Home > War in the Persian Gulf > H. Norman Schwarzkopf

Excerpt from a press briefing in which he explained coalition military strategy

Held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on February 27, 1991

U.S. Army General H. Norman Schwarzkopf was the commander of the coalition military forces from more than thirty-five countries during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He was primarily responsible for directing the coalition's successful attack strategy, which received the code name Operation Desert Storm. This military operation achieved its objective, forcing Iraqi troops to withdraw from neighboring Kuwait, after only six weeks of fighting. The coalition forces suffered remarkably light casualties, with around one thousand soldiers killed or wounded. Some historians have called Operation Desert Storm the most successful military operation in history.

On February 27, 1991, Schwarzkopf gave a briefing (a type of speech intended to update or inform) in the...