.S. F-16 pilots fire missiles at Iraqi radar sites near the 32nd parallel in the southern no-fly zone.

1997

November: Iraq orders American weapons inspectors to leave the country immediately, accusing them of spying. President Clinton orders aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf to join a military force already in place.

Oct. 7: U.N. arms inspectors tell the Security Council that Iraq still refuses to disclose full details of its banned weapons programs and is imposing restrictions on the inspections.

1998

Jan. 13: Iraq effectively blocks a U.N. weapons inspection team led by an American, failing to provide escorts needed to enter sites.

Jan. 27: Clinton intensifies U.S. pressure on Iraq to open all sites, warning Saddam Hussein not to ``defy the will of the world.''

Feb. 23: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan works out agreement with Iraq, defusing crisis by promising efforts to remove sanctions.

June 30: A U.S. F-16 fighter fires a missile at an Iraqi surface-to-air missile battery in southern Iraq after Iraqi radar locks on four British patrol planes. Iraq denies any aggression.

Aug. 5: Iraq announces it's cutting ties with weapons inspectors, saying it sees no move toward lifting sanctions. It leaves long-term monitoring in place.

Oct. 31: Iraq cuts off work by U.N. monitors. The United States and Britain warn of possible military strikes to force Iraq into cooperating.

Nov. 5: U.N. Security Council condemns Iraq's actions as a ``flagrant violation'' of resolutions.

Nov. 11: The United Nations begins withdrawing much of its staff in Baghdad, including arms inspectors and some humanitarian workers.

Nov. 13: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein says he is not trying to provoke a crisis and will accept ``positively any initiative'' to end U.N. sanctions. U.S. military buildup in the region continues.

Nov. 14: Iraq sends a series of letters to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council professing willingness to cooperate unconditionally with U.N. weapons inspectors. President Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair cancel ordered military attacks against Iraqi targets.

Nov. 15: President Clinton says Iraq narrowly avoided punishing military strikes by dropping its defiance of the United Nations, but that Saddam Hussein must cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors without conditions.

Nov. 20: Iraq's deputy foreign minister, Riyadh al-Qaisi, tells chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler that many documents the weapons inspectors seek regarding the production of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and missiles were destroyed, never existed or already had been turned over.

Nov. 27: A week after Butler's request for weapons documents, Riyadh al-Qaisi responds with three letters about Iraq's chemical weapons and missile programs, including allegations that deadly VX nerve gas was planted on an Iraqi warhead to discredit Baghdad.

Dec. 9: Iraq refuses to permit an unannounced U.N. weapons inspection in Baghdad and White House officials respond cautiously. ``Sometimes what happens is that they refuse the first time and they go back and they get in,'' says Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Dec. 10: Defense Secretary William Cohen says Iraq's refusal to allow inspectors access to the ruling Baath Party offices creates a ``very serious situation'' that could prompt a no-notice military attack.

Dec. 11: The United States will hold off acting until U.N. chief weapons inspector Richard Butler makes his report on Iraqi compliance to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, says Berger. ``We want to see this process play it's course,'' he says.

Dec. 15: Butler says in his report that Iraq has not met promises made a month ago to fully cooperate with U.N. inspectors and has imposed new restrictions on their work.

Dec. 16: Reacting to Butler's report, U.S. naval and air forces in the Persian Gulf go into ``execute mode'' and President Clinton meets with his top national security advisers to consider military strikes in response to Iraq's latest defiance of international arms inspectors.