(
newsday) WASHINGTON - Retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who topped an
illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international
coalition that drove
Saddam Hussein's
forces out of Kuwait in 1991 but kept a low public profile in
controversies over the second Gulf War against Iraq, died Thursday. He
was 78.
Schwarzkopf died in
Tampa,
Fla., where he had lived in retirement, according to a U.S. official,
who was not authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on
condition of anonymity.
A much-decorated combat soldier in
Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was known popularly as "Stormin' Norman" for a notoriously explosive temper.
He served in his last military assignment in
Tampa
as commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command, the headquarters
responsible for U.S. military and security concerns in nearly 20
countries from the eastern Mediterranean and
Africa to
Pakistan.
Schwarzkopf became "CINC-Centcom" in 1988 and when
Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait three years later to punish it for allegedly stealing Iraqi oil reserves, he commanded
Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of some 30 countries organized by President
George H.W. Bush that succeeded in driving the Iraqis out.
"Gen. Norm Schwarzkopf, to me,
epitomized the 'duty, service, country' creed that has defended our
freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international
crises," Bush said in a statement. "More than that, he was a good and
decent man — and a dear friend."
At the peak of his postwar national
celebrity, Schwarzkopf — a self-proclaimed political independent —
rejected suggestions that he run for office, and remained far more
private than other generals, although he did serve briefly as a military
commentator for NBC.
While focused primarily in his later
years on charitable enterprises, he campaigned for President George W.
Bush in 2000 but was ambivalent about the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying
he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and
Pentagon predicted. In early 2003 he told the
Washington Post the outcome was an unknown:
"What is postwar Iraq going to look
like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That's a huge
question, to my mind. It really should be part of the overall campaign
plan," he said.
Initially Schwarzkopf had endorsed the
invasion, saying he was convinced that former Secretary of State Colin
Powell had given the
United Nations
powerful evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After that
proved false, he said decisions to go to war should depend on what U.N.
weapons inspectors found.
He seldom spoke up during the conflict, but in late 2004, he sharply criticized then-Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld and the
Pentagon for mistakes that included inadequate training for
Army reservists sent to Iraq and for erroneous judgments about Iraq.
"In the final analysis I think we are
behind schedule. ... I don't think we counted on it turning into jihad
(holy war)," he said in an NBC interview.
Schwarzkopf was born Aug. 24, 1934, in
Trenton, N.J., where his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.,
founder and commander of the
New Jersey
State Police, was then leading the investigation of the Lindbergh
kidnap case, which ended with the arrest and 1936 execution of
German-born carpenter Richard Hauptmann for stealing and murdering the
famed aviator's infant son.
The elder Schwarzkopf was named
Herbert, but when the son was asked what his "H'' stood for, he would
reply, "H." Although reputed to be short-tempered with aides and
subordinates, he was a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who
didn't like "Stormin' Norman" and preferred to be known as "the Bear," a
sobriquet given him by troops.
He also was outspoken at times, including when he described Gen.
William Westmoreland, the U.S. commander in
Vietnam, as "a horse's ass" in an Associated Press interview.
As a teenager Norman accompanied his father to
Iran, where the elder Schwarzkopf trained the country's national police force and was an adviser to
Reza Pahlavi, the young Shah of
Iran.
Young Norman studied there and in Switzerland, Germany and Italy, then followed in his father's footsteps to
West Point,
graduating in 1956 with an engineering degree. After stints in the U.S.
and abroad, he earned a master's degree in engineering at the
University of Southern California and later taught missile engineering at
West Point.
In 1966 he volunteered for
Vietnam and served two tours, first as a U.S. adviser to South Vietnamese paratroops and later as a battalion commander in the U.S.
Army's
Americal Division. He earned three Silver Stars for valor — including
one for saving troops from a minefield — plus a Bronze Star, a Purple
Heart and three Distinguished Service Medals.
While many career officers left
military service embittered by Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was among those who
opted to stay and help rebuild the tattered Army into a potent,
modernized all-volunteer force.
After Saddam invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Schwarzkopf played a key diplomatic role by helping to persuade
Saudi Arabia's King Fahd to allow U.S. and other foreign troops to deploy on Saudi territory as a staging area for the war to come.
On Jan. 17, 1991, a five-month buildup called Desert Shield became
Operation Desert Storm as allied aircraft attacked Iraqi bases and
Baghdad
government facilities. The six-week aerial campaign climaxed with a
massive ground offensive on Feb. 24-28, routing the Iraqis from Kuwait
in 100 hours before U.S. officials called a halt.
Schwarzkopf said afterward he agreed with Bush's decision to stop the war rather than drive to
Baghdad to capture Saddam, as his mission had been only to oust the Iraqis from Kuwait.
But in a desert tent meeting with
vanquished Iraqi generals, he allowed a key concession on Iraq's use of
helicopters, which later backfired by enabling Saddam to crack down more
easily on rebellious Shiites and Kurds.
While he later avoided the public second-guessing by academics and think tank experts over the ambiguous outcome of
Gulf War I and its impact on
Gulf War II, he told the
Washington Post
in 2003, "You can't help but... with 20/20 hindsight, go back and say,
'Look, had we done something different, we probably wouldn't be facing
what we are facing today.'"
After retiring from the Army in 1992,
Schwarzkopf wrote a best-selling autobiography, "It Doesn't Take A
Hero." Of his Gulf war role, he said, "I like to say I'm not a hero. I
was lucky enough to lead a very successful war." He was knighted by
Queen Elizabeth II and honored with decorations from France, Britain,
Belgium, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and
Bahrain.
Schwarzkopf was a national spokesman for prostate cancer awareness and for Recovery of the Grizzly Bear, served on the
Nature Conservancy board of governors and was active in various charities for chronically ill children.
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