President George H.W Bush's Mutla Ridge legacy

Much has been written about the moderate, kind and fair presidency of George H.W Bush, following his death and funeral. My personal and work-related memory is the decision he made to halt the slaughter of evacuating Iraqi troops from Kuwait after the 100 hours of war to liberate the Gulf state. The Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait City by both military and civilians and hordes of vehicles, many of them packed with looted goods, was heading up towards Mutla Ridge on what became known as the highway of death leading to the Iraqi border. The escaping Iraqis were caught in a massive traffic jam and as they ground to a halt, the US Air Force flew overhead and pounded them with bombs. At the far end, close to Mutla Ridge, US Army Abrams battle tanks blocked the route. The Iraqis were caught in a trap and hundreds of them died, their bodies burning to blackened corpses. Seen on television it was a gruesome horrific apocalyptic sight. It was enough for President Bush. He said Kuwait had been liberated, so the job was done, he had no desire to pursue the Iraqi military all the way to Baghdad, killing in a turkey shoot all the way. It was a moment of great magnanimity. Many US and coalition commanders wanted to keep going and take the fight to Baghdad to make sure Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards were destroyed for ever. But Bush said no, leaving it to his son, George W, to do the Baghdad bit 12 years later. And look where that left us?! I went to Kuwait a few days after Bush's ending of the war and drove up the highway of death. Most of the bodies had been removed but every vehicle was still there, the biggest burnt-out traffic jam in history. It was a horrendous sight. I don't think anyone knows for sure how many Iraqis died in the slaughter! It was impossible to count. War is terrible but it IS possible for those at the top to show magnanimity. George H.W Bush did just that and it was unquestionably the honourable and right thing to have done.