Schwarzkopf Returns to Gulf to Say Farewell to U.S. Troops

MANAMA, Bahrain â€”  Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf returned to the Persian Gulf on Sunday for a farewell visit to American troops before his retirement next month.

Schwarzkopf arrived in Saudi Arabia after a two-day stopover in Egypt for a meeting with President Hosni Mubarak, one of the leading Arab members of the 33-nation alliance that defeated Iraq in the Gulf War.

While in Cairo, Schwarzkopf told reporters that his trip was not related to increased tensions in the region about Iraq’s delays in cooperating with the U.N. inspection of its nuclear facilities. But he said he was ready to command another military strike against Iraq if ordered by President Bush.

“I came over here to go see the troops in the Gulf one more time,� he said. “I stopped in Egypt because I didn’t have the chance to meet President Mubarak the last time. That is the only significance of timing.�

Schwarzkopf, 56, is scheduled to retire Aug. 31 as a four-star general after 35 years of service. He moved his U.S. Central Command headquarters, in Saudi Arabia during the war, back to Tampa, Fla., in April.

U.S. military spokesmen at the Joint Information Bureau in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, would confirm only that Schwarzkopf had arrived in Saudi Arabia. They would not provide details on his schedule or say where he was. “All we can say is he’s here to visit troops,� said Capt. Dave Mallard.

Most of the troops commanded by Schwarzkopf during the war already have left and have been replaced by new forces since the general returned to the United States.

From a peak of 540,000 soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air Force personnel at the height of the war, the U.S. forces in the Gulf region are down to about 50,000.

The troops still in Saudi Arabia primarily are occupied with packing and shipping thousands of tons of military gear sent over in the buildup to the war.

Kuwaiti newspapers said Schwarzkopf will be in the emirate today.