As U.S.-led coalition forces began a ferocious air war on Iraq with Operation Desert Storm, Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein told his people on state radio that "the great duel, the mother of all battles has begun...the dawn of victory nears as this great showdown begins!" His prediction proved completely wrong: the war lasted only a little over a month and ended in Iraq's total defeat, with many Iraqi soldiers surrendering quickly to coalition forces rather than fighting. The phrase "mother of all battles" was not borne out by events and has since been used to mock Saddam's bluster, including again when the U.S. went to war with Iraq a second time in 2003.