General Schwarzkop was an officer who stayed in and helped reform the Army after Vietnam. That took ethical courage and dedication to duty, honor, country. He was never looking for glory or position, he was looking to win battles. Like most Vietnam vets who had experienced the agony of a no-win war policy, he believed in fighting to win unconditional victory. He prepared to do that in Desert Storm. That goal eluded him because of geopolitics. We have been blessed to have many fine officers lead troops for us. IMO, General Schwarzkop can proudly take his position in the Long Gray Line. R.I.P. General Schwarzkop.

George H. W. Bush has served this country in so many ways – military, private business, and government. His career has been one of continuous hard work and decency. Probably the best prepared by overall experience to be President we have seen in many a year, he lacked the one quality that a C-in-C really needs – a killer’s instinct.
When I read his book, “My Life in Letters and Other Writings,”, published after his Presidency, I realized that he was just too nice, too decent, and without the killer instinct. That said, I am in awe of his life story and the service he has rendered to this nation. May he get well soon.

HIS plan for Iraq was to go head to head, overwhelming the Iraqis with extreme firepower.

Almost certainly, it would have worked, but at a notably higher cost of life.

The true architect of the war plan that fully utilized American MOBILITY was Colonel John Boyd, a vastly underappreciated military genius who changed not only the face of air warfare via Energy-Maneuverability Theory, but also all aspects of warfare AND business, by developing the concept of the OODA Loop

In a letter to the editor of Inside the Pentagon, former Commandant of the Marine Corps General Charles C. Krulak is quoted as saying “The Iraqi army collapsed morally and intellectually under the onslaught of American and Coalition forces. John Boyd was an architect of that victory as surely as if he’d commanded a fighter wing or a maneuver division in the desert.”

“Stormin’ Norman” took full credit for a victory based on a plan largely not his.

I strongly advise reading Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram

Oldflyer, give a break…
As I said previously the bit of new was broadcast by VOA about those CIA team on the ground in southern Iraq and their work and back to their commanders.

If US done it on abases for stopping was to insure a counterweight to Iran in the region which is un doubtable right, as Iran was much less threat after 8 years of war lost almost 1 million man, then after 2003, US insure a counterweight to Iran in the region by bringing and helping Iranian proxy in Iraq.

Why is the highway of death an issue? Were the people in that convoy not combatants?

So notables now die of “complications”, not diseases.

As a new intern suddenly and un-schooledly responsible for completing death certificates, I put down the cause of death on my first few as”cardio-respiratory arrest” (Oh, how smart am I!), next line “due to” X or Y, until I figured all of these deaths would be listed by the Public Health folks as due to the same, totally uninformative cause (Duh!) since everyone dies of cardio-pulmonary arrest… which is now a “complication”, I guess.