Scorched-earth defense
The scorched-earth defense is a form of risk arbitrage and anti-takeover strategy.
Scorched earth
During the Gulf War in 1990 when Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait, they set more than 600 Kuwaiti oil wells on fire. This was done as part of a scorched-earth policy while retreating from Kuwait in 1991 after invading the country but being driven out by Coalition military forces ("see Gulf War"). The fires were started between January to February 1991 and the last one was extinguished by November 1991.