Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 28, 1991 TAG: 9102280186
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
What did Schwarzkopf think of the Iraqi president as a military strategist?
"Hah!" cried Schwarzkopf. A cat's canary-eating smile crossed his face.
You could tell he didn't think much of Saddam Hussein as a military strategist.
At a briefing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the chesty general in his baggy desert camouflage outfit gave a sweeping overview Wednesday on how his army beat the Iraqis.
With the skill of a politician, he saluted every element of the coalition. He hailed the French and the "Brits" who performed "absolutely magnificently" and all the Arab partners - "it was the Saudis, it was the Kuwaitis, it was the Egyptians, it was the Syrians, it was the Emiris from the United Arab Emirates, it was the Bahrainis, it was the Qataris, and it was the Omanis, and I apologize if I've left anybody out.
"It was a great coalition of people, all of whom did a fine job."
Schwarzkopf, his victory all but achieved, was willing now to reveal his tactics and the part played by every unit.
Coyly, he admitted to engaging in a bit of disinformation intended to throw the Iraqis off guard.
He said that he let word leak about that the allies intended to mount an amphibious landing to keep the Iraqis forces on the defensive along the Kuwaiti coast, while all the time he planned a vast northward drive to attack from the west.
About that strategy, he was not the least bit modest.
"This was an absolutely, an extraordinary move . . . absolutely a gigantic accomplishment," he said. And as for the way the Marines breached Saddam's "mine field with barbed-wire, fire-trenches type barrier," why that was "absolutely superb," something that "will be studied for many, many years to come."
Schwarzkopf's tone changed with the questions.
His face darkened when he talked about the Iraqis who, he said, had committed unspeakable atrocities in Kuwait as men "not part of the same human race, the people who did that, that the rest of us are."
by CNB