European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 31, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                4$ a x Vav x rag tank Burns As an Allied vehicle Rolls past during fighting in february 1991. Despite the allies Success nearly half of the Republican guard s 7-72 tanks escaped. A War too set How Iraq escaped to the writers of this article adapted it from their Book,".the generals War to be published in january. By Michael r. Cordon and Bernard e. Trainor the new York times n feb 27,1991, president Bush and his senior advisers assembled in the Oval office to make what has turned out to be a Pivotal decision of the persian Gulf War when to Stop attacking Iraq s fleeing army. Seated at his customary White chair near the fireplace Bush was worried that the reports of carnage in Kuwait could turn a crushing military Victory into a Public relations defeat., but the president made Clear that he would defer to the Pentagon s top general on the timing of the War s end As he had on strategy and forces. What do you need he asked Gen. Colin Powell then the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff according to previously undisclosed notes taken by a participant. Powell was also concerned that the bombardment of the iraqi forces would tarnish the image of the . Military. Relying on his political instincts As Well As his intuitions As a Soldier he made the Case for wrapping up the ground War which had begun three Days earlier. We Are in the Home stretch Powell said adding that Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf the Allied commander agreed with the assessment today or tomorrow by close of  even As he accepted Powell s assessment and made the land offensive a "100-hour War however Bush sensed that something was missing. Why do i not feel elated he asked aloud. But we need to have an end. People want that. They Are going to want to know we won and the kids can come Home. We do not want to screw this up with a Sloppy muddled ending.".  such an ending however is exactly what the United states has gotten. Three and a half years later the iraqi Republican guard forces that Powell thought had been largely destroyed have again menaced Kuwait and president Saddam Hussein is unbowed. Earlier this month some of the same . Units that took on the iraqis in 1991 were ordered Back to persian Gulf to prevent a possible second Raqi invasion. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney left and Gen. Colin Powell Brief reporters on troop movements. The Story of How the persian Gulf War ended has never been fully disclosed. Interviews with nearly All of the senior participants As Well As private notes and classified documents now show that what some officials considered an inconclusive close to the conflict resulted from a misjudgment of the iraqis military capabilities a failure to coordinate War plans among the military services political sensitivities to How the War was described in the news Media and Powell s determination to get the troops out quickly. Among the revelations Are the following no one in Washington even Powell understood what was Clear to military commanders in the Field that much of Iraq s crack troops the Republican guard had continued on Page 16 monday october 31,1994 the stars and stripes 15