Yep, old Bush 41 and Schwarzkopf screwed the Pooch when they let Saddam use Helicopters in the No Fly Zone.
Then again, Powell really messed it up when he started whining about the bad PR after wiping out the Retreating Iraqi Troops coming out of Kuwait.
President Bush caved because of the Optics, and Saddam was allowed to start fresh. Imagine if we just wiped him out back then. No Clinton and no Obama. Well, I can dream.
Aside from the visible ugliness of the “Highway of Death”, there was another good reason to stop. At that time Gorbachev was trying to overthrow the old Communist/Soviet regime, but was about to experience a coup against him. Personally, I think we should have gone one about 24 hours longer, made a serious dent in the Republican Guard, but left enough of it to discourage Iranian aggression. And ended quickly enough to not get Gorbachev wiped out.