By CNN's Wolf Blitzer

(CNN) - In May 1990, CNN asked me to serve as its Pentagon correspondent. I was expecting a relatively slow news story since the Cold War was winding down. I thought I would spend most of my time covering base closings and new weapons systems. That was not to be because Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait that August.

It was during the six months of Operation Desert Shield and the six weeks of Operation Desert Storm that I really got to know then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin Powell. They were the leaders of the U.S. military. They became the chief spokesmen for the war buildup and then for the war itself.
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