Norman Schwarzkopf, retired US general, dies in Florida aged 78

Dec 28 2012 By Cheryl Mullin

RETIRED US General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait in 1991, has died. He was 78.

An official said Gen Schwarzkopf died in Tampa, Florida.

A much-decorated combat soldier in Vietnam, Gen Schwarzkopf was known popularly as Stormin’ Norman for his explosive temper.

He lived in retirement in Tampa, where he had served in his last military assignment as commander-in-chief of US Central Command.

That is the headquarters responsible for US military and security concerns in nearly 20 countries from the eastern Mediterranean and Africa to Pakistan.

Gen Schwarzkopf became CINC-Centcom in 1988 and when Saddam 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 organised by then-President George H.W. Bush that succeeded in driving the Iraqis out.

At the peak of his postwar national celebrity, Gen 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.