Richard S. Lowry - The Gulf War Chronicles: A Military History of the First War with Iraq

Preface

On the morning of February 27, 1991, I was sitting at my desk in my tiny cubicle at a giant military aerospace company designing specialized computer chips for the Space Based Interceptor, one of many Star Wars programs soon to be doomed to the budget ax.

When possible, I timed my breaks to coincide with the daily military briengs. I needed to know what was happening with our courageous men and women who were ghting to free Kuwait. To my delight, I caught an announcement that General Schwarzkopf would be conducting a special news conference to report on the status of the ground war. As the end-of-the-war news conference neared, I hurried to my car in the parking lot and listened intently on my car radio.

General Schwarzkopf explained the overall Allied strategy of his armored sweep through the Iraqi wasteland, reported certain victory, and mentioned in passing that a tank battle was still underway. I returned to work, nished my day, and raced home to watch the news.

Forrest Sawyer was in Kuwait, moving toward Kuwait City. The media began reporting the Victory. I sat dumbfounded. What about the tank battle? I wondered, What about the entire military operation? All of the media had shifted from reporting little or no detail of our military operation to reporting the liberation of Kuwait Cityas usual, the advocates of Old News is No News.

As the days passed, reporters moved from the liberation of Kuwait City to the cease-re, the return of American POWs, soldiers returning home, the Shiite rebellion, and the peace dividend. WHAT ABOUT THAT TANK BATTLE?

My daily viewing of the televised briengs and news turned into daily trips to the companys technical library. The library had subscriptions to every major military trade magazine: