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AP source: Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf dies
By By RICHARD PYLE and LOLITA C. BALDOR | Associated Press – 10 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 then-President George H.W. Bush that succeeded in
driving the Iraqis out.
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.
"I may have made my reputation as a general in the Army and I'm very proud
of that," he once told the AP. "But I've always felt that I was more than
one-dimensional. I'd like to think I'm a caring human being. ... It's nice
to feel that you have a purpose."
Schwarzkopf and his wife, Brenda, had three children: Cynthia, Jessica and
Christian.
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Pyle contributed from New York. |
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