Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 28, 1991 TAG: 9103280538
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"There was total agreement in terms of when this war should end," Bush insisted Wednesday, referring to his Feb. 27 announcement of a conditional halt in the fighting.
Yet, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, the allied commander of Desert Storm, told an interviewer, "Frankly, my recommendation had been, continue the march."
The embarrassing difference of opinion between the commander-in-chief and one of his top commanders was a jarring footnote in the triumphant conclusion to the war against Iraq. Whatever his intent, Schwarzkopf raised pointed questions about Bush's judgment in halting the fighting before Iraqi forces were vanquished.
"It's one of those ones that historians are going to second-guess, you know, forever," Schwarzkopf said in a public television interview. "Why, you know, why didn't we go for one more day versus why did we stop when we did when we had them completely routed?"
In a clear rebuke to Schwarzkopf, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney disputed the general's account.
Cheney said Schwarzkopf and Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were consulted on Feb. 27 and "made the recommendation to me and to the president that we had achieved our military objectives and agreed that it was time to end the campaign."
Further, Cheney said, Schwarzkopf "raised no objection to termi Schwarzkopf nating hostilities."
Asked to explain Schwarzkopf's statement, Bush said, "Go ask him. Go ask him. . . . I have such high regard for Gen. Schwarzkopf that I'll let him explain what he said.
"All I'm talking about is the facts, and Secretary Cheney put the facts out very clearly. . . . It is totally accurate."
The White House sought to minimize the controversy.
"It's just one of those Washington flaps," presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said, adding that Schwarzkopf was not in trouble. "Still a good man, just said the wrong thing.
"He's a great general. He did a great job. But we want to set the record straight."
Asked whether the flap would dampen Schwarzkopf's chances of promotion to a fifth star, Fitzwater replied, "That's never been discussed, anyway."
Fitzwater said that on Feb. 27, both Powell and Cheney recommended a cease-fire to Bush.
"The president said, `Fine, but what does Norm think about this?' Powell walked over to the president's desk in the Oval Office, picked up the phone and called Schwarzkopf in Saudi Arabia . . . and asked if he thought that was feasible and appropriate, and he said `Yes.' Powell turned around to the president and said, `Norm says he can handle it,' " Fitzwater said.
In his interview, Schwarzkopf said he had wanted to "continue the march."
"I mean we had them in a rout and we could have continued to, you know, reap great destruction upon them. We could have completely closed the door and made it in fact a battle of annihilation."
The general said Bush's decision "did leave some escape routes open for them to get back out and I think it was a very humane decision and a very courageous decision on his part, also."
In addition, he said, "There were obviously a lot of people who escaped who wouldn't have escaped, if the decision hadn't been made, you know, to stop us where we were at that time."
by CNB