16 May 2000
Text: McCaffrey Remarks on New Yorker May 22 Article, "Overwhelming Force"
(General stands by Operation Desert Storm battlefield commanders) (630) Following are remarks by General Barry R. McCaffrey (ret.), Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), concerning an article in the May 22, 2000, New Yorker magazine by Seymour Hersh titled "Overwhelming Force." In the article, Hersh "recycles" allegations against the 24th Infantry Division during Operation Desert Storm that were "long ago investigated and fully cleared," according to McCaffrey. McCaffrey, the Commanding General of the 24th Infantry Division during Desert Storm, said in his May 14 remarks: "I will ... protect the reputations of the brave young men and women who served under my command during the Gulf War. I stand by the battlefield commanders who performed so brilliantly during combat." (begin text) May 14, 2000 Remarks by Barry R. McCaffrey Commanding General of the 24th Infantry Division during Desert Storm Concerning The New Yorker article "Overwhelming Force." "I am enormously proud of the accomplishments of the 26,000 men and women who made up the 24th Infantry Division Combat Team during Operation Desert Storm. Our primary purpose was to destroy an aggressor army and to free the two million people of Kuwait. We accomplished our mission with minimal friendly casualties. Eight division soldiers were killed and thirty-six were wounded in this campaign." "We launched an attack into Iraq with 1,800 armored vehicles and 6,800 wheeled vehicles. One-hundred hours later we had cut the lines of communication between Baghdad and half a million Iraqi forces in Kuwait. We advanced more than 413 kilometers into the Euphrates River Valley and east of the Rumaylah oilfields." "In that brief but intense period of ferocious combat actions, we faced the fourth-largest Army in the world. It was superbly equipped. Our 24th Infantry Division alone faced elements of seven Iraqi divisions. We destroyed 363 tanks and armored personnel carriers, 314 artillery guns and mortars, 207 anti-aircraft guns, 1,278 trucks, 19 FROG missiles, 22 MRLs, 25 high-performance fighter jets and helicopters. We also detonated 1,300 ammunition bunkers, and destroyed more than one-hundred tons of ammunition. This was not a walk in the park." "Hersh's attempt at revisionist history comes ten years after 286 newspaper, magazine, and radio stories about the 24th Infantry Division's actions (including CBS, CNN, the New York Times, and U.S. News & World Report). A pool of reporters accompanied the division during combat operations and had unrestricted access to every part of the battle force during and following the campaign. My actions as the division commander have been the subject of 35 separate articles. At least six books detail activities of the division. There is nothing new in this New Yorker article. The incidences Mr. Hersh writes about have been exhaustively reviewed. All allegations of misconduct were thoroughly investigated. In fact, four separate official investigations all concluded that there was no basis for a finding of fault, negligence, or criminal wrongdoing." "Our soldiers were compassionate to enemy prisoners. We took care of the health and medical needs of more than five thousand enemy prisoners taken during the war and thousands of displaced civilians. Over 120,000 MREs, 2,500 gallons of potable water, 550 cases of bottled water, and 1,000 blankets were provided to civilians while we were engaged in combat operations." "My reputation has been built on thirty-six years of documented public service and sacrifice. I will also protect the reputations of the brave young men and women who served under my command during the Gulf War. I stand by the battlefield commanders who performed so brilliantly during combat." (end text) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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