The UN arms inspectors reported that Iraq was not cooperating, but had not yet been caught with forbidden weapons. However, Iraq had come very close. For example, Iraq had illegally imported 300 rocket engines. These could be used for missiles with a range longer than 150 kilometers. Missiles of that range are not allowed, so Iraq insisted that the rocket engines would only be used with shorter range rockets. In general, Iraq responded angrily to those findings, threatening to attack Kuwait if Iraq was invaded.

In Kuwait, American troops completed two weeks of combat exercises near the Iraqi border. This included firing lots of live ammunition.