Posted on 02/28/2011 4:37:18 PM PST by nuconvert
Twenty years ago today, ground op erations in Operation Desert Storm came to a halt. American arms had won their most dazzling success in two generations, perhaps ever.
After five weeks of round-the-clock air strikes, forces under Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf shattered Saddam Hussein's army, the biggest and most heavily armed in the Middle East, in just five days. The victorious 34-nation coalition lost only 392 killed, 294 of them Americans. Saddam had been driven from Kuwait; his regime teetered on collapse. A bright, new, world order seemed in the offing.
But two decades later we can see how many Americans, including our leaders, drew the wrong lessons from Desert Storm -- creating myths that haunt us to this day.
One myth is that Desert Storm was the "good war" in which America and the world drew together to defeat a tyrant, compared to the deep divisions over the more recent Iraq war.
In fact, resolutions authorizing military action in Kuwait faced fierce opposition from the likes of then-Speaker Dick Gephardt, future Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Chuck Schumer and then-Sen. Joe Biden, and passed the House and Senate by inches. The first President George Bush went ahead despite the nay-sayers and prophets of doom and the thousands of protesters chanting "no blood for oil" -- essentially the same folks who'd later brand his son a liar and war criminal.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
We didn’t have to “go to Baghdad” the Iraqi Shia and Kurds were doing the job for us. What Bush 41 DID do wrong was listen to Scowcroft and the gang who told him it would cause “instability” to allow the dictator to be toppled and things would really be better if he were left in charge. So 41 allowed Saddam to fly his attack helicopters and and refused to interfere as he massacred tens of thousands. Some of our guys had to sit and watch as this went on practically in front of them.
He had no authority to “go to Baghdad” and the coalition would have crumbled. That’s nothing but Monday morning quarterbacking and hindsight.
His actual FAULT was listening to that idiot Powell and didn’t wipe out all of their forces leaving Kuwait (the diseased Colin thought it looked bad kicking the enemies butt) and then allowing Saddam to keep military hardware he used to punish his people after we left leading to no-fly zones.
Bush 41 was a failure and moron. Hell, how else could he lose to a frat boy?
If you'll also recall, it was Bush's Ambassador who green-lighted Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in the first place.
That part always gets lost in the parades and patriotic flag-waving.
No - he did one thing right and that was Desert Storm. But that was about it.
In fact, resolutions authorizing military action in Kuwait faced fierce opposition from the likes of then-Speaker Dick Gephardt, future Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Chuck Schumer and then-Sen. Joe Biden, and passed the House and Senate by inches. The first President George Bush went ahead despite the nay-sayers and prophets of doom and the thousands of protesters chanting "no blood for oil" -- essentially the same folks who'd later brand his son a liar and war criminal.
The author of this is revising history and removing the USSR from the equasion. Desert Storm was done with the permission of the USSR.
Keep in mind that Iraq was a Soviet Client state with a defense treaty with the USSR. Baghdad was not worth WWIII with the USSR.
At that point in time we knew the USSR was britle but, we did not know that it was about to colapse.
There were still 20 Soviet Divisions in east Germany...
“The author of this is revising history and removing the USSR from the equasion. Desert Storm was done with the permission of the USSR.”
He’s trying to dispel some popular liberal myths.
What is the myth behind the USSR?
He is completely leaving out the USSR - as if that was not a leash on our actions.
Comparing 1991 part of DS with OIF is apples and oranges.
Only the military ignorant [E.G. MSM] would have ever believed the author’s choise of the myths of DS.
The rest of us kept deploying to the ME throughout our military carreers while the MSM ignored the fact that DS continued up until it was renamed OIF.
Gosh, I'm shocked.
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