The first question is of course:

Why didn’t we go all the way to Baghdad and 'finish the job'

It should be clearly understood that the option of going all the way to Baghdad was never considered.

Despite all the so-called experts who, with 20-20 hindsight are now criticizing that decision, at the time the war ended there was not a single head of state or military leader who advocated continuing the war and seizing Baghdad.

The United Nations resolutions that provided the legal basis for our military ops in the gulf were clear, kick Iraq out of Kuwait.

We had authority to take whatever actions were necessary to accomplish that mission including attacks into Iraq, but we had no authority to invade Iraq to capture the entire country or its capitol.

In the gulf war we had 9 resolutions authorising our actions and the support of most of the world but only to liberate Kuwait not to capture Baghdad.

No Arab forces ever entered Iraq, only British us and French troops entered Iraq. I am convinced that had we decided to conquer Iraq the coalition would have fractured, also the only troops to participate would have been the us and British even the French would have withdrawn from the coalition.

Had the us and uk gone on alone to capture Baghdad we would have been considered occupying powers and under the Geneva and Hague conventions responsible for all the costs of maintaining and restoring the government education and all other services for the Iraqi people.

From the brief time we spent occupying Iraqi territory I am convinced we would be still there like the dinosaur in the tar pit and we not the UN would bear all the costs of occupation this is a burden I am sure the us taxpayer would not be happy to take on.

Do not forget that sad dam set himself up as the only Arab nation to take on not just Israel but the western powers had the us and UK attacked Iraq every citizen of the Arab world would be convinced that what sad dam said was true.

Instead they know the opposite is true that armed forces of both the west and the Arab nations fought side by side against Iraq’s aggression AND that once Kuwait was liberated the western nations withdrew their military forces and went home.

For once we were smart enough to win the war and the peace.

General Norman H Schwarzkopf's autobiography written in 1992