Table 1

Table 1 shows a sample of the lead sentences of reports on the Reuters newswire that preceded Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. (The full set of reports is considerably more extensive, particularly during the week prior to the invasion.) Generally each lead corresponds to a single event, though some sentences generate multiple events. For example, the report

July 23, 1990: Iraqi newspapers denounced Kuwait's foreign minister as a U.S. agent Monday"

corresponds to an event in the WEIS event coding scheme: the WEIS category 122 is defined as "Denounce; denigrate; abuse". In this event, Iraq is the source of the action and Kuwait is the target. Together, these generate the event record "900723 IRQ KUW 122" where "900723" is the date of the event, IRQ is a standard code for Iraq, KUW is the code for Kuwait, and 122 is the WEIS category.

Table 1: Reuters Chronology of 1990 Iraq-Kuwait Crisis

July 17, 1990: RESURGENT IRAQ SENDS SHOCK WAVES THROUGH GULF ARAB STATES
Iraq President Saddam Hussein launched an attack on Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Tuesday, charging they had conspired with the United States to depress world oil prices through overproduction.

July 23, 1990: IRAQ STEPS UP GULF CRISIS WITH ATTACK ON KUWAITI MINISTER
Iraqi newspapers denounced Kuwait's foreign minister as a U.S. agent Monday, pouring oil on the flames of a Persian Gulf crisis Arab leaders are struggling to stifle with a flurry of diplomacy.

July 24, 1990: IRAQ WANTS GULF ARAB AID DONORS TO WRITE OFF WAR CREDITS
Debt-burdened Iraq's conflict with Kuwait is partly aimed at persuading Gulf Arab creditors to write off billions of dollars lent during the war with Iran, Gulf-based bankers and diplomats said.

July 24, 1990: IRAQ, TROOPS MASSED IN GULF, DEMANDS $25 OPEC OIL PRICE
Iraq's oil minister hit the OPEC cartel Tuesday with a demand that it must choke supplies until petroleum prices soar to $25 a barrel.

July 25, 1990: IRAQ TELLS EGYPT IT WILL NOT ATTACK KUWAIT
Iraq has given Egypt assurances that it would not attack Kuwait in their current dispute over oil and territory, Arab diplomats said Wednesday.

July 27, 1990: IRAQ WARNS IT WON'T BACK DOWN IN TALKS WITH KUWAIT
Iraq made clear Friday it would take an uncompromising stand at conciliation talks with Kuwait, saying its Persian Gulf neighbor must respond to Baghdad's "legitimate rights" and repair the economic damage it caused.

July 31, 1990: IRAQ INCREASES TROOP LEVELS ON KUWAIT BORDER
Iraq has concentrated nearly 100,000 troops close to the Kuwaiti border, more than triple the number reported a week ago, the Washington Post said in its Tuesday editions.

August 1, 1990: CRISIS TALKS IN JEDDAH BETWEEN IRAQ AND KUWAIT COLLAPSE
Talks on defusing an explosive crisis in the Gulf collapsed Wednesday when Kuwait refused to give in to Iraqi demands for money and territory, a Kuwaiti official said.

August 2, 1990: IRAQ INVADES KUWAIT, OIL PRICES SOAR AS WAR HITS PERSIAN GULF
Iraq invaded Kuwait, ousted its leaders and set up a pro-Baghdad government Thursday in a lightning pre-dawn strike that sent oil prices soaring and world leaders scrambling to douse the flames of war in the strategic Persian Gulf.

Source: Reuters