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It Bites

It Bites are an English progressive rock and pop fusion band, formed in Egremont, Cumbria, in 1982 and best known for their 1986 single "Calling All the Heroes", which gained them a Top 10 UK Singles Chart hit.

Initially fronted by Francis Dunnery, the band recorded three studio albums before splitting in 1990. The band eventually reformed in 2006 with new frontman John Mitchell replacing Dunnery, recording two further studio albums before going into hiatus circa 2014.

At present the band nominally consists of two separate line-ups: one featuring Mitchell plus original keyboard player John Beck and drummer Bob Dalton (which may or may not be active) and the "It Bites FD" lineup (featuring Dunnery leading a varied set of other musicians in an intermittent band, active since 2012).

Musical style
It Bites have been described as having "a strong art-rock tendency" by AllMusic, while website Über Rock has stated, "It Bites have always been one of the more curious cases of the progressive rock world. Their first impression on us back in the 1980s was that of a pop band. But a pop band doing what no pop band had the right to do – successfully mix catchy tunes with complex musicianship and, god forbid, distorted guitars."

Paul Stump, in his History of Progressive Rock, said that "It Bites, of all the 1980s progressive revivalists, truly understood - if perhaps only instinctively - the contemporaneous impossibility of 'progressing' in the mainstream of rock, and the possibilities that opened up. ... While the likes of IQ and Pendragon attempted to achieve novelty with rock voicings coined ten years previously, It Bites subtly (and unsubtly) stole and reused 1980s devices for some of the best-balanced combinations of virtuosity and gut excitement British rock has heard. ... It Bites' sheer èlan, coupled with their ability to grab a wider range of used ideas than their contemporaries, hoisted them aloft and singular as a landmark act."

In a 2023 interview, Dunnery and Beck cited a wide range of It Bites band influences, from pop (Paul McCartney, Level 42, Donny Osmond, The Carpenters and Racey), hard rock (Necromandus), jazz-rock (Bruford, Soft Machine, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Allan Holdsworth), progressive rock (Genesis, Focus, Yes and UK), funk and soul (George Benson, Cameo, Steve Arrington, Michael Franks). Regarding the band's association with progressive rock, Dunnery has also remarked "I don’t like prog for prog’s sake; if a song doesn’t have a beautiful melody then I want nothing to do with it."

Early years – 1982–1985
Originally formed by drummer Bob Dalton, bass player Dick Nolan and guitarist/singer Francis Dunnery, It Bites started out in early 1980s in the market town of Egremont in Cumbria, UK. Keyboard player John Beck from Whitehaven joined the group later in 1982, and for a short period of time It Bites also featured saxophonist Howard "H" Smith, a period in which the band worked playing gigs at nightclubs around Cumbria working mostly on pop covers by the likes of Haircut 100 and Level 42. The band split up in 1983, when Dalton and Nolan moved to Birmingham, Dunnery to London and Beck to Manchester.

It Bites reunited in 1984 after a meetup in Egremont, and this time opted to relocate entirely to London. All four members moved into a squat in Peckham and spent a year living hand-to-mouth and writing original material. Bob Dalton later commented "it was actually the perfect situation because all we could afford to do was write songs 24/7. All that time was the making of us. We became strong writers and strong players." Their demo tape eventually secured them a management deal with Martyn Mayhead (at WEA Records), and shortly afterwards a recording contract with Virgin Records.

Single success, The Big Lad in the Windmill – 1986–1987
In March 1986, It Bites released their first single "All in Red", which only charted modestly. Their second single, "Calling All the Heroes", was released in June 1986 and became a big hit, reaching No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart and gaining the band a huge amount of radio play and many television appearances (including Top of the Pops, Wogan, and The Old Grey Whistle Test).

John Beck would later reflect that "it was like Jeff Beck and "Hi Ho bloody Silver Lining"... a big hit but unrepresentative of the artist." Dunnery has commented "if it wasn't for that song nobody would have heard of us. We were doing progressive rock, which was the most unhip thing you could think of. But we weren't a band trying to manipulate the public – we knew nothing about things like hit records. We just wanted to be like Yes, Genesis, Mahavishnu, UK and Focus. We had zero interest in being in the charts. I still think that if the person I am now could talk to It Bites back then, we could have had four hits from each of our albums."

The third single, "Whole New World", also charted; but not at such a high position, peaking at number 54. All three singles appeared on the first It Bites album The Big Lad in the Windmill (produced by Alan Shacklock), which was released in the summer of 1986 but met with only moderate commercial success, despite charting at number 35.

The band toured with Go West, Cardiacs and Marillion during 1987, and played major European outdoor festivals including the Montreux Jazz Festival, broadcast live across Europe by Swiss TV. This diverse set of support slots and headline shows revealed a problem in marketing the band which would last throughout their career. It Bites' blend of contemporary 1980s producer-pop, progressive rock and hard rock (setting glossy keyboards and massed harmony vocals against heavy drumming, complex time signatures and Allan-Holdsworth-inspired guitar solos) would draw criticism from some music press writers who accused the band of failing to settle on a coherent direction. Dunnery developed a tendency to hit back at the press, often insulting them from the stage. ("I felt insulted by those idiots. If someone punches me in the face, I’ll punch them back.") Despite this, the band forged a loyal and enthusiastic following in the UK.

Once Around the World – 1987–1988
The band began recording their second album Once Around The World with producer Nick Froome in 1987, producing two tracks, "Plastic Dreamer" and "Old Man and the Angel". Mark Wallis replaced Froome as producer in mid-1987, with footage of the process being broadcast on Channel 4 TV's "Equinox" programme Twang, Bang, Kerrang! (which documented the history of the electric guitar and prominently featured Francis Dunnery comparing his Japanese and American Fender Stratocaster guitars and discussing technique and equipment.

The Wallis collaboration resulted in two further songs (including the album's length title track) before Steve Hillage was brought in to stabilise the chaotic recording sessions and complete the record. Dunnery has recalled that "Steve made us realise that we needed to write some three-minute singles because one of the songs [the title track] was almost 16 minutes long. Steve was a gentle soul. He did a great job on our stuff. I really, really loved working with him... "Midnight", "Black December", "Kiss Like Judas", "Yellow Christian". Steve helped with the mechanics of those songs."

Once Around The World was released in March 1988 and signaled a departure from the more directly pop-oriented sound of It Bites' first album, something demonstrated explicitly by a fourteen-minute title track in full progressive rock style. The first single from the album (a heavily edited version of "Old Man and the Angel") peaked at number 72 in the singles charts, while the Steve Hillage sessions had produced some more pop-orientated material, including the minor hit singles "Kiss Like Judas" (February 1988) and "Midnight" (April 1988). Despite its split nature, the final album was consistent in tone and sound and was popular with fans. The band toured to support the release, including some early 1988 support slots for Robert Plant.

During this period, Dunnery also gained some press attention for his invention of the Tapboard, an instrument based on two paired guitar necks and using a ten-finger tapping technique to create exceptionally fast and clear melodic runs and chording.

Eat Me in St Louis and the shift towards hard rock – 1989
The third album, Eat Me in St. Louis was recorded in early 1989 at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, produced by Reinhold Mack (best known for work with Queen and The Rolling Stones). The album featured a harder-edged, more guitar-orientated sound than before, with shorter, punchier songs and the direct progressive rock influences cut back.

In contemporary interviews, Dunnery claimed to have become dissatisfied with the more technical and virtuosic side of It Bites' music as demonstrated on the previous album – "That was very important to us at the time. We wanted to say to people, Look, but aren't we very clever? I can't be bothered now to write all them long sections, I just wanna see some good songs... Instead of flying around at 9,000 miles an hour, I've been playing tunes that people can remember." However, the band also chose to commission the artwork for Eat Me in St. Louis and its early single releases from the progressive rock sleeve artist Roger Dean, in what Dunnery admitted was a calculated attempt to play on their own "progressive rock" reputation and to "annoy people."

On its release, Eat Me in St. Louis scored excellent reviews in rock magazines Kerrang! and RAW and spawned the minor hit single "Still Too Young To Remember". During this period, Virgin made strong attempts to break the band as a serious hard rock act with several re-releases and video shoots for "Still Too Young To Remember" and the follow-ups "Underneath Your Pillow" and "Sister Sarah". Although Virgin's efforts to boost the band's commercial profile were ultimately unsuccessful, the band still proved themselves popular as a live act, playing sell-out gigs across the UK, US and Japan, and touring with Jethro Tull and the Beach Boys. Certain band members also participated in outside projects – Nolan recording with Tony Banks (on his 1989 Bankstatement album) and Dunnery singing backing vocals on the debut Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album during the same year.

Departure of Francis Dunnery – mid-1990
It Bites showcased some new post-Eat Me in St. Louis material on an eight-date UK tour during March and April 1990. In June 1990, the band travelled to Los Angeles, to start writing and recording their fourth album. This was intended to be the record to break the American market, and Dunnery promised simpler songs with "a stronger taste of blues." However, tensions within the band reached breaking point during the pre-rehearsal period, and it was confirmed to the band's fanclub in November 1990 that the band had parted company with Francis Dunnery. Dunnery is rumoured to have demanded full band leadership and control over material, and it's also claimed that he clashed with former creative foil John Beck to the extent that he demanded Beck's expulsion from the band.

Asked in 2024 about the circumstances of the split, Dunnery replied "there are a million different answers I could give you. We were under a lot of pressure to come up with huge success when nobody really knew what we should be doing. All we were being told was: "No, that's not right," or, "No, you can't do that." Towards the end of It Bites there was a lot of trying to make the sun shine when it was raining. It became obvious that we just didn't fit into what was going on within the industry. Nobody wanted us. It was like being English in a Welsh bar... The most profound thing was realising that it didn't matter the kind of music we were making. The music side of things was the least important. That was the saddest thing. Walking away from all of that felt very liberating. I’ve got a brash personality and that didn't help. I was still drinking and I didn't have very good social skills. I was too much of a live wire and in that sense I contributed to my own downfall."

In 2023, Dunnery looked back on his time with the band and reflected, candidly, that It Bites "weren’t particularly into being successful – we just wanted to play twenty-minute long songs and smoke pot, after drinking thirty bottles of wine. It was tremendous. We were frighteningly authentic. It Bites were always the real deal... we just didn’t have the savvy to market ourselves because we weren’t trying to be successful. To this day I don’t think Bob, Dick or John gave a shit about success or fame. None of us did." He also paid tribute to his musical relationship with John Beck, stating "We wrote outrageous shit together. If I didn’t have to wait three hours outside his house in a van every time I wanted to play music with him, then I’d go round there right now and I’d sleep with him."

Lineup 2, 1990
Now minus Dunnery, the remaining trio initially stayed on in Los Angeles, continuing to write and auditioning new singers. Returning to England, they recruited Lee Knott as the new It Bites singer. Knott had previously fronted the band Innocence Lost, who had played support slots to It Bites on previous UK dates. During this period, John Beck had also switched instruments, later recalling that "at the time I think we were all sick of what was happening and wanted a total change. I was playing guitar, and a little bit of keyboards, but mainly guitar. It was a change for me, and Bob and Dick were happy doing that."

A new It Bites album was initially scheduled for early 1991. This was ultimately replaced by a live album covering the Francis Dunnery years, Thank You And Goodnight, which was mostly drawn from Eat Me in St. Louis tour recordings and released in August 1991.

In an attempt to refresh their identity, the Knott-fronted It Bites renamed themselves as Navajo Kiss and played several gigs under that name. The concerts featured new material plus a vigorous cover of "Murder of the Planet Earth" (from Eat Me in St. Louis). A second name-change – to Sister Sarah – followed, but the band split quietly within the year due to lack of enthusiasm from audiences. John Beck would later admit "we found out pretty soon that people weren’t about to go along with such a change in direction." The various band members went their separate ways but remained in touch.

Sessions, Superior, Unicorn Jones, Dunnery solo and Kino
After the split of It Bites, Beck and Dalton joined John Wetton's band for a Japanese tour and a live album, Chasing The Dragon, with Beck moving on to become one of the keyboard players for the Alan Parsons Project. Nolan (who also worked for the Alan Parsons Project) eventually established himself as Ray Davies' bass player of choice. Dalton played drums for Chris Norman and Ray Davies and moved into teaching at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford.

A partial It Bites reunion appeared in 1996 in the shape of the band Unicorn Jones. This project featured John Beck, Dick Nolan and singer David Banks (who'd once auditioned for It Bites and who'd previously been part of the band Mummy Calls, whose song "Beauty Has Her Way" appeared on the soundtrack to the film "The Lost Boys"). Banks had approached Beck and Nolan to help him record an album of Burt Bacharach covers, but the trio had been sidetracked into recording a bizarre cover of Motörhead's "Ace of Spades" (in which they described themselves as having "replac(ed) Lemmy's timeless vocal with David's crooner voice and transform(ed) the heavy metal trash into a dark deranged groove"). This cover version spawned the Unicorn Jones band, which recorded one album – 1996's 'A Hundred Thousand Million Stars' – but did not play live.

Beck and Dalton reunited in 2005 as members of the band Kino, a progressive rock band which also featured Marillion bass player Pete Trewavas and British prog scene regular John Mitchell (Arena and others) on lead vocals and guitar. The band initially featured former Porcupine Tree drummer Chris Maitland, but the latter was later replaced by Dalton. Kino's album 'Picture' was well-received on the British prog rock scene during 2005, and the band performed versions of the It Bites songs "Kiss Like Judas" and "Plastic Dreamer" at live concerts.

Reunion of lineup 1 – 2003–2006
On 30 August 2003, during a solo concert at the Union Chapel in London, Francis Dunnery was joined onstage by his old It Bites band-mates for the first time since 1990. John Beck joined Dunnery for a duet on the It Bites song "Hunting The Whale", following which Dick Nolan and Bob Dalton also joined in for a gig finale of "Still Too Young To Remember". Following this, it was announced that It Bites would be getting back together to write and record a new album followed by a tour.

Although some writing and initial recording did take place, the full reunion of the original lineup never materialised (apparently due to Dunnery's hectic schedule back in the United States, which affected his ability to commit to the band). In 2024, Dunnery claimed that "the difficulty (had been) in the hierarchy of things... In every band there's somebody who carries the vision forward. It's not that the other guys aren't important because they do contribute, but there's a guy like George Michael (in Wham!) and Freddie Mercury (in Queen). It's not that Brian May isn't important, but the vision came from Freddie. When there's somebody that doesn't want to go along with that vision, a breakdown always follows... The guys wouldn't accept my vision. I'm driven; I'll do more in a day than others do in a month. I'm the one getting everyone else out of bed."

The brief reunion did, however, act as a spur for some archive It Bites releases – the Live at Montreux album (originally recorded in 1987) and the DVD Live in Tokyo (featuring footage dating from the Eat Me in St Louis period.) Both were released by Bob Dalton on behalf of the band.

Lineup 3 – 2006–2008
In 2006, It Bites opted to formally reunite, but with Beck and Dalton's Kino bandmate John Mitchell replacing Dunnery as lead singer and guitarist. According to an interview on francisdunnery.com, dated 15 October 2008, Dunnery said Bob Dalton called him out of the blue and said he was no longer wanted in the band, explaining that they already had someone to replace him. In 2024, Dunnery recollected "I don’t think I really cared. It was like someone banging my ex-wife – why would I want to listen to that? I've moved on. But I won't have anything bad said about John Mitchell because I love the guy."

Mitchell had been an enthusiastic It Bites fan since his teens, and was happy to take on the role. John Beck commented "I’ve met guitarists that could manage Frank’s licks but weren’t singers, or the other way around. John’s the first to do both. It’s all been so natural, I don’t even remember agreeing to do this; it took on a life of its own."

The new It Bites made their live debut for a well-received tour in winter 2006, playing material from the original three It Bites albums as well as premiering three new songs – "Memory of Water", "Playground" and "Lights". The tour also spawned a live album called When The Lights Go Down, released in 2007. The band began recording material for a new album (predominantly written by Mitchell and Beck) between 2006 and 2008, opting to self-produce. Recording sessions were completed in May 2008.

The Tall Ships and recruitment of Lee Pomeroy (2008-2010)
On 23 June 2008 the band announced a further change to their line-up with the departure of another founder member, bass player Dick Nolan. Earlier in the year, Nolan had failed to show up for a performance at a Classic Rock Society concert, and there had been rumours of his dissatisfaction with the project. The band's statement revealed that all bass playing on the forthcoming album had in fact been performed by either John Mitchell or John Beck – in what the band referred to as "Genesis-style", a reference to the 1978 Genesis album ...And Then There Were Three... – and that It Bites had reluctantly parted company with Nolan due to his lack of involvement and commitment. Nolan would continue working with Ray Davies (and would eventually resurface in 2020 as part of the Subdeluxe band fronted by Scottish singer/songwriter Scott Donaldson).

It Bites went on to recruit Lee Pomeroy, an established British session bass guitarist and multi-instrumentalist who'd played with Take That, Mike Oldfield and Rick Wakeman's New English Rock Ensemble and shared It Bites' appreciation of English progressive rock musicians. Pomeroy had apparently been originally recommended to the band by Nolan as a potential substitute.

It Bites' comeback album – The Tall Ships – was pre-released to members of the It Bites internet forum on 21 July 2008, with a full release following on Inside Out Music in October 2008. The album generally gained good reviews and was considered an excellent comeback ranking with the best of the band's previous work. With Pomeroy installed, It Bites supported Status Quo at the latter's Whitehaven concert on 2 August 2008 and went on to their own headline tour around the UK between 26 September and 7 October 2008 with neo-prog rock newcomers Touchstone as support.

In summer 2009 It Bites played the Three Rivers Progressive Rock Festival and also toured Japan, with Level 42's guitarist Nathan King covering for an unavailable Lee Pomeroy as bass player. (King was subsequently confirmed as It Bites' regular deputising bass player for whenever Pomeroy was unavailable.) The band went on to play further British concerts in autumn 2009. A live album called This Is Japan – recorded at a Tokyo concert on 3 July 2009, and featuring King – was released in February 2010 (the album had previously been released in Japan only under the title It's Live).

On 28 February 2010, the band released a re-recorded version of their 1986 hit "Calling All The Heroes" in order to raise funds for flood relief following the Cumbrian floods of late 2009. For this release, the band were joined by various guest performers including former members Francis Dunnery and Dick Nolan. Dunnery re-sang the opening lines of the song, with the rest of the vocals handled by John Mitchell, John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson, U.K.), Jason Perry (A) and Steve Hogarth (Marillion). Further instrumental contributions came from Nolan, Geoff Downes (Asia, Yes, Buggles), Jem Godfrey (Frost*, Atomic Kitten, etc.) and various members of Marillion.

It Bites played more UK dates in March 2010 and two more dates in Japan during the same month (with Nathan King once again playing bass guitar for the Japanese concerts).

Map of the Past and archive releases – 2011–2018
During 2011, Mitchell and Beck spent time writing for the next It Bites album. Later in the year, the album was recorded at Mitchell's own Outhouse Studios with a full band of Mitchell, Beck, Dalton and Pomeroy. In 2012, the band announced that the album would be called Map of the Past and that it would be a concept album – "inspired by the discovery of an old family photograph, Map of the Past is a highly personal journey that explores love, passion, jealousy, anger, remorse and loss through the eyes of a previous generation against the backdrop of Britain as it enters a new century and one of the most defining periods of its history." The album was released on 26 March 2012.

It Bites continued to play and tour infrequently over the following years, despite the involvement of band members with other projects (notably John Mitchell with Lonely Robot). The last full band tour to date was in 2013, although Mitchell and Beck performed an acoustic duo house concert tour in 2014.

Most band activity during this period was restricted to archive releases. In 2014, all of the albums from the band's period with Francis Dunnery as frontman were released in the boxset Whole New World – The Virgin Albums 1986–1991. In 2018, the band released another archive box set, Live in London, which contained full live recordings from three different concerts during the Dunnery era (recorded at the Marquee Club, the Astoria and Hammersmith Odeon).

Hiatus of Mitchell/Beck/Dalton line-up; Dunnery launches parallel line-up – 2019–present
On 18 September 2018, while announcing to fans on Facebook that the Live in London pressing had sold out, Bob Dalton had also commented "once again I have been astounded by your unwavering loyalty to It Bites and only wish there was something else on the horizon to be able to offer you but as it stands, this is the final offering from us. I sincerely hope you enjoy the new (old) CDs and it was a pleasure creating this for you."

On 25 May 2019, Dalton appeared to announce the formal end of the band on Facebook, stating "unfortunately It Bites won't be touring or gigging again, we don't have any plans for anything else in the future but it was a great time and we do appreciate all of you who have followed us through the years."

However, a few days after Dalton's announcement John Mitchell revealed that neither he nor John Beck had been consulted about dissolving It Bites, and that even if the band had split up he might still continue working with Beck. He clarified "neither of us were consulted with or informed of the announcement – we have been looking into the possibility of releasing The Tall Ships on vinyl, and had made arrangements to write together in the coming weeks (we already have the bones of four songs written and recorded). If Bob doesn't wish to be part of this endeavour, that is entirely down to him but we would have appreciated a combined discussion and agreement before making such an announcement. Obviously this doesn't prevent John and I from making music together, whatever the outlet for this now may be!"

During this period, erstwhile band frontman Francis Dunnery carried out a British tour with a band he referred to as "Francis Dunnery's It Bites", performing the original band's material. In addition to Dunnery, the band featured bass player Paul Brown, second guitarist Luke Machin, keyboardist/singer Pete Jones, drummer Björn Fryklund and multi-instrumentalist Quint Starkie.

In late 2020, Mitchell began dropping mentions of new It Bites work, including a Facebook comment on 13 December 2020 that "we're doing an It Bites album (communication permitting). We may be some time." This was followed in June 2021 by an article in Prog magazine issue 120, in which Dalton blamed the mid-decade foundering of the Mitchell-era band on "a basic lack of continuity. It was stop-start, stop-start." In the same article, Mitchell stated that work on the new album was continuing (with a line-up of Mitchell, Beck and Dalton) and that a record contract had been signed, with a view to releasing the new album at the start of 2022.

Remastered versions of the band's Mitchell-era albums The Tall Ships and Map of the Past were released on 7 May 2021.

During 2023, Francis Dunnery stepped up the activity of his own version of the band - now renamed It Bites FD. In September 2023, he released the double live album Live from the Black Country (recorded in Wolverhampton during January of the same year) featuring the Dunnery/Brown/Machin/Jones/Fryklund/Starkie line-up; copies of the Blu-ray edition came with a bonus EP called Raw EP, featuring three vintage It Bites tracks with all instruments performed by Dunnery. In December 2023, he announced that a new line-up of It Bites FD (Dunnery, Brown, keyboard player Tony Turrell, drummer Chad Wackerman and "atmospherics" player Dave McCracken) would undertake a short three-date UK tour for January 2024 and also release a studio album. Return to Natural was released on 19 January 2024.

On 24 January 2024, John Mitchell stated in a post on his Facebook account that he was "immensely proud" of the two albums that It Bites had released during his time in the band, and praised his bandmates Beck, Dalton and Pomeroy. In the ensuing conversation, when asked whether It Bites would split into two simultaneous performing factions (in the manner of Wishbone Ash or Barclay James Harvest), Mitchell replied "No it won't. I see no point in two iterations of the same thing." To date, there have been no further indications as to what will happen regarding the songs Beck and Mitchell were reportedly working on for a contracted sixth It Bites album, nor as to whether they might be released under another project name.

When asked in 2024 whether he might be interested in reuniting the original band, Dunnery replied "Well, if someone offered five million dollars to make an album, why not?"

Current members

 * Bob Dalton – drums, backing vocals (1982–1983, 1984–1990, 2006–present)
 * John Beck – keyboards, keytar, guitar, bass guitar, backing and harmony vocals (1982–1983, 1984–1990, 2006–present)
 * John Mitchell – lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar (2006–present)

Past members

 * Francis Dunnery – lead vocals, guitar, Tapboard (1982–1983, 1984–1990)
 * Dick Nolan – bass guitar, backing vocals (1982–1983, 1984–1990, 2006–2008)
 * Howard "H" Smith – saxophone (1982–1983)
 * Lee Knott – lead vocals (1990)
 * Lee Pomeroy – bass guitar, backing vocals (2008–2019)

Touring substitutes
 * Nathan King – bass guitar, backing vocals (2008–2013)

Studio albums

 * The Big Lad in the Windmill (Virgin/Geffen, March 1986)
 * Once Around the World (Virgin/Geffen, March 1988)
 * Eat Me in St. Louis (Virgin/Geffen, June 1989)
 * The Tall Ships (InsideOut, October 2008)
 * Map of the Past (InsideOut, March 2012)

Compilations

 * The It Bites Album (Virgin Japan, 1990)
 * The Best of It Bites – Calling All the Heroes (EMI, 1995)
 * Re-released with two additional tracks in December 2003
 * "Whole New World: The Virgin Albums 1986–1991" (Virgin, 2014)

Live albums

 * Thankyou and Goodnight – Live (Virgin, August 1991)
 * Live in Montreux (2003)
 * When the Lights Go Down (May 2007)
 * Deutsche Live! (2010; free bonus 'desktape' CD)
 * This Is Japan (2010)
 * Live in London (2018)

DVDs

 * Live in Tokyo (2003)
 * It Happened One Night (2011)

Studio albums

 * Return To Natural (January 2024)

EPs

 * Raw EP (September 2023)

Live albums
Live from the Black Country (September 2023)

Print

 * Article in Kerrang! magazine No. 128 (1986)
 * Article in Guitarist magazine vol 3 no. 8 (January 1987) – four-page article with photos

title: It Bites


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ArbCom elections are now open!
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license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Ryddragyn


text:
Talk:Body odor

Links deleted without reason
Why were Body Odor support forum and CureZone links removed? They can be extremely useful to some people, including me, and should definitely be included on the link list. Explanation please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.157.132.220 (talk • contribs)
 * The links were deleted because they led to discussion forums; you can see our guidelines regarding external links here. The links you posted would fall under #10 in the "Links normally to be avoided" section. Thanks for your participation, though, and I encourage you to add sourced content rather than links. Kafziel Talk 17:30, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

I understand that but then should not the french forum be also removed? And those forums I added were in english so many more could take advance of them.
 * If there's a French forum, then that should probably be removed as well. Removing your links was nothing personal; the rules apply to everyone. I'll take a look. Kafziel Talk 17:36, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

I see. Well, rules are rules but I feel pity for the people who'd wish to find answers to their body odor problems but can't.
 * Well, there's always Google. Wikipedia isn't really here to offer advice or direct people to good websites. See this guideline for more information on that. By the way, I removed the French link you mentioned. Hope I've been helpful. Kafziel Talk 17:44, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Misleading
the link to corynbacterium should not link to cornybacterium diptheriae, that could be misleading....

a redirect link from a B.O. or B. O. entry would be useful

NPOV vio?
The section "Social History" doesn't seem very NPOV to me: "In the period of 1910-1920, the American advertising industry concluded that anxious, discontented consumers were better customers than satisfied ones." N0YKG 16:29, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

 * This claim is cited in media studies textbooks. I saw it in at least one. --Shaddack 04:25, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

Illnesses
Someone ought to add material about the effects of various illnesses on body odor, most notably, alcoholism.
 * Actually, it's the alcohol that gives off the odor in an alcoholic, not the illness. The bacteria that cause alcoholism do not produce a smell.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.176.146.161 (talk) 00:37, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

 * "The bacteria that cause alcoholism" (quoted from 75.176.146.161's statement above)
 * Alcoholism is caused by bacteria? Is that a proven fact? Is it possible to obtain a citation for this fact?
 * (I hope this is the correct place to ask and the correct way of asking about this!?) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.191.200.254 (talk) 17:48, 17 January 2019 (UTC)

Stinking of butter comment
I've trimmed down the comment a little bit to bring it closer to the truth: I have heard it said before (in Japan, not by Japanese people though) that there was a very old, common, term used to describe foriegners that had to do with the way they smelt. Not only is the term not used today (in any common sense), it is completely unknown to even older generations (Tokyo area). I'm not sure the term actually existed, and even if it did, it may have just been a one-time occurrence that perculated through generations as a joke, though it was never used. The source provided gives a really week reference to it, and it certainly doesn't discount the facts existance as a mere old joke. I'm going to ask some more people that may know a little more about it. In the meantime I'll resist from deleting it completely. freshgavin ΓΛĿЌ  10:55, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

http://www.webexhibits.org/butter/countries-japan.html seems to think that " The terms Bata-kusai, “stinking of butter,” is still a derogatory term for things obnoxiously Western." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.88.106.175 (talk) 19:58, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

It can be used in that broader xenophobic way in Japan, but the smell of rancid butter is a very distinctive one, caused primarily by butyric acid or butyrate salts. It's added to Hershey's chocolate to give it a distinctive flavour and texture, but many people who have not eaten it in childhood find this chocolate to taste and smell like bile or vomit - an acrid, unpleasant, distracting and off-putting aroma. It wouldn't surprise me if this compound was identified on the smell of the foreigners in Japan (or a smell approximating it), especially if it were earlier in the 20th century when deodorant products weren't as widespread or effective. Of course, it could always be an easy target for people who don't like foreigners in Japan in general. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Meconium (talk • contribs) 09:50, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Europeans and personal hygeine
"Most Europeans at that time bathed only once or twice yearly. When European traders and explorers came into contact with Asian cultures, the Europeans were considered barbarians due to their stench."

Would it be possible to obtain a citation for this fact? I'm not doubting its authenticity - I'm sure a bath was a luxury that the vast bulk of Europeans could ill-afford - but some further elaboration would be nice.

Indeed. It sounds like typical Protestant/Enlightenment-era anti-Medieval propoganda to me.

 * Typical what? BonniePrinceCharlie 00:25, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

It's been a long time since I studied this but I do distinctly remember reading about this, from memory it was the first Portuguese that arrived in Japan and they were known to smell like butter. There is an old japanese word meaning "butter stink" which was a derogatory term for europeans in the 1700's or 1800's I believe. Hayaku (talk) 03:02, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

It’s important to remember that back when ships were powered by sails, fresh water was a luxury needed for hydration, and there were no Suez or Panama canals, sailors spent many months at sea to get from Europe to East Asia, with little or no opportunity to bathe. The sailors probably did smell bad when they got there. But it’s questionable how applicable that is to people living on land in Europe at the time. Svtcb (talk) 15:03, 9 August 2022 (UTC)

Reference template
Should I add...

...to the article? I've found six 'citation needed' tags in there. I thought I should get a second opinion before adding it to the article. M.G. In Da Hizzhouse 17:41, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
 * There definitely should be some checking. The genetics section is misleading about the Vomero-Nasal Organ receptors, since the page is chiefly human oriented and the VNO's own page insists the jury is still out on humans even possessing a functional one. One or the other needs to be cited, clarified and up to date. MuJoCh (talk) 04:29, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

isn't that true that if you eat junk food your body expells a bad odor when u sweat?

Lynx
I dont really think that this is relevant.. should it be removed?

"Lynx have recently launched a new fragrance called beodrant"

Mijcsmu (talk) 03:11, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

"Body odor (spelled body odour outside the United States)"
Shouldn't that be "Body odour (spelled body odor in the United States)"? Compared to every other country on earth combined, the United States is a minority. I think it would make more sense for the United States to be the exception to the rule, not "every country that is not America". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.234.30.50 (talk) 08:36, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Please read Manual_of_Style. Cacycle (talk) 22:46, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I read the manual of style and I still don't know why it's the american spelling is the article title instead of british spelling. can someone change this?--86.41.172.162 (talk) 04:11, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree, America is just one country, this is an international encyclopedia. 86.6.93.134 (talk) 16:56, 17 August 2009 (UTC)
 * That would be encyclopAEdia, then. Take care to learn what you preach! Aadieu (talk) 08:05, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

 * I wasn't preaching, I was just voicing my opinion. By the way if we are flinging insults "Take care to learn what you preach!" Isn't grammatically correct. 86.29.78.31 (talk) 20:36, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I would be inclined to allow them to keep the American spelling, in-line with Manual_of_Style. 84.92.169.252 (talk) 15:37, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Ho ho, very funny :) Seriously though, the variation in national spelling should be noted. I'm stitching in a bit in parentheses borrowed from the Foot odor article, which seems to me to do the job in a neutral manner. Vilĉjo (talk) 23:14, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

Body odour
there is an identical article titled Body odour that I have redirected to this article. There may be a need to merge any information that is not contained in this article Jay Waxman (talk) 20:19, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Nose?
Why don't we remove this from the first paragraph? It's obviously someone who's trying to be funny. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.151.45.235 (talk) 05:46, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

Olfaction?
The term olfaction is not widely known and would be better replaced with 'sense of smell'. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.1.56.254 (talk) 20:15, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Effect of foods
Maybe add a section on foods which change the body odor, such as garlic, asparagus, onion, etc. 71.139.160.146 (talk) 17:31, 14 August 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Wiki Education assignment: Introduction to Chemical Ecology
— Assignment last updated by Symbiologist (talk) 15:14, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Body odor


text:
Talk:Werner Villinger

"and never confronted his past."
Removed - this is Scientology slang. --Irmgard 10:31, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * and never confronted his past.

 * That is your POV. It is english. Restored. If you don't like the wording, reword it.--AI 18:38, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Villinger's suicide
Irmgard, why did you remove details about Villinger's suicide. Your censorship is unfounded. Here is the content your removed:

 * Villinger threw himself off a mountain top near Innsbruck to his death. His apologist and author of his obituary, Dr. Ehrhardt, was also an active member of the WFMH. Here is the text your replaced it with: Villinger committed suicide.

This information has been restored and will remain until properly disputed.--AI 20:16, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * Details on a suicide should not be published unnecessarily to not invite any imitations - this is an encyclopedia, not a sensational newspaper. --Irmgard 18:35, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * And what the heck has it to do with his biography or obituary, if the guy who held it was a member of the WFMH. There is sure more descriptive information available about him, if you have to mention anything. --Irmgard 18:35, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * Then add that information. Do it without removing information that works against your POV.--AI 02:09, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Bodelschwingh
The guy's name is Friedrich von Bodelschwingh jun. (there is also the senior of the same name, his father and predecessor). Sure, he was pastor, but the wikilink does usually include a title. --Irmgard 18:35, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Werner Villinger


text:
User:Meteor2017

 * pl:Wikipedysta:Meteor2017 - Main user page
 * Meteor2017 / Gallery
 * My home page
 * My bicycle photoblog 1
 * My bicycle photoblog 2

title: User:Meteor2017


text:
User:Guam~enwiki

Hi, my first wirk here is to add interwiki links to italian wikipedia, ad to get inspiration for new articles. Occasionally i write some article ad correct some existing.

I'm computer tecnician and Linux user. My interests are open source, electronic, electrotechnic, science and technology in general.

My page on it.wikipedia.org

Here's my contribution list:

 * Eugenio Barsanti (not logged)
 * Felice Matteucci

title: User:Guam~enwiki


text:
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country for the next seven months. The invasion was condemned internationally, and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted numerous resolutions urging Iraq to withdraw from Kuwaiti territory. The Iraqi military, however, continued to occupy Kuwait and defied all orders by the UNSC. After initially establishing the "Republic of Kuwait" as a puppet state, Iraq annexed the entire country on 28 August 1990; northern Kuwait became the Saddamiyat al-Mitla' District and was merged into the existing Basra Governorate, while southern Kuwait was carved out as the all-new Kuwait Governorate. By November 1990, the adoption of UNSC Resolution 678 officially issued Iraq an ultimatum to withdraw unconditionally by 15 January 1991 or else be removed by "all necessary means" from Kuwaiti territory. In anticipation of a war with Iraq, the UNSC authorized the assembly of an American-led military coalition.

After Iraq failed to meet the UNSC's deadline, the coalition pursued the directive to forcefully expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait by initiating the Gulf War aerial bombardment campaign on 17 January 1991. As the bombardment campaign continued over the next month, Iraq fired missiles at Israel; the Iraqi government had hoped that an Israeli retaliation would prompt the coalition's Muslim-majority states to rescind their support for the campaign against Iraq. However, no such retaliation took place, and the coalition began a ground invasion of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait and parts of Iraq on 23 February 1991. As Iraqi troops retreated from Kuwait, they set fire to over 700 Kuwaiti oil wells, but this strategy was ultimately unsuccessful in thwarting the coalition's advance. By 28 February 1991, the Iraqi military had been devastated and Kuwaiti independence was restored.

Though the true intent behind Iraq's decision to attack Kuwait is disputed, a variety of speculations have been made. One possible motive concerned Iraq's inability to repay the US$14 billion that it had borrowed from Kuwait during the Iran–Iraq War. Proponents of this theory point to Kuwait's surge in petroleum production, which kept Iraq's revenues down; Kuwait's oil production levels were above the mandatory quota that was specified by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which had consequently urged the country to moderate production amidst a sharp decrease in global oil prices. Iraq interpreted the Kuwaiti government's refusal to decrease oil production as an act of aggression against the Iraqi economy. In early 1990, Iraq accused Kuwait of slant drilling to steal Iraqi petroleum across the Iraq–Kuwait border, though some Iraqi sources indicated that Saddam Hussein had already made the decision to attack Kuwait a few months before the actual invasion. In the two days after the invasion began, most Kuwaiti troops were overrun by the Iraqis and most Kuwaiti officials had retreated to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Iran–Iraq War and Iraqi debt to Kuwait
When the Iran–Iraq War broke out, Kuwait initially stayed neutral and also tried mediating between Iran and Iraq. In 1982, Kuwait along with other Arab states of the Persian Gulf supported Iraq to curb the Iranian Revolutionary government. In 1982–1983, Kuwait began sending significant financial loans to Iraq. Kuwait's large-scale economic assistance to Iraq often triggered hostile Iranian actions against Kuwait. Iran repeatedly targeted Kuwaiti oil tankers in 1984 and fired weapons at Kuwaiti security personnel stationed on Bubiyan island in 1988. During the Iran–Iraq War, Kuwait functioned as Iraq's major port once Basra was shut down by the fighting. However, after the war ended, the friendly relations between the two neighbouring Arab countries turned sour for several economic and diplomatic reasons that culminated in an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

By the time the Iran–Iraq War ended, Iraq was not in a financial position to repay the US$14 billion it had borrowed from Kuwait to finance its war and requested that Kuwait forgive the debt. Iraq argued that the war had prevented a possible rise of Iranian hegemony over Kuwait. Kuwait's unwillingness to pardon the debt strained the relationship between the two countries. In late 1989, several official meetings were held between Kuwaiti and Iraqi leaders, but did not result in an agreement.

Allegations of Kuwaiti economic warfare and slant drilling
In 1988, Iraq's Oil Minister, Issam al-Chalabi, strove for a reduction in the crude oil production quota of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members to end the 1980s oil glut. Chalabi argued that higher oil prices would help Iraq to pay back its US$60 billion debt by increasing its revenues. However, given its large downstream petroleum industry, Kuwait was less concerned about the prices of crude oil and in 1989, Kuwait requested OPEC to increase the country's total oil production ceiling by 50% to 1.35 e6oilbbl per day. Throughout much of the 1980s, Kuwait's oil production had already been considerably above its mandatory OPEC quota and this had prevented a rise of crude oil prices. A lack of consensus among OPEC members undermined Iraq's efforts to end the oil glut and consequently prevented the recovery of its war-crippled economy. According to former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, "every US$1 drop in the price of a barrel of oil caused a US$1 billion drop in Iraq's annual revenues, triggering an acute financial crisis in Baghdad". Iraq interpreted Kuwait's refusal to decrease its oil production as an act of aggression.

The increasingly tense relations between Iraq and Kuwait were further aggravated when Iraq alleged that Kuwait was slant-drilling across the border into Iraq's Rumaila field. The dispute over the Rumaila field started in 1960 when an Arab League declaration marked the Iraq–Kuwait border 2 mi north of the southernmost tip of the Rumaila field. During the Iran–Iraq War, Iraqi oil drilling operations in Rumaila declined while Kuwait's operations increased. In 1989, Iraq accused Kuwait of using "advanced drilling techniques" to exploit oil from its share of the Rumaila field. Iraq estimated that US$2.4 billion worth of Iraqi oil was "stolen" by Kuwait and demanded compensation. According to oil workers in the area, Iraq's slant drilling claim was fabricated, as "oil flows easily from the Rumaila field without any need for these techniques."

On 26 July 1990, only a few days before the Iraqi invasion, OPEC officials said that Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates had agreed to a proposal to limit their oil output to 1.5 e6oilbbl per day, "down from the nearly 2 million barrels a day they had each been pumping", thus potentially settling differences over oil policy between Kuwait and Iraq.

Iraqi Irredentism

Iraq had a history of irredentist claims to Kuwait. After gaining independence in 1932, the Kingdom of Iraq immediately declared that the Sheikhdom of Kuwait was rightfully a territory of Iraq, claiming it had been part of an Iraqi territory until being created by the British. The Iraqi Republic under Abd al-Karim Qasim also held irredentist claims to Kuwait.

The Saddam government also believed this and justified the invasion by claiming that Kuwait had always been an integral part of Iraq and only became an independent state due to the interference of the British government. After signing the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, the British government planned to split Kuwait from the Ottoman territories into a separate sheikhdom, but this agreement was never ratified. The Iraqi government also argued that the Kuwaiti Emir was a highly unpopular figure among the Kuwaiti populace. By overthrowing the Emir, Iraq claimed that it granted Kuwaitis greater economic and political freedom.

Kuwait had been loosely under the authority of the Ottoman vilâyet of Basra, and although its ruling dynasty, the Al Sabah family, had concluded a protectorate agreement in 1899 that assigned responsibility for its foreign affairs to Britain, it did not make any attempt to secede from the Ottoman Empire. For this reason, its borders with the rest of Basra province were never clearly defined or mutually agreed upon.

Following the proclamation of the puppet state, the 'Republic of Kuwait', the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council released a statement stating, "The free provisional Kuwaiti government has decided to appeal to kinsfolk in Iraq, led by the knight of Arabs and the leader of their march, President Field Marshal Saddam Hussein, to agree that their sons should return to their large family, that Kuwait should return to the great Iraq—the mother homeland—and to achieve complete merger unity between Kuwait and Iraq."

Iraq–United States correspondence
On 25 July 1990, April Glaspie, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, asked the Iraqi high command to explain the military preparations in progress, including the massing of Iraqi troops near the border.

The American ambassador declared to her Iraqi interlocutor that Washington, "inspired by the friendship and not by confrontation, does not have an opinion" on the disagreement between Kuwait and Iraq, stating "we have no opinion on the Arab–Arab conflicts".

Glaspie also indicated to Saddam Hussein that the United States did not intend "to start an economic war against Iraq". These statements may have caused Saddam to believe he had received a diplomatic green light from the United States to invade Kuwait. Saddam and Glaspie later disputed what was said in this meeting. Saddam published a transcript but Glaspie disputed its accuracy before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March 1991.

According to Richard E. Rubenstein, Glaspie was later asked by British journalists why she had said that, her response was "we didn't think he would go that far" meaning invade and annex the whole country. Although no follow-up question was asked, it can be inferred that what the U.S. government thought in July 1990 was that Saddam Hussein was only interested in pressuring Kuwait into debt forgiveness and to lower oil production.

In addition, only a few days before the invasion, the Assistant Secretary of State, John Hubert Kelly, told the U.S. House of Representatives in a public hearing that the United States had no treaty obligations to defend Kuwait. When asked how the U.S. would react if Iraq crossed the border into Kuwait, Kelly answered that it "is a hypothetical or a contingency, the kind of which I can't get into. Suffice it to say we would be concerned, but I cannot get into the realm of 'what if' answers."

Invasion
On 2 August 1990 at 2:00 am, local time, by Saddam Hussein's order Iraq launched an invasion of Kuwait with four elite Iraqi Republican Guard divisions (the 1st Hammurabi Armoured Division, 2nd al-Medinah al-Munawera Armoured Division, the Tawakalna ala-Allah Division (mechanized infantry) and 4th Nebuchadnezzar Division (motorized infantry) and special forces units equivalent to a full division.

In support of these units, the Iraqi Army deployed a squadron of Mil Mi-25 helicopter gunships, several units of Mil Mi-8 and Mil Mi-17 transport helicopters, as well as a squadron of Bell 412 helicopters. The foremost mission of the helicopter units was to transport and support Iraqi commandos into Kuwait City, and subsequently to support the advance of ground troops. The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) had at least two squadrons of Sukhoi Su-22, one of Su-25, one of Mirage F1 and two of MiG-23 fighter-bombers. The main task of the IQAF was to establish air superiority through limited air strikes against two main air bases of the Kuwaiti Air Force, whose aircraft consisted mainly of Mirage F1s and Douglas (T)A-4KU Skyhawks.

Despite months of Iraqi sabre-rattling, Kuwait did not have its forces on alert and was caught unaware. The first indication of the Iraqi ground advance was from a radar-equipped aerostat that detected an Iraqi armour column moving south. Kuwaiti air, ground, and naval forces resisted, but were vastly outnumbered. In central Kuwait, the 35th Armoured Brigade deployed approximately a battalion of Chieftain tanks, BMPs, and an artillery battery against the Iraqis and fought delaying actions near Al Jahra (see Battle of the Bridges), west of Kuwait City. In the south, the 15th Armoured Brigade moved immediately to evacuate its forces to Saudi Arabia.

Kuwait Air Force aircraft were scrambled, but approximately 20% were lost or captured. The remaining 80% were then evacuated to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, some aircraft even taking off from the highways adjacent to the bases as the runways were overrun. While these aircraft were not used in support of the subsequent Gulf War, the "Free Kuwait Air Force" assisted Saudi Arabia in patrolling the southern border with Yemen, which was considered a threat by the Saudi Arabians because of Yemen–Iraq ties.

Iraqi troops attacked Dasman Palace, the Royal Residence, resulting in the Battle of Dasman Palace. The Kuwaiti Emiri Guard, supported by local police and Chieftain tanks and a platoon of Saladin armoured cars managed to repel an airborne assault by Iraqi special forces, but the Palace fell after a landing by Iraqi marines (Dasman Palace is located on the coast). The Kuwaiti National Guard, as well as additional Emiri Guards arrived, but the palace remained occupied, and Republican Guard tanks rolled into Kuwait City after several hours of heavy fighting.

The Emir of Kuwait, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had already fled into the Saudi Arabian desert. His younger half brother, Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, was shot and killed by invading Iraqi forces as he attempted to defend Dasman Palace, after which his body was placed in front of a tank and run over, according to an Iraqi soldier who was present and deserted after the assault.

Towards the end of the first day of the invasion, only pockets of resistance were left in the country. By 3 August, the last military units were desperately fighting delaying actions at choke points and other defensible positions throughout the country until out of ammunition or overrun by Iraqi forces. Ali al-Salem Air Base of the Kuwaiti Air Force was the only base still unoccupied on 3 August, and Kuwaiti aircraft flew resupply missions from Saudi Arabia throughout the day in an effort to mount a defense. However, by nightfall, Ali al-Salem Air Base had been overrun by Iraqi forces.

Kuwaiti resistance
Kuwaitis founded a local armed resistance movement following the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. Most of the Kuwaitis who were arrested, tortured, and executed during the occupation were civilians. The Kuwaiti resistance's casualty rate far exceeded that of the coalition military forces and Western hostages.

At first, Iraqi forces did not use violent tactics. Iraqi soldiers instructed Kuwaitis to replace their Kuwaiti license plates with Iraqi ones, and also set up an extensive system of security checkpoints to patrol the Kuwaiti population. Within a few weeks of the invasion, however, Kuwaitis began participating in mass actions of nonviolent resistance. People stayed home from work and school en masse. Kuwaitis also began printing informational pamphlets about the invasion from their home computers and printers and distributed the pamphlets to neighbors and friends. After that wave of nonviolent resistance, the Iraqi military turned to repression in order to maintain control over Kuwait.

About 400,000 Kuwaiti citizens left the country after the invasion, and a network of safe houses was established for those who remained and joined the resistance. Pamphlets with anti-war slogans were printed and the resistance provided hiding places and false identification cards for Kuwaitis who were sought by the Iraqi secret police. Resistance cells held secret meetings at mosques. Kuwaiti women like Asrar al-Qabandi, a prominent female resistance leader, was seen as a martyr of the Iraqi invasion. During the occupation she helped people flee to safety, smuggled weapons and money into Kuwait as well as disks from the Ministry of Civil Information to safety, cared for many wounded by the war, and destroyed monitoring devices used by the Iraqi troops. She was captured and subsequently killed by Iraqi troops in January 1991. Other women staged street protests and carried signs with slogans like "Free Kuwait: Stop the Atrocities Now." Iraqi police searched the homes of those suspected of hiding foreigners or covertly smuggling money to the resistance movement. Money that was smuggled to the resistance was often used to bribe Iraqi soldiers to look the other way. Resistance tactics included car bombs and sniper attacks that caused a considerable number of Iraqi casualties.

By August 1990, the resistance movement was receiving support from the U.S. government in the form of intelligence, materials, and other types of covert assistance. Both the CIA and the U.S. Green Berets were involved. The U.S. government, however, would neither confirm nor deny its support of the resistance on record. On the topic of the resistance, President Bush stated, "... in a broad way I support the Kuwaiti underground. I support anybody that can add a hand in restoring legitimacy there to Kuwait and to getting the Iraqis out of Kuwait." Operation Desert Storm, which included U.S. forces, also aided the resistance movement out of its base in Taif, Saudi Arabia.

The Kuwaiti government went into exile in Taif and supported the resistance movement from there. The exiled Kuwaiti government explicitly supported the resistance and commented on its strategies. Although Iraqi forces curtailed almost all forms of communication within and outside the country, the resistance movement managed to smuggle satellite phones across the Saudi Arabian border in order to establish a line of communication with the exiled Kuwaiti government in Taif, Saudi Arabia. Kuwaitis also printed informational pamphlets and distributed them to other citizens. This was especially important because the flow of information was severely restricted in Kuwait during the occupation; radio channels played transmissions from Baghdad and many Kuwaiti TV channels were shut down. A resistance newspaper titled Sumoud al-Sha'ab (Steadfastness of the People) was printed and circulated in secret. Informational pamphlets became one of the only sources of news from the outside world. Foreigners and Kuwaitis of different genders and classes participated in the resistance, breaking down Kuwait's traditional social barriers.

Iraqi crackdown
In October 1990, Iraqi officials cracked down on the resistance by executing hundreds of people it suspected were involved in the movement as well as conducting raids and searches of individual households. After the crackdown, the resistance began to target Iraqi military bases in order to reduce retaliation against Kuwaiti civilians. In October 1990, the Iraqi government opened the borders of Kuwait and allowed anyone to exit. This resulted in an exodus of both Kuwaitis and foreigners, which weakened the resistance movement.

Another crackdown occurred in January and February 1991. Iraqi forces publicly executed suspected members of the Kuwaiti resistance. Kuwaitis were kidnapped, their corpses later deposited in front of their family homes. The bodies of executed Kuwaiti resistance members showed evidence of different kinds of torture, including beating, electrical shock, and fingernail removal. Some 5,000 Palestinians living in Kuwait were arrested for their activities in support of the resistance, and Palestinian support was enough to cause Iraqi officials to threaten Palestinian leaders. Some Palestinians, however, supported Saddam's regime because of sympathies with the Ba'ath party's pugnacious anti-Israel stance. Palestinian members of the resistance sometimes disagreed with resistance tactics such as the boycott of government offices and commercial activity. The Kuwaiti resistance movement was suspicious of this Palestinian ambivalence, and in the weeks after Iraqi forces withdrew, the Kuwaiti government cracked down on Palestinians suspected of sympathizing with the Saddam regime.

Iraqi forces also arrested over two thousand Kuwaitis suspected of helping the resistance and imprisoned them in Iraq. Many of those arrests were made during the Iraqi retreat from Kuwait in February 1991. Hundreds escaped from prisons in southern Iraq after the retreat and over one thousand were repatriated by the Iraqi government, but hundreds remain missing. The fate of 605 Kuwaitis arrested during the occupation remained unknown until 2009, when the remains of 236 of them were identified. Initially, Iraq claimed it had recorded the arrests of only 126 of the 605 missing Kuwaitis. The names of 369 other missing Kuwaitis are stored in files maintained by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Seven of those missing Kuwaitis are women and 24 are under the age of 16. Iraq has made little effort to address the hundreds of missing Kuwaitis, despite trying to mend diplomatic relations with Kuwait in other ways.

Resistance and legitimacy
Yahya F. Al-Sumait, Kuwait's housing minister, said in October 1990 that the resistance movement helped undermine the occupation's legitimacy and dispel the idea that Iraq invaded to assist with a popular uprising against the Kuwaiti government. The movement also protected Americans, Britons and other foreigners trapped in Kuwait during the occupation. Some have cited the resistance movement as part of the foundation for a more robust civil society in Kuwait after the occupation.

At the Al Qurain Martyrs Museum, Kuwait remembers its citizens slain during the resistance to Iraqi occupation. The families of those martyrs received material benefits from the Kuwaiti government such as cars, homes, and funding for trips to Mecca for the hajj. Since most accounts of the liberation of Kuwait focus on U.S.-led coalition forces, part of Kuwait's goal in memorializing the resistance is to emphasize Kuwaiti citizens' role in liberating their own country.

Aftermath
After the Iraqi victory, Saddam Hussein installed Alaa Hussein Ali as the prime minister of the "Provisional Government of Free Kuwait" and Ali Hassan al-Majid as the de facto governor of Kuwait. The exiled Kuwaiti royal family and other former government officials began an international campaign to persuade other countries to pressure Iraq to vacate Kuwait. The UN Security Council passed 12 resolutions demanding immediate withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, but to no avail.

Following the events of the Iraq–Kuwait war, about half of the Kuwaiti population, including 400,000 Kuwaitis and several thousand foreign nationals, fled the country. The Indian government evacuated over 170,000 overseas Indians by flying almost 488 flights over 59 days.

A 2005 study revealed that the Iraqi occupation had a long-term adverse impact on the health of the Kuwaiti populace.

International condemnation
After Iraqi forces invaded and annexed Kuwait and Saddam Hussein deposed the Emir of Kuwait, Jaber Al-Sabah, he installed Ali Hassan al-Majid as the new governor of Kuwait.

The Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait was unanimously condemned by all major world powers. Even countries traditionally considered to be close Iraqi allies, such as France and India, called for immediate withdrawal of all Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Several countries, including the Soviet Union and China, placed arms embargoes on Iraq. NATO members were particularly critical of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and by late 1990, the United States had issued an ultimatum to Iraq to withdraw its forces from Kuwait by 15 January 1991 or face war.

On 3 August 1990, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 660 condemning the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and demanding that Iraq unconditionally withdraw all forces deployed in Kuwait.

After a series of failed negotiations between major world powers and Iraq, the United States-led coalition forces launched a massive military assault on Iraq and Iraqi forces stationed in Kuwait in mid-January 1991. By 16 January, Allied aircraft were targeting several Iraqi military sites and the Iraqi Air Force was destroyed. Hostilities continued until late February and on 25 February, Kuwait was officially liberated from Iraq. On 15 March 1991, the Emir of Kuwait returned to the country after spending more than 8 months in exile. During the Iraqi occupation, about 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians were killed and more than 300,000 residents fled the country.

Post–Gulf War
In December 2002, Saddam Hussein apologized for the invasion shortly before being deposed in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Two years later, the Palestinian leadership also apologized for its wartime support of Saddam. In 1990, Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, a longtime ally of Saddam Hussein, backed Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. After Iraq lost the Gulf War, Yemenis were deported en masse from Kuwait by the restored government.

The US military continue a strong presence adding 4,000 troops in February 2015 alone. There is also a very strong US civilian presence with an estimated 18,000 American children in Kuwait being taught by 625 US teachers.

title: Iraqi invasion of Kuwait


text:
Yōwa

Yōwa (養和) was a Japanese era name (年号) after Jishō and before Juei. This period spanned the years from July 1181 through May 1182. The reigning emperor was Antoku-tennō (安徳天皇).

Change of era

 * 1181 Yōwa gannen (養和元年): The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Jishō 5, on the 14th day of the 7th month of 1181.

Events of the Yōwa era

 * 1181 (Yōwa 1, 25th day of the 11th month): Tokuko, former consort of the late Emperor Takakura, adopts the name of Kenreimon-in.
 * 1181 (Yōwa 1): A famine that lasts for two years blights this era.

title: Yōwa


text:
Marburg (disambiguation)

Marburg is a town in Hesse, Germany.

Marburg may also refer to:

Places
 * Marburger Schloss, a castle in Marburg, Germany
 * University of Marburg, the principal university in the city of Marburg, Germany
 * Maribor, Slovenia (also known as Marburg an der Drau before the dissolution of Austria-Hungary)
 * University of Maribor, a university in the city of Maribor, Slovenia
 * Marburg, South Africa
 * Marburg, Queensland, Australia
 * Marburg (Virginia), a historic home in Richmond, Virginia

People
 * Konrad von Marburg (1180-1233), Inquisitor
 * Otto Marburg (1874-1948), Austrian neurologist
 * Theodore Marburg (1862-1946), American jurist, diplomat, and internationalist
 * Theodore Marburg Jr. (1893-1922), American who flew with the Royal Flying Corps in WWI
 * William August Marburg (born 1931), American bluegrass musician known as Bill Clifton
 * James Marburg (b. 1982), Australian rower

Medicine
 * Marburgvirus, a virologic taxon (genus)
 * Marburg virus, a virus causing viral hemorrhagic fever in humans
 * Marburg virus disease, the disease caused by Marburg virus
 * Marburg multiple sclerosis, malignant form of multiple sclerosis

Other
 * Marburg Colloquy, a 1529 meeting at Marburg Castle between leaders of the Reformation
 * Marburg Files, a series of top-secret foreign minister archives discovered in Germany

See also
 * Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718-1795), German critic, theorist and composer

title: Marburg (disambiguation)