Q & A GEN. COLIN POWELL, USA (RET)

work, including aboard ships. I knew they listened just as hard as Saddam Hussein might listen. I know a lot of military-and-the-media studies were done later, and I would guess most of your colleagues thought we were a little unreasonable. I accept that criti- cism, but the American people didn’t think we were. I knew our view be- came prevailing when Saturday Night Live started to parody you guys, with skits of reporters asking questions like, “General Powell, when is the at- tack going to start?”

At the onset of the Gulf War, Powell and then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, left, hold a Pentagon press conference. (below) Powell worked closely with then-President Bush. “I never found myself in conflict with the White House,” he says today.

Soon after the air war began, in late January, you and Cheney appeared at a joint press conference and gave a briefing that the nation perceived as reassuring. Let me tell you the story of that day. After the fi rst night, with Toma- hawks going through windows and all kinds of wonderful things occur- ring, there was this great euphoria in the media. But the euphoria lasted about a week, and then you guys were on us, saying, ‘‘Aha, you’re not getting it done.” I had to call some of your colleagues and say, “Calm down. It’s not over. It’s just starting.” I told Mr. Cheney, “You and I have to go and calm this down.” He agreed. So Dick and I went down for a

the media. This war was marked by CNN 24-hour news coverage. Did you feel that handcuffed military leadership, either in the Gulf or in Washington, in any way? It was helpful but also annoying. My philosophy over many years of ser- vice was that I, my commanders and subordinates, and the media have the same responsibility: to inform the American people about what we are doing in their name and how we are using their young men and women. The media always wants to

68 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2016

know more than I want to tell them. I have secrets that are none of their business because keeping them pro- tects the troops. When I was talking to the press,

I always knew I had fi ve audiences. The least important was the reporter asking the question. The others were the American people, the enemy, and coalition partners who have their sons and daughters at risk under our command. The fi fth audience was the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines watching on the Armed Forces Net-

press conference [Jan. 23, 1991, six days into the air war]. He gave the political situation and strategy at a senior level. Then I went through operational details, how we were taking out the air defense systems, and those sorts of things. And I used a line I had rehearsed. I said our strategy in going after the Iraqi army was very, very simple. “First we’re going to cut it off , and then we’re going to kill it.”

That became the headline. That became the dominating theme for the next several weeks.

PHOTOS: ABOVE, COURTESY COLIN POWELL; TOP, CYNTHIA JOHNSON