The republicans keep saying that Kerry voted against the first Gulf War, which is true. What they leave out is that many other senators voted against it too. The vote on Jan. 12, 1991 was
52-47.
The whole country was arguing whether or not to go. Was this "standing up to naked aggression" or an oil grab?
There was a huge marketing campaign to get the American people to go along. Remember the 15 year old Kuwaiti girl testifying about Iraqi soldiers throwing babies on the floor of a hospital and stealing the incubators? She was from the Kuwaiti royal family, reading what Hill & Knowlton wanted her to say. This LINK provides lots of details.
It turned out to be a quick military effort, and it accomplished the goal of getting Hussein out of Kuwait. But before Operation Desert Shield turned into Operation Desert Storm, many people were afraid we'd be stuck there for many years.
Which we are now.
Don't let the Repubs rewrite history. It was not a popular war.