Desert Storm Decision 

In the 1991 Persian Gulf War, where the United Nations forces, led by Americans, ousted the invading Iraqi army from Kuwait's soil, the cessation

of combat took place in short order after the Allies were able to wrest control of the skies from the infamous Saddam Hussein's air force. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the U.S. field commander, tended to 

bristle when asked by the media why he hadn't pursued the enemy all the way to Baghdad, saying: It would have been foolhardy for us to try to occupy that capital city and pile up American casualties from sniper attacks by Iraq's guerillas. That may be hard for you Monday morning quarterbacks to understand but I thoroughly agreed with the president who was convinced that such an action would have sent a bad message to the Arab world and would have splintered the Allied partnership." 

Schwarzkopf reiterated that it was his mission to hurl back the invaders with a minimum of bloodshed but not, he added in a caustic tone, "to splatter Sad dam over the desert sands. That dictator's days are numbered," the 

general concluded," but I expect his end is likely to come at the hands of his own people." As it happens, the general was wrong about that.

pyrrhic victory: Too costly victory