Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
323153190
label
National Religious Broadcasters Convention 1/28/91 [OA 8321] [5]
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
323153190
contentType
document
title
National Religious Broadcasters Convention 1/28/91 [OA 8321] [5]
citationUrl
identifierLocal
13744-012
collections
Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Speech Backup Chronological Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
323153190
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
6c3a1f5b05f5f67c
ocrText
Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Backup Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13744
Folder ID Number:
13744-012
Folder Title:
National Religious Broadcasters Convention 1/28/91 [OA 8321] [5]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
26
21
2
4
Steph B.
RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS
SHERATON WASHINGTON HOTEL
MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1990
2:00 P.M.
PRESIDENT ROSE, DIRECTOR COOK, DR. ROBERTSON - --
AND I WANT TO SALUTE YOUR LEADERSHIP OF THE NRB.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. ((IT IS OFTEN SAID OF A GROUP OR
INDIVIDUAL THAT "HE HASN'T GOT A PRAYER." WELL, I AM
PLEASED TO BE WITH AN AUDIENCE ABOUT WHOM THAT WILL
NEVER BE SAID.) // applaise
THIS MARKS THE FOURTH TIME I HAVE HAD THE HONOR OF
ADDRESSING THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL
RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS. AND ONCE AGAIN, IT IS A
DELIGHT TO BE BACK.
IN THE SPIRIT OF THE OCCASION, I WANT TO MAKE TWO
VOWS. FIRST, I'LL BE BRIEF. ((I KNOW THERE'S A
MENTION IN THE BIBLE ABOUT THE BURNING BUSH -- -- BUT I
ALSO KNOW THAT COMPARED TO MOST AROUND ME HERE, I'M NOT
THAT HOT A SPEAKER.) ) // applure
THE SECOND PROMISE IS FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE BACK
OF THE ROOM. I'LL TRY TO SPEAK UP. // ((PAT
ROBERTSON WARNED ME THAT THE AGNOSTICS IN THIS ROOM ARE
VERY BAD.)) // applare
- 2 -
LET ME BEGIN WITH SOME GOOD NEWS FOR MODERN MAN:
THERE IS NO DENYING THAT AMERICA IS A RELIGIOUS NATION.
//
SURE, DIFFERENCES EXIST OVER SECT AND THEOLOGY.
((I'M REMINDED OF WHAT THE FRENCH STATESMAN TALLEYRAND
ONCE SAID OF AMERICA: "I FOUND THERE A COUNTRY WITH
THIRTY-TWO RELIGIONS AND ONLY ONE SAUCE. ")) // YET WE
KNOW WHAT UNITES US ECLIPSES WHAT DIVIDES US. FOR WE
BELIEVE THAT POLITICAL VALUES WITHOUT MORAL VALUES
CANNOT SUSTAIN A PEOPLE. // applause
THIS AFTERNOON, I'D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT
THOSE MORAL VALUES. I SPEAK OF THE QUALITIES OF
dropped
TOLERANCE AND DECENCY, COURAGE AND RESPONSIBILITY, AND
stressed
OF COURSE, FAITH. VALUES WHICH REMIND US THAT WHILE
GOD CAN LIVE WITHOUT MAN, MAN CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT GOD.
//
oppla.ru
TODAY, AMID POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC UPHEAVAL, THESE
VALUES HAVEN'T CHANGED. NOR WILL THEY BE MORE CRUCIAL
THAN IN THE 1990s.
- 3 -
NOW, YOU KNOW ME. I'M AN OPTIMIST. ((AFTER ALL,
LAST YEAR I HAD AN EXPERIENCE THAT RENEWED MY FAITH. I
WAS RUNNING OUT OF PRAYERS AND HAD ALMOST GIVEN UP
HOPE. THEN A MIRACLE OCCURRED. // I CAUGHT A FISH.))
// so IT WON'T SURPRISE YOU THAT I'M CONVINCED WE CAN
-- AND WILL UPHOLD THE VALUES I'M REFERRING TO. FOR
AS AMERICANS, WE ALWAYS HAVE.
CONSIDER THAT FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES, AMERICA
HAS ENDORSED THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. BUT
IT HAS ALSO SHOWN HOW RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT CAN
CO-EXIST. // AND THAT -- TO PARAPHRASE OUR FOUNDING
DOCUMENT - ALL MEN ARE ENDOWED NOT BY GOVERNMENT BUT
BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS.
(-
hit
THESE RIGHTS INCLUDE THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.
AND TO THINK, DREAM, AND WORSHIP AS WE PLEASE. EQUAL
PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW. AND THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE OUR
hit
LEADERS AND OUR DESTINIES. THE INHERENT DIGNITY OF THE
INDIVIDUAL. // AND WE MUST MANIFEST THAT DIGNITY BY
THE POLICIES WE PURSUE.
- 4 -
FOR EXAMPLE, I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD HELP
PARENTS OBTAIN THE BEST CHILD-CARE FOR THEIR KIDS. //
SO WE HAVE SENT LEGISLATION TO CONGRESS TO MAKE GOOD
THAT GOAL. I WANT TO ENSURE THAT PARENTS, NOT
Applanse
BUREAUCRATS, ARE THE ONES WHO DECIDE HOW TO CARE FOR
THEIR CHILDREN. AND I WILL NOT SEE THE OPTION OF
RELIGIOUS-BASED CHILD CARE RESTRICTED OR ELIMINATED.
//
Applanse
NEXT, THERE'S THE CONCERN OF EVERY CHILD: THE
QUALITY AND DIVERSITY OF AMERICA'S SCHOOLS. // OUR
PIONEERING LEGISLATION -- THE "EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
ACT OF 1989" -- WILL SPUR EXCELLENCE AND DEMAND
ACCOUNTABILITY. FOR OUR KIDS SAKE, LET'S HELP AMERICAN
EDUCATION MAKE THE GRADE. //
WE COME NEXT TO AN ISSUE ON WHICH AMERICANS CAN
MONY VERY(GB)
AND DO, DISAGREE. FOR MY PART, LET ME BE CLEAR. I
SUPPORT THE SANCTITY OF LIFE WE NEED POLICIES THAT
ENCOURAGE ADOPTION, NOT ABORTION
ppp
(standing
house
avation)
applane 5
- -
FINALLY, I CONTINUE TO SUPPORT A BELIEF HELD BY
THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF AMERICANS: THE RIGHT TO
VOLUNTARY SCHOOL PRAYER. SO I SUPPORT A CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENT RESTORING VOLUNTARY PRAYER. WE NEED THE
FAITH OF OUR FATHERS BACK IN OUR SCHOOLS. (II applanse
AS WE STRUGGLE TO FIND ANSWERS TO OUR PRESSING
SOCIAL PROBLEMS, I WILL ENDORSE POLICIES THAT REFLECT
THE RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL -- A CONCEPT AS OLD AS THE
SCRIPTURES. RIGHTS WHICH FORM THE ESSENCE OF AMERICA.
AND THAT TO OTHER NATIONS, HAVE BECOME THE MESSAGE OF
AMERICA FOR OUR FREEDOMS HAVE BEEN CARRIED TO EVERY
CORNER OF THE EARTH. //
ONE YEAR AGO IN MY INAUGURAL ADDRESS, I SAID, "THE
DAY OF THE DICTATOR IS OVER." // AND INDEED, THE LAST
YEAR HAS BEEN A VICTORY FOR THE FREEDOMS WITH WHICH GOD
HAS BLESSED AMERICA. WE HAVE SEEN THE RIGHTS OF MAN
MOVE MOUNTAINS OR -- AS IN EAST BERLIN -- EVEN MOVE A
WALL. "k
applanse
- 6 -
THINK OF CENTRAL AMERICA, WHERE MEN AND WOMEN --
FACING GREAT PERSONAL RISK -- WORK FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND
AGAINST TYRANNY OF ANY IDEOLOGY. AND LET ME ADD: I AM
ESPECIALLY PROUD OF OUR TROOPS IN PANAMA AMERICANS
for P lot of repronsbut
appharse
SUPPORTED "OPERATION JUST CAUSE" BECAUSE DEMOCRACY IS A
NOBLE CAUSE. // AND TO THE YOUNG SOLDIERS WHO SERVED
THIS COUNTRY, EVERY AMERICAN THANKS YOU. SII 11 THINK,
should
NEXT, OF SOUTH AFRICA AND THE PHILIPPINES, WHERE THE
Appline
VALUES OF CHURCH LEADERS HAVE BEEN A FORCE FOR
DEMOCRATIC CHANGE. // AND, YES, IN EASTERN EUROPE,
TOO. WHERE FOR CENTURIES FAITH HAS SUSTAINED THOSE
STRIVING FOR FREEDOM AMID ADVERSITY.
voice dropped
YOU KNOW, EIGHT YEARS AGO ONE OF THE LORD'S GREAT
AMBASSADORS, THE REVEREND BILLY GRAHAM, WENT TO EASTERN
EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION. AND UPON RETURNING SPOKE
OF A MOVEMENT THERE TOWARD MORE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
PERHAPS HE SAW IT BEFORE MANY OTHERS BECAUSE IT TAKES A
MAN OF GOD TO SENSE THE EARLY MOVEMENT OF THE HAND OF
GOD.
//
YET WHO COULD PREDICT THAT IN 1989,
FREEDOM'S TIDE WOULD ALSO BE ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND
INTELLECTUAL? OR THAT THE WALLS OF BAYONETS AND BARBED
WIRE -- THE WALLS OF TYRANNY -- WOULD COME TUMBLING
DOWN. -burlt
up
- 7 -
LOOK, FIRST, AT EAST GERMANY -- WHERE IN 1982
LONG BEFORE LAST NOVEMBER'S MASS DEMONSTRATIONS
MEMBERS OF LEIPZIG'S ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH BEGAN A WEEKLY
"PRAYER FOR PEACE." AT THE SERVICES, STUDENTS WERE
TAUGHT NON-VIOLENCE. AND STARTED THE CANDLE-LIGHT
VIGILS THAT WOULD ONE DAY ROUSE A CONTINENT. THE
POLICE CAME AND THREATENED THEM. BUT THE STUDENTS
VOWED TO STAY, AND DID. BECOMING A LIGHT UNTO THE
WORLD.
And
ULTIMATELY, THAT LIGHT SPREAD TO DRESDEN AND EAST
BERLIN. AND AS IT SHONE, A WITTENBERG PASTOR SAID
"I
pause
WOULD RATHER SEE 1,000 DROPS OF CANDLE WAX ON THE
MARKET PLACE PLACE THEN ONE DROP OF BLOOD." // AND THERE
WAS NO BLOOD. ONLY THE STIRRING SIGHT LAST OCTOBER OF
70,000 WORKERS IN THE STREETS AND SQUARES OF LEIPZIG.
part
WEAPONS? THEY CARRIED CANDLES. AND THEIR LIGHT WAS
pouse
LIKENED TO "A BLIZZARD OF FIREFLIES IN THE NIGHT." ASK
ANYONE THAT EVENING. THEY SOUGHT WHAT WE AMERICANS
ENJOY: FREE MARKETS MARKETS, FREE ELECTIONS, AND THE EXERCISE
OF FREE WILL UNHAMPERED BY THE STATE.
- 8 -
THEY WERE PROPELLED BY MANY THINGS -- FAITH NOT
THE LEAST OF THEM. AND AS THEY AND OTHERS MARCHED
ACROSS EASTERN EUROPE, THE DAY OF THE DICTATOR DID END.
THE DAY OF DEMOCRACY BEGAN.
stumbles
LOOK AT BULGARIA. WHERE LAST MONTH THE STATE
PRESS AGENCY CONCEDED: "PEOPLE [WERE] WISHING MERRY
CHRISTMAS TO EACH OTHER MAYBE FOR THE FIRST TIME
WITHOUT FEAR THEY WOULD BE ACCUSED OF BEING
'RELIGIOUS. // AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA. THERE, TOO, A
VICTORY FOR THE RIGHTS OF MAN. FOR YEARS, POLICE
CHASED CAROLERS FROM PRAGUE'S KING'S ROAD. THIS
CHRISTMAS, CAROLS WARMED THE HEART OF THE CITY. THERE
WAS WONDER IN THE AIR. 11 IN THE SOVIET UNION, LAST
YEAR MOSCOW HOSTED THE FIRST NATIONWIDE GATHERING OF
JEWS SINCE THE FALL OF THE CZAR. AND IN ROMANIA:
STILL FURTHER VICTORIES. CHRISTMAS SONGS ON THE RADIO
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1946 AND HEROES WHO SHOWED
THAT YOU CAN'T LOCK PEOPLE BEHIND WALLS FOREVER -- WHEN
MORAL CONVICTION UPLIFTS THEIR HEARTS. //
- 9 -
LET ME CLOSE, THEN, WITH THE STORY OF TWO SUCH
HEROES -- BOTH ROMANIAN. AND HOW THEIR EXAMPLE
ILLUMINED DECENCY, COURAGE, AND LOVE.
THE FIRST WAS A LUTHERAN MINISTER, LASZLO
[LAZ-LOW] TOKES [TO-KESH], WHO DARED TO SPEAK OF
FREEDOM. so LAST NOVEMBER IN TIMISOARA
[TIMMY-SCHWA-RA], MASKED THUGS BROKE INTO THE SMALL
APARTMENT THIN OF TOKES PND AND HIS PREGNANT WIFE. AWD THEY BEAT HIM
AND STABBED HIM. THE GOVERNMENT ALLOWED THEM NO FOOD.
// EVEN PARISHIONERS WERE NOT PERMITTED TO BRING
BREAD; FINALLY, THE POLICE ARRIVED TO DEPORT THE
PASTOR. BUT THE FLOCK PROTECTED HIM -- FORMING A HUMAN
CHAIN AROUND HIS APARTMENT. IN TIME, THE CHAIN GREW
ACROSS THE LAND. UNTIL -- AS WE CELEBRATED CHRISTMAS
-- ROMANIA'S QUEST FOR FREEDOM SUMMONED "LIGHTNESS
AGAINST THE DARK." //
TODAY, LASZLO TOKES MINISTERS TO EVER-LARGER
BUT now PREACHING IT
NUMBERS -- PREACHING HIS FAITH WITHOUT FEAR. PT/DL AS
DOES GHEORGHE [GEORGE] CALCIU [CAL-CHEW] -- A ROMANIAN
ORTHODOX MINISTER. HIS STORY PROVES YOU CAN'T KILL AN
IDEA -- OR DESTROY THE HUMAN WILL. //
- 10 -
FATHER CALCIU [CAL-CHEW] HAS SPENT 21 OF HIS 64
report 1/306 his antire life in 301) }p'
YEARS IN JAIL IN FACT, HE FOUND GOD THERE WHILE
IMPRISONED FOR OPPOSING THE GOVERNMENT. RELEASED, HE
RISKED HIS FREEDOM BY PREACHING A SERIES OF LENTEN
SERMONS. AND FOR THAT HE WAS IMPRISONED AGAIN --
slows
TORTURED BEYOND BELIEF. // YET FATHER CALCIU HAD
FAITH. HE REFUSED TO BREAK -- AND WAS SENTENCED TO
DEATH. AND AS HE STOOD IN THE CORNER OF THE PRISON
YARD, PRAYING FOR HIS WIFE AND SON -- AWAITING DEATH --
IT WAS THEN SOMETHING REMARKABLE OCCURRED. //
HIS TWO EXECUTIONERS CALLED TO HIM. SURELY, HE
pouse
THOUGHT, THIS WAS THE END. BUT INSTEAD THEY SAID,
"FATHER" -- THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME THEY CALLED HIM
THAT -- "WE HAVE DECIDED NOT TO KILL YOU." // THREE
WEEKS LATER, HE ASKED PERMISSION TO CELEBRATE THE
DIVINE LITURGY. AND WHILE MAKING PREPARATIONS, HEARD
THESE SAME TWO MEN APPROACH. HE TURNED AROUND, AND WAS
ASTONISHED. // HIS WOULD-BE EXECUTIONERS WERE ON THEIR
KNEES ON THE COLD CONCRETE OF THE CELL. //
standing
overlion - 11 -
FATHER CALCIU IS WITH US TODAY. FATHER, IT'S AN
HONOR TO SALUTE YOU. ! / I KNOW YOU'RE GLAD TO BE
HERE. BUT I KNOW, Too, YOU HOPE TO RETURN TO YOUR
NATIVE LAND. AND IN THIS SEASON OF MIRACLES, WHO CAN
DOUBT YOU WILL? // FOR TODAY, THE TIMES ARE ON THE
SIDE OF PEACE. BECAUSE THE WORLD, INCREASINGLY, IS ON
THE SIDE OF GOD. //
FOR MY OWN PART, I KNOW THAT THIS IS TRUE. FOR
ALTHOUGH I'VE BEEN PRESIDENT FOR BARELY A YEAR, I
BELIEVE -- WITH ALL MY HEART -- THAT ONE CANNOT BE
AMERICA'S PRESIDENT WITHOUT A BELIEF IN GOD.
w/out
the
your to belief
ANOTHER PRESIDENT, DWIGHT EISENHOWER -- BELOVED
ya.
sing
a
IKE -- ONCE SAID, "FREE GOVERNMENT IS THE POLITICAL
EXPRESSION OF A DEEPLY-FELT RELIGIOUS FAITH." LET EACH
OF US USE HIS FAITH TO EXPRESS THE NOBLEST VALUES OF
AMERICA. so THAT, TOGETHER, WE CAN SERVE THE
INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF MAN.
- 12 -
THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK, AND FOR YOUR KINDNESS.
GOD BLESS YOU. AND GOD BLESS OUR BELOVED LAND - - -- THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
R The
# # # #
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
September 24, 1990
SEP 24 PM 5: 34
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
CHRISS WINSTON
dw
FROM:
CURT SMITH
SUBJECT:
REMARKS AT PRESIDENT'S CLUB DINNER
I. SUMMARY
On Tuesday, September 25, 1990, at 7:57 P.M., you will address
approximately 650 guests in the Regency Ballroom of the Omni
Shoreham Hotel. Entering its tenth year, the RNC's President's
Club includes members from around the country, each of whom has
contributed at least $1,000 to the Party. Among those attending
this year's dinner will be dinner chairman Mike Harper, who will
introduce you; Sen. Phil Gramm, Sen. Gordon Humphrey, General
Scowcroft, Deputy Sec. Henson Moore, Tim Ryan, Larry Bathgate,
Charlie Black, Wally Ganzi, Jeb and Columba Bush, Katie Boyd, and
Jim Pierce.
nm
II. DISCUSSION
The attached remarks (12 minutes, teleprompter) highlight the
importance of a strong Republican showing in the upcoming mid-term
elections. Within this framework, the remarks pay particular
attention to the ongoing budget negotiations, the failure of the
Congress to take necessary action with regard to the environment
and crime, and the continued necessity of a sound defense.
Please note page two reference to the efforts of Lee Atwater.
Mr. Atwater will be unable to attend the dinner.
Let's try some difficult johns on pl
top of 2
Budget language needs to be covefully
rewerved on Tuodg to replace some of budge
If need movey add some
or ducation" statt.
(Smith/Garmey)
September 24, 1990
4 P.M.
GOP1
90 SEP 24 P7: 31
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: PRESIDENT'S DINNER
SHOREHAM HOTEL
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1990
Mike (Harper), thank you for that introduction -- and the
wonderful job you've done as Dinner Chairman for tonight's
dinner. Congratulations on tomorrow's birthday. // Senator
Gramm and Senator Humphrey. Larry (Bathgate) -- I salute you,
too, for all you're doing as Chairman of the Finance Committee.
// It's also great to have Charlie Black here. And a personal
OK friend of twenty years, the National Chairman of the President's
twents years
Club -- Wally Ganzi, and his lovely wife Reva. Katie Boyd. To
Crystal Gale, Loretta Lynn, and Peggy Sue Wright -- who loved
country before it was cool, it's always good to see you. // It's
exciting to have several members of my family with us. Our son,
Jeb, his wife, Columba, and our nephew, Jim Pierce. Above all,
my thanks to each of you here tonight for your support of the
Republican National Committee. // And for your support this fall
in our critical races -- in the Senate, the House, and the State
Houses. It's commitment and dedication like yours that will make
such a difference in so many key races.
On Barbara's behalf, thank you for that generous reception.
She made me promise not to be too windy. ((Maybe she's heard the
report that our military has trained for those long hours of
boredom in the Gulf by listening to tapes of my speeches.) ") //
((I was listening to a country and western tape on the way
here, and on came Randy Travis singing, "It's just a matter of
I
2
dated
time." // What a relief to hear a song expressing confidence in
my ultimate ability to catch a fish. "
11
( (Actually, here's a scoop: I'm thinking of giving up
fishing altogether. As somebody put it recently: The way my
?
golf game's been going, I spend enough time around water just
being out on the course. " //
Seriously, I want to take a moment to salute a man who is in
our thoughts this evening. He's a fighter // a winner // above
all, he's our friend and inspiration, Lee Atwater. // Lee has
been forced to keep a low profile. But he, himself, is a profile
in courage. I join every Republican in extending prayers to Lee,
his wife Sally, and his three daughters, Sarah, Ashley, and Sally
T. 11 Here's to the grand young man of the Grand old Party. //
Like you, Lee Atwater knows what this election is all about.
It's about values and priorities. It's about keeping America
strong. It's about one philosophy -- ours -- that wants to move
ahead -- working, creating, dreaming. And another philosophy --
the Democrats' philosophy . -- that is as timeworn as it is tired.
The Democrats' philosophy burdens people for the benefit of
government. Our philosophy could not be more different. It uses
government for the benefit of easing burdens on people. //
Democrats believe in status-quo. Republicans believe in
status-grow. Democrats embrace "More of the same." Republicans
embrace the letters "GOP": Growth, opportunity, and prosperity.
//
3
For proof, let's look first at the budget. Why not? That's
all Congress has been doing for nearly a year. // Some say
there's not a dollar's worth of difference between our two
parties. They're right. // There's half-a-trillion dollars'
worth. // That's what our plan -- the Republican plan -- would
have slashed from the Federal budget deficit over the next five
chech
two
years. //
All of you know the history of these budget negotiations.
what
It's a very sad history. Nearly eight months ago, I proposed a
Dan't
budget for the coming fiscal year. That didn't wake up the
7
Congress. So three months ago, I said that to cut the deficit,
suw
everything would be considered "on the table." That didn't wake
up the Congress. // As a result, five days from now we face the
prospect of drastic spending cuts that will scar America. Yet
still Congress refuses to make real spending cuts and real budget
reform. In short, to put our fiscal house in order. //
Sequestration isn't partisan fiction. It's real / it's
approaching / and once here, it will cost jobs and harm our
economy. It is senseless. It is also needless. So I call on
Congress to oppose further tax hikes. And support growth-
oriented tax incentives -- from expanded IRA's to Family Savings
Accounts to, yes, a cut in the capital gains tax. // Together,
let's do what we were elected to do: serve the American people.
Not sometime. Not someplace. But here in Washington. Now. //
As the budget proves, Americans expect their leaders to act
quickly -- and intelligently. Let me tell a story which shows
4
what I mean. Happened up in Kennebunkport. ((I told John Sununu
I'd like to deliver a speech called, "Keeping pace with rapidly-
moving events." He said, "Do you really think an audience wants
to hear what it's like to play 18 holes with you?" // I said,
2th
"Sure, I like to do things quickly // and you can ignore that
rumor that I watch 60 Minutes in three-quarters of an hour.' ")) //
Americans do expect action. Yet let me note several other
ways Congress has wavered -- thwarting growth, opportunity, and
prosperity. //
It's been sixteen months, for instance, since our
Administration's Comprehensive Crime Control proposals reached
Capitol Hill. // Some feel we can soft-pedal the need to be
hard on crime. Republicans disagree. We know that for anybody
who kills a police officer, no legal penalty is too tough. // So
our legislation proposes a workable death penalty -- a real death
penalty -- for the killers of Federal law enforcement officers.
And we urge all Governors to enact similar legislation for the
killers of local police officers. // Soon, the House will begin
debate on its version of the Crime Bill. I call on Congress to
give cop-killers the kind of punishment they deserve.
Here's another issue where the Congress has delayed. The
environment. Over a year ago (this is beginning to sound
familiar), we proposed a landmark bill to rewrite the Clean Air
Act. Legislation which says we can have a sound economy and a
safe environment. Sound good? Apparently not to the Democrats.
11 Six months ago, we reached an agreement with the Senate
5
leadership -- and still no final action. To the Congress, I say:
Republicans don't think we have to throw people out of work to
protect our environment. Send me a Clean Air Act I can sign. //
( (As you can see, clear differences abound between our
parties. Sort of like the difference between the old and new
"Air Force One. // The new plane is incredible. But, I want
to take this chance to deny the rumor that I held budget meetings
last week in the forward horseshoe pits.) //
This fall, Republicans and Democrats will discuss our
differences. Fairly, and honorably, as all Americans should.
Yet, as we debate, let's remember one issue confronting us that
unites us as a people. I refer to the Persian Gulf. //
Two weeks ago, I went before the Congress to talk about what
we must do together to defend civilized values around the world.
I spoke of how our objectives in the Middle East are clear: Iraq
must withdraw from Kuwait, completely, immediately, and without
condition. Kuwait's legitimate government must be restored. The
security and stability of the Persian Gulf must be assured. And
American citizens and others must be protected. 11
Tonight, I say: Those goals are unchanged. We will stay in
the Persian Gulf not a moment more, nor less, than necessary. We
will stay just as long as it takes to complete our mission. //
To finish the job will require the support of our friends
and allies. We have it. Think of the unprecedented United
Nations' unity. And the aid -- economic or military -- from
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey; from
6
Germany, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and many others.
Think of our Arab allies who are sacrificing so much -- above
all, Egypt. This isn't the U.S. against Iraq. It's Iraq
against the world. We're not going it alone -- and believe me,
we are going to see it through. //
We will continue to stand up to aggression -- and for those
who believe that no Nation should mug another -- and get away
with it. // We will continue to put our armed forces Where they
are needed, when they are needed // Incidentally, if Saddam
Hussein had any doubts about our staying power, the last few
weeks should dispel them. Go to any city or town. Ask anyone
you meet. Where does America stand? Their refrain can be heard
from Bangor to Baghdad: America stands where it always has --
against agression. //
We all remember a man who knew something about countering
agression. // His name was Dwight David Eisenhower, and this
year we observe the centennial of his birth. What's more, we
celebrate Ike's lessons that endure until today. //
Dwight Eisenhower showed how, at home, private enterprise
can unleash growth, opportunity, and prosperity. And that
abroad, America will never -- ever -- allow a tyrant to brutalize
the family of Nations. // Something, I might add, that a
certain dictator should recall as he goes to sleep each night. / /
Today, America has never been more willing or able to follow
Ike's lessons. Today, we will do what is right for America --
and for the world. // Thank you for this occasion. Let's have
7
a grand November 6. And God bless the greatest Nation on the
face of this earth -- the United States of America.
####
VFW ADDRESS \ BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1990 \ 10 A.M.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO JOIN
YOU. AND A DEEP PERSONAL PLEASURE TO RENEW OLD TIES
-- AND TO GREET NEW FRIENDS. // MY THANKS TO ALL OF
YOU -- BUT ESPECIALLY TO WALTER HOGAN, DOING A GREAT
JOB AS YOUR COMMANDER IN CHIEF. FOLLOWING THE LIKES OF
LARRY RIVERS ISN'T EASY -- BUT WALTER'S DONE THE VFW
PROUD. I ALSO KNOW WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SAME
KIND OF STRONG LEADERSHIP FROM JAMES KIMERY. AND LET
ME OFFER MY THANKS AGAIN TO COOPER HOLT, A REAL LEGEND,
WHO HAS GIVEN so MANY YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE VFW.
COOPER -- WE MISS YOU. //
NEXT, I WANT TO THANK MY VETERANS' SECRETARY AND
FELLOW VFW MEMBER ED DERWINSKI. // ED'S GOT so MUCH
GOING ON -- BUT I'M ESPECIALLY HAPPY TO SEE THE WORK
HE'S DOING TO IMPROVE OUR VETERANS' HOSPITALS. HIS
DEPARTMENT IS INTENT ON SERVING YOU --MUCH AS YOU HAVE
SERVED AMERICA. // AND, LET US REMEMBER THOSE WHO
COULD NOT BE WITH US. OUR ADMINISTRATION WILL NOT
FORGET OUR POWS/MIAS STILL ALIVE OR WHO GAVE WHAT
LINCOLN TERMED "THAT LAST FULL MEASURE OF DEVOTION." //
M
- 2 -
LET ME ACKNOWLEDGE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY, MICHAEL
STONE, AND BALTIMORE MAYOR, KURT SCHMOKE. AND, YES,
FINALLY, TODAY'S HONOREES. // BUD DUDLEY, AND MY
UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR TOM PICKERING, WHO'S BEING
HONORED THIS EVENING.
AS A VETERAN, I WANT TO SALUTE THE VFW ON ITS 91ST
YEAR. AND TO NOTE HOW WE MEET AMID GREAT CHALLENGES
-- FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. FIRST, DOMESTIC. THE UNITED
STATES SENATE WILL SOON CONSIDER THE NOMINATION OF OUR
SUPERB CANDIDATE, DAVID SOUTER, AS SUPREME COURT
JUSTICE. I CALL ON THE SENATE TO CONFIRM JUDGE SOUTER
TO THE NATION'S HIGHEST COURT. //
- 3 -
((SECOND, ON THE FOREIGN SCENE, HERE'S A CHALLENGE
WHICH ONLY SOMETHING LIKE THE MIDDLE EAST CAN PUT INTO
PERSPECTIVE. WHEN AN AIDE BURST INTO MY OFFICE IN
EARLY AUGUST AND SAID, "THERE'S A DICTATOR ON THE
RAMPAGE," I REPLIED, "I THOUGHT THE YANKEES ALREADY
SOLVED THE STEINBRENNER PROBLEM.") )
THIS MORNING, I AM GRATEFUL TO HAVE THE
OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS A FAR GREATER AND MORE SERIOUS
PROBLEM: THE CRISIS IN THE PERSIAN GULF. // A CRISIS
THAT WILL REQUIRE AMERICAN PLANNING, PATIENCE, AND
PERSONAL SACRIFICE. BUT A CRISIS THAT WE MUST AND WILL
MEET IF WE'RE TO STOP AGGRESSION, HELP OUR FRIENDS, AND
PROTECT OUR OWN INTEREST AND THE PEACE AND STABILITY OF
COUNTRIES AROUND THE GLOBE. //
- 4 -
EIGHTEEN DAYS AGO, THESE BELIEFS PROMPTED ME TO
TAKE ACTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST TO RESTORE THE
SOVEREIGNTY OF KUWAIT AND DETER THOSE WHO THREATEN
FRIENDLY COUNTRIES AND THE VITAL INTERESTS OF AMERICA.
I ACTED KNOWING THAT OUR CAUSE WOULD NOT BE EASY --BUT
THAT OUR CAUSE IS RIGHT. // AND THAT WHILE ONE SHOULD
NOT UNDERESTIMATE THOSE WHO ENDANGER PEACE -- AN EVEN
GREATER MISTAKE WOULD BE TO UNDERESTIMATE AMERICA'S
COMMITMENT TO OUR FRIENDS WHEN OUR FRIENDS ARE
IMPERILED. //
TODAY, THE OUTCOME IS NOT YET DECIDED. HARD
CHOICES REMAIN. BUT OF THIS WE ARE CERTAIN. AMERICA
WILL NOT BE DETERRED. // INSTEAD, WE WILL ACT TO
SUPPORT THE COMMON CODE AND RULE OF LAW THAT PROMOTES
COOPERATION INSTEAD OF CONFLICT. WE WILL PRESERVE OUR
ECONOMIC VITALITY. // ABOVE ALL, WHEN SOME ASK: WHERE
DOES AMERICA STAND? OUR ANSWER IS: AMERICA STANDS
WHERE IT ALWAYS HAS -- AGAINST AGGRESSION -- AGAINST
THOSE WHO WOULD USE FORCE TO REPLACE THE RULE OF LAW.
// AND WE ARE PROUD THAT SO MANY FRIENDS AND ALLIES
ARE STANDING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH US. //
- 5 -
THROUGHOUT HISTORY, WE HAVE LEARNED THAT WE MUST
STAND UP TO EVIL. IT IS A TRUTH WHICH THE PAST
EIGHTEEN DAYS HAVE REAFFIRMED. ITS LESSONS SPEAK TO
AMERICA, AND TO THE WORLD. //
THE FIRST LESSON IS AS VIVID AS THE MEMORIES OF
NORMANDY, KHE SANH, AND PORK CHOP HILL. WE HAVE BEEN
REMINDED AGAIN THAT AGGRESSION MUST -- AND WILL
--
BE CHECKED. // so WE HAVE SENT U.S. FORCES TO THE
MIDDLE EAST -- RELUCTANTLY, BUT DECISIVELY. KNOWING,
AS TEDDY ROOSEVELT SAID, THAT AMERICA "MEANS MANY
THINGS. [AMONG THEM], EQUALITY OF RIGHTS AND,
THEREFORE, EQUALITY OF DUTY AND OF OBLIGATION." //
YET WE ARE NOT ACTING ALONE -- BUT IN CONCERT --
HELPING TO PROTECT OUR OWN NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS
AS WELL AS THOSE OF THE BROADER COMMUNITY OF NATIONS.
WHICH BRINGS ME TO A SECOND LESSON REAFFIRMED BY THE
PAST EIGHTEEN DAYS. BY ITSELF, AMERICA CAN DO MUCH.
TOGETHER, WITH ITS ALLIES AND FRIENDS, AMERICA CAN DO
MUCH MORE -- FOR PEACE AND FOR JUSTICE. //
- 6 -
THINK BACK TO WORLD WAR II, WHERE TOGETHER ALLIES
CONFRONTED A HORROR WHICH EMBODIED HELL ON EARTH. OR
KOREA, WHERE UNITED NATIONS FORCES OPPOSED
TOTALITARIANISM. TODAY, EVEN MORE, NATIONS -- MANY OF
THEM MOSLEM -- HAVE JOINED TO BECOME PROTECTORS OF
PEACE. //
OUR SAUDI FRIENDS, UNDER THE BRAVE LEADERSHIP OF
KING FAHD, ASKED FOR OUR HELP IN DEFENDING AGAINST
UNPROVOKED AGGRESSION. I SALUTE BAHRAIN, EGYPT,
FRANCE, ITALY, KATAR, KUWAIT, MOROCCO, OMAN, AND THE
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES FOR ALREADY SENDING FORCES IN
RESPONSE TO SAUDI ARABIA'S REQUEST. AND I SALUTE GREAT
BRITAIN FOR DISPATCHING TROOPS, FIGHTER PLANES, AND THE
DESTROYER HMS YORK TO THE PERSIAN GULF. // LOOK TO
OTHER NATIONS FROM AUSTRALIA, BANGLADESH, BELGIUM,
CANADA, AND GREECE TO THE NETHERLANDS, PAKISTAN, SPAIN,
SYRIA, TURKEY, AND WEST GERMANY. THE CAUSE OF HUMAN
DIGNITY IS INDEBTED TO THEM ALL. // THINK OF THE
SOVIET UNION -- WHOSE COOPERATION IN THE U.N. SHOWS HOW
FISTS ONCE CLENCHED IN ANIMOSITY CAN BECOME HANDS
JOINED IN PARTNERSHIP. //
- 7 -
A THIRD LESSON WAS ALSO REAFFIRMED BY THE LAST
EIGHTEEN DAYS -- AS VETERANS, IT WON'T SURPRISE YOU:
THE STEADFAST CHARACTER OF THE AMERICAN WILL. // LOOK
TO THE SANDS OF SAUDI ARABIA AND THE WATERS OFFSHORE
-- WHERE BRAVE AMERICANS ARE DOING THEIR DUTY. JUST AS
YOU DID AT ANZIO, INCHON, AND HAMBURGER HILL. THINK OF
THE MEN AND WOMEN ABOARD OUR PLANES AND SHIPS -- YOUNG,
ALONE, AND so VERY FAR FROM HOME. // THEY MAKE US
PROUD, AND HUMBLE -- AND I SALUTE THE FINEST SOLDIERS,
SAILORS, AIRMEN, AND MARINES ANY NATION COULD EVER
HAVE. // MOREOVER, I PLEDGE TO YOU: WE WILL DO
WHATEVER IT TAKES TO HELP THEM COMPLETE THEIR MISSION.
THIS MEANS REALIZING THE FOURTH LESSON REAFFIRMED
BY THE PAST EIGHTEEN DAYS. ALTHOUGH THE SIZE OF
AMERICA'S ARMED FORCES IN THE YEARS AHEAD WILL BE
SMALLER BECAUSE THE THREAT TO OUR SECURITY IS CHANGING,
FUTURE AMERICAN DEFENSE CAPACITY MUST BE EVEN MORE "A
LEAN, MEAN FIGHTING MACHINE. "// BY 1995, WE ESTIMATE
THAT OUR SECURITY NEEDS CAN BE MET BY AN ACTIVE FORCE
25 PERCENT SMALLER THAN TODAY'S -- THE LOWEST LEVEL
SINCE 1950. YET, WE MUST ENSURE THAT A REDUCTION OF
NUMBERS DOES NOT MEAN A REDUCTION IN AMERICAN STRENGTH.
//
- 8 -
OPERATION DESERT SHIELD PROVES VIVIDLY THAT
INSTEAD OF RELIVING PAST CONTINGENCIES, WE MUST PREPARE
FOR THE CHALLENGES OF THE 1990S AND BEYOND. BY
ENSURING THAT OUR TROOPS ARE READY, AND TRAINED, WE CAN
EXERT OUR PRESENCE IN KEY AREAS -- AND RESPOND
EFFECTIVELY TO CRISIS. THIS IS READINESS MEASURED IN
DAYS AND HOURS, NOT WEEKS AND MONTHS. // OPERATION
DESERT SHIELD HAS UNDERSCORED THE NEED TO BE ABLE TO
GET OUR SOLDIERS WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED, WHEN THEY ARE
NEEDED. THIS KIND OF RESPONSIVENESS WILL BE CRITICAL
IN THE CRISES OF THE FUTURE.
LAST WEEK, THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS,
GENERAL COLIN POWELL, SPOKE TO THIS WHEN HE PRAISED
"THE FINEST PEACETIME MILITARY IN THE HISTORY OF
AMERICA." WE WILL BE SMALLER IN TROOP STRENGTH, AND
RESTRUCTURED, BUT WE WILL REMAIN PURPOSEFUL, PROUD AND
EFFECTIVE. 11 JUST LOOK AT THE LAST EIGHTEEN DAYS:
DESERT SHIELD HAS BEEN A CLASSIC CASE OF AMERICA'S
MILITARY AT ITS BEST.
- 9 -
I THINK, FOR INSTANCE, OF AIRMAN FIRST CLASS WADE
WEST, HOME ON LEAVE TO BE MARRIED. ON AUGUST 7, HE WAS
CALLED UP. WITHIN AN HOUR HE HAD THE CEREMONY
PERFORMED, LEFT FOR THE MIDDLE EAST, AND IS STATIONED
NOW IN SAUDI ARABIA. TALK ABOUT A GUY WHO GETS THINGS
DONE. // BUT I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO THE BRIDE. //
ANOTHER EXAMPLE: SEVEN YEARS AGO, DIANA KROPTAVICH
[CROP-TA-VICH] WORRIED AT HOME WHILE HER HUSBAND,
WALTER, STEAMED OFF THE LEBANON COAST ON THE USS NEW
JERSEY DEFENDING THE MARINES. TODAY, THEIR ROLES ARE
REVERSED. RETIRED, WALTER IS AT HOME WITH THEIR
6-YEAR-OLD SON; DIANA SERVES ABOARD THE DESTROYER USS
YELLOWSTONE. 11 HERE'S AN ARMY COUPLE. TODAY,
PARATROOPER JOSEPH HUDERT [WHO-DERT] OF THE 82ND
AIRBORNE DIVISION IS SERVING IN SAUDI ARABIA -- AND HIS
WIFE, NURSE DOMINIQUE ALLEN OF THE 44TH MEDICAL
BRIGADE, WILL BE DEPLOYED THERE WITHIN THE NEXT TWO
WEEKS. FINALLY, RECALL THE EIGHT-YEAR OLD WHO,
WATCHING HER DAD LEAVE FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN, SPOKE
TRUTH FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES. "I JUST THINK," SHE
SAID, "THAT [THEY] SHOULDN'T LET DADDIES GO AWAY THIS
LONG. BUT THEY STILL HAVE To, TO KEEP THE WORLD SAFE."
//
- 10 -
THESE PROFILES SHOW THE TRUE CALIBER OF AMERICA
-- AND THE VITAL ESSENCE OF OUR MISSION. WHAT'S MORE,
THEY REMIND US OF THE FIFTH AND FINAL LESSON REAFFIRMED
BY THE PAST EIGHTEEN DAYS: THE NEED FOR A CONTINUED
STRONG DEFENSE BUDGET TO SUPPORT AMERICAN TROOPS. OR
AS GEORGE WASHINGTON SAID IN HIS FIRST INAUGURAL
ADDRESS, "TO BE PREPARED FOR WAR IS ONE OF THE MOST
EFFECTUAL MEANS OF PRESERVING PEACE." // HISTORY HAS
SHOWN THE WISDOM OF HIS WORDS -- ESPECIALLY IN OUR
CENTURY. WHAT DESERT SHIELD HAS SHOWN IS THAT AMERICA
CAN ENSURE THE PEACE BY REMAINING MILITARILY STRONG. //
NOW, I KNOW WE'RE OPERATING IN A TIME OF BUDGET
RESTRAINT: WE HAVE LIMITED RESOURCES -- WE MUST USE
THEM WISELY. THE BUDGET DEFICIT IS A THREAT TO OUR
VITAL INTERESTS AT HOME, AND WON'T BE MADE EASIER BY
TODAY'S THREAT ABROAD. EVERYONE REALIZES THAT THE
DEFICIT IS TOO LARGE -- THAT IT MUST BE BROUGHT DOWN
-- AND THAT CONGRESS MUST ACT, COURAGEOUSLY AND
IMMEDIATELY, WHEN IT RETURNS FROM RECESS.
- 11 -
BUT WE CANNOT ATTACK THE DEFICIT BY ATTACKING THE
VERY HEART OF OUR ARMED FORCES -- COMMITTED MEN AND
WOMEN WHO ARE MOTIVATED AND READY. 11 LAST WEEK, I
ASKED CONGRESS TO DO WHAT WE HAVE DONE -- PRODUCE A
BUDGET PROPOSAL, INCLUDING DEFENSE, THAT IS BOTH
RESPONSIVE AND RESPONSIBLE AND MOST OF ALL. .FAIR.
WHEN THEY DO, I WILL LISTEN -- LISTEN, BUT NOT BREAK
FAITH WITH THE TROOPS I COMMAND. // MAKE NO MISTAKE:
TO STOP AGGRESSION -- TO KEEP AMERICA MILITARILY
PREPARED -- I WILL OPPOSE THE DEFENSE-BUDGET SLASHERS
WHO ARE OUT OF TUNE WITH WHAT AMERICA NEEDS TO KEEP
DEMOCRACY SECURE AND SAFE. //
- 12 -
MOST AMERICANS KNOW THAT WHEN IT COMES TO NATIONAL
DEFENSE, FINISHING SECOND MEANS FINISHING LAST. so
THEY REJECT WHAT THE HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
RECENTLY SUGGESTED: UNACCEPTABLE CUTS FROM OUR DEFENSE
BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 1991. // MOST AMERICANS KNOW,
Too, THAT GIVING PEACE A CHANCE DOES NOT MEAN TAKING A
CHANCE ON PEACE. so THEY ENDORSE GIVING THE MILITARY
THE TOOLS TO DO ITS JOB: THE PEACEKEEPER, MIDGETMAN,
B-2 BOMBER, AND THE STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE. //
AMERICANS WANT ARMS NEGOTIATIONS TO SUCCEED -- BUT THEY
KNOW THAT EVEN A START TREATY WILL NOT HELP OUR
SECURITY IF WE DISARM UNILATERALLY. LET US NEVER
FORGET THAT OUR STRONG NATIONAL DEFENSE POLICIES HAVE
HELPED US GAIN THE PEACE. WE NEED A STRONG DEFENSE
TODAY TO MAINTAIN THAT PEACE. 11 I WILL FIGHT FOR THAT
DEFENSE -- AND I NEED YOUR HELP. 11
- 13 -
((LET ME TELL YOU A STORY ABOUT WHY I FEEL so
STRONGLY. I WAS TALKING TO SOME OF THE YOUNG SOLDIERS
WHO LIBERATED PANAMA -- AND I ASKED ONE OF THEM -- A
MEDIC -- ABOUT THE OPERATION. CORPORAL RODERICK
RINGSTAFF SPOKE OF COMBAT AND THE HEROICS OF OTHERS --
BUT NOT OF HIS OWN. SO HIS COMMANDING OFFICER FILLED
IN THE REST. THIS MEDIC HAD BEEN WOUNDED, BUT
REPEATEDLY BRAVED FIRE TO RESCUE OTHER WOUNDED -- AND
WAS AWARDED THE SILVER STAR FOR BRAVERY. LISTENING, I
THOUGHT TO MYSELF: I WILL NEVER SEND YOUNG MEN AND
WOMEN INTO BATTLE WITH LESS THAN THE VERY BEST THIS
NATION CAN PROVIDE THEM. // I WILL NEVER -- EVER --
LET AMERICANS LIKE THIS DOWN.) //
AUGUST 1990 HAS WITNESSED WHAT HISTORY WILL JUDGE
ONE OF THE MOST CRUCIAL DEPLOYMENTS OF ALLIED POWER
SINCE WORLD WAR II. TWO WEEKS AGO, I CALLED FOR THE
COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, AND UNCONDITIONAL WITHDRAWAL OF
ALL IRAQI FORCES FROM KUWAIT; SECOND, THE RESTORATION
OF KUWAIT'S LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT; THIRD, THE SECURITY
AND STABILITY OF SAUDI ARABIA, AND THE PERSIAN GULF;
AND FOURTH, THE SAFETY AND PROTECTION OF AMERICAN
CITIZENS ABROAD. TODAY, I SAY: THOSE OBJECTIVES ARE,
AND WILL REMAIN, UNCHANGED. //
- 14 -
WILL IT TAKE TIME? OF COURSE. FOR WE ARE ENGAGED
IN A CAUSE LARGER THAN OURSELVES. A CAUSE PERHAPS BEST
SHOWN BY WORDS MANY OF YOU REMEMBER -- AND THAT I'D
LIKE TO CLOSE WITH. JUNE 6, 1944. AS DWIGHT
EISENHOWER ADDRESSED THE SAILORS, SOLDIERS, AND AIRMEN
OF THE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.
HE TOLD THEM, "THE EYES OF THE WORLD ARE UPON YOU.
THE HOPES AND PRAYERS OF LIBERTY-LOVING PEOPLE
EVERYWHERE MARCH WITH YOU." AND THEN IKE SPOKE THIS
MOVING PRAYER: "LET US ALL BESEECH THE BLESSING OF
ALMIGHTY GOD, UPON THIS GREAT AND NOBLE UNDERTAKING."
FELLOW VETERANS, MORE THAN HALF OF ALL VFW MEMBERS
FOUGHT IN WORLD WAR II -- MANY OF YOU SERVING UNDER
DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER. // YOU KNOW HOW AMERICA
REMAINS THE HOPE OF "LIBERTY-LOVING PEOPLE EVERYWHERE."
HALF-A-CENTURY AGO, THE WORLD HAD THE CHANCE TO STOP AN
AGGRESSOR, AND MISSED IT. I PLEDGE TO YOU: WE WILL
NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. //
- 15 - -
TOGETHER WE CAN DEFEAT TYRANNY -- AND HELP THOSE
NATIONS WHO LOOK TO US FOR LEADERSHIP AND VISION.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND YOUR PRAYERS. AND MAY
GOD BLESS THE LAND WE SO DEEPLY LOVE -- THESE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA.
# # # #
1-18-91 ward
January 18, 1991
(UNOFFICIAL)
Please to Thanks
TO:
Leigh Ann Metzger
to
FROM;
Jan Burmeister For
RE:
The President's Remarks to National Religious
Broadcasters
If you think it is appropriate, would you let the speech-
writer for the NRB speech know that for the first time this
year the NRB's convention is addressing the issue of
disabilities, taking their cue from the American Disabilities
Act the President signed this summer.
The convention committee has even included a workshop wholly
dedicated to exploring the promotion of ministry to persons
with disabilities. Some points:
It shows great foresight, particularly in light of
Senate Bill 1974 signed in October requiring new tele-
visions to have built in decoder circuitry by 1993. It
is the programmers and broadcasters who have planned for
closed captioning that will get their message out.
Addressing disabilities issues IS coming of age--
legislatively, socially, politically, and now
technologically. (It has always been scriptural.)
Thanks.
STAIRS/VS AQUARIUS - DOCUMENTS PRINTED FROM DATA BASE: CTRK
PAGE 17
DOCUMENT NUMBER = 002621
OPID
PS
DOCDATE
890127
RECTYP
OBA
MEDIA
L
NAME
MR. FREDERICK N. KHEDOURI
PSAL
FRED
ORG
BEAR, STEARNS & CO., INC.
STREET
805 15TH STREET, NORTHWEST
SUITE 1120
ADDR
WASHINGTON
DC 20005
SUBJECT
SUPPORT LETTER
SUBCODE
PROO3
PP005-01
INDCODE
5300
ACTION
RM RSZ 890127 FL1 A 890127
Factcheck Copy
(Smith/Cawley)
January 18, 1991
10 A.M.
HUNDRED
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEAM 100 DINNER
EAST ROOM/STATE FLOOR
THURSDAY, JAN. 24, 1991
7:30 P.M.
It is a pleasure to be with this distinguished group -- all
of you who serve the Republican Party, and America. You've been
friends and colleagues. You've endorsed what is right, and good.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart. //
I also want to salute two people close to our hearts. The
first is the man who tomorrow will become the new RNC Chairman,
Press
Clayton Yeutter. // Most of you know him -- all of you will
admire him. He will be an enormous asset to the Republican
Party. //
The second person I wish to thank has enriched our party for
many years. He is a fighter // a winner // above all, he's our
friend and inspiration. The man who tomorrow will become our
great General Chairman, Lee Atwater. //
Lee has been forced to keep a low profile. But he, himself,
is a profile in courage. All of us extend prayers to Lee, his
X
wife Sally, and his three daughters, Sara Lee, Ashley Page, and
"Nancy
X
Sally T. Here's to the Grand Young Man of the Grand Old Party.
//
Like Lee, you know what Team 100 is all about. It's about
the civilized values that America embodies and reveres. Last
2
week, I addressed the American people on why we must go to war to
protect those values. No one wanted war less than I. No one is
more determined to seize from blood and tears the real peace that
can create a new world order. //
press conference 10AM
Our goals are the same as when Saddam Hussein invaded
Kuwait: Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait -- completely,
X
immediately, and without condition. The security and stability
of the Persian Gulf must be assured. Kuwait's legitimate
government must be restored. Kuwait will once again be free. //
Let's remember how in the first day we flew over 1,000
pinpoint sorties on military targers. And Saddam's response? He
targeted innocent civilians -- as any butcher would. // If doubt
existed, none remains: The issue is whether aggression pays --
or whether aggression is punished. // I cannot tell you how long
we will remain in the Gulf. I can tell you: We will stay just
as long as it takes to complete our mission. //
To finish the job will require the support of our friends
and allies. We have it. Think of the unprecedented United
Nations' unity. And the aid -- economic and military -- from
countries who support self-determination. Think of our Arab
allies who are sacrificing so much. As Saddam is learning, this
isn't the U.S. against Iraq. It's Iraq against the world. We're
not going it alone -- and believe me, we are going to see it
through. //
We will prevail for all these reasons -- and because we have
the finest armed forces in the history of the world. // Look at
WATERSMEET
3
NYT
Captain Steve Tate of Waterswet Michigan, who downed the first
col stater iF 1-18-910 R
Irági airplane in air-to-air combat. Or Lieutenant Commander
SCOTT
SPIKER
Michael Speicher, our first missing in action. / Look at the
other servicemen and women -- their ground crews, their officers,
their families, their friends. / They make us proud. They make
us humble. I pledge to you: We will not let them down. //
Right now -- half a world away -- our young men and women
are showing that America would not be the land of the free if it
were not also the home of the brave. // Let's stand up for them
at home and abroad -- showing that we will not waver -- and that
Saddam's aggression will not stand. //
Above
the
door
On the floor in the entrance outside several hundred feet
from here is a seal that bears an eagle. In one set of talons
are the arrows of war: in the other, the olive branch. //
After World War II, it was decided that never again should
The
the eagle's head look toward the arrows. Ever since, it has
looked in the direction of honor -- the direction of peace. That
our purpose in the Persian Gulf. It is the purpose that you
P.449
have aided so generously. It is why we are relying on the
courage of our outstanding men and women in uniform. //
So I'd like to conclude with a toast to the finest soldiers,
sailors, airmen, and Marines any Nation ever had: May God bring
them back home, and soon. //
Thank you all for being here -- and God bless the United
States of America.
#
#
#
#
Michael
"Scott"
lost 2 others
M/A
Spiker
Lt. Robert Wctzel
30
Lt. Jeffrey Zahn
28
AIR FORCE
Col. Harris 697-3329
DIRECT
695 5766
24 HR P.A.
EACH SVC HAS & CASUALTY CTR, SENDS TD EACH
AF- SAN ANTONIO
(Smith/Blessey)
Draft Two
November 17, 1989
FUN
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: EVANGELICAL LEADERS
ROOM 450
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21,1989
3:20 P.M.
Dr. Falwell, Dr. Robertson, Dr. Carlson, Reverend Crouch,
Ladies and gentlemen. ((You know, it is often said of a group or
individual that "He hasn't got a prayer." Well, I am delighted
to address an audience about whom that will never be said.) ) //
It is a pleasure to welcome you, and to have you here. We
gather as friends, and as fellow believers. For although we
demand the separation of church and state -- we do not -- must
never -- accept a separation of morality and state.
Perhaps a little boy once expressed it best. "God bless
mother and daddy, my brother and sister," he said. And then he
went on to pray: "And, oh God, do take care of yourself, because
if anything happens to you we're all sunk." //
Those words, I think, say much about America. And about the
evangelical movement which so uplifts America. They remind us
that we are a religious people. And that political values
without spiritual values cannot sustain a Nation.
George Washington knew this. Addressing his troops in 1776,
he said, "The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God,
on the courage and conduct of this army." And so did Dwight
Eisenhower. He began his first Inaugural Address with a hand-
2
written missive. "Give us, we pray, he said, "the power to
discern clearly right from wrong."
For decades, America's evangelical movement has worked to
reaffirm Ike's message: To do right, reject wrong, and make
America a more decent place. You do so now. And I am with you.
You know, I look around here. // Jerry [FALWELL], I
remember your kindness in inviting me to speak at Liberty. //
Pat [ROBERTSON], thinking back to the '88 Campaign, seems like
old times. // And so many of you -- old friends, inspiring
millions; your movement growing by leaps and bounds. And I
think of how people ask, "Who are the born-agains? What do they
believe in? What do they expect from government?"
First questions, first. Who are they? -- these evangelical
Christians. They are young and old, rural and urban, Protestant
and Catholic. They come from the heart of America. They show
D
that the heart of America is good.
What do you believe in? You believe what I believe. You
cherish home and family. You believe that the only true special
interest is America's. Above all, you accept Jesus Christ as
your personal savior.
Next, what do you expect from government? You don't ask for
privileged treatment. You do ask to be respected. And this
Administration does. You want to be listened to. And we do --
and will. You want evangelicals to influence government policy.
And you have -- and are. For your philosophy is our philosophy:
Morality forms the rock upon which America's greatness rests.
3
That is why we have acted to enhance the quality and
diversity of our public and private schools. Our "Educational
Excellence Act of 1989" seeks to reward education. To demand
educational accountability. And to let parents choose which
schools their children will attend. A final note: You know the
realities of the Federal budget. But when the Budget allows, I'm
going to fulfill the pledge I made in last year's Campaign: We
need tuition tax credits for the parents of America.
A second concern, I know, is abortion. And here, too, we're
trying to make America a more decent place. I know that this is
matter of conscience -- that Americans of good faith can, and do,
disagree. But my position has not and will not change. I
believe that life does not begin at birth -- it begins at
conception. So we support the Hyde Amendment which supports
Federal financing of abortions only when the life's mother is in
danger. Of this you have my word. //
Then, there is the issue of child care. For often, while
parents work, love and care come from the extended family --
grandparents, aunts, and uncles. In many ways, the church
community is the greatest extended family. So I am determined to
protect every church-sponsored child care center in America.
In that spirit, we have proposed a child-care tax credit,
focused on putting money in the hands of low-income parents. Our
approach is different than past programs. It would empower
parents, not the government, to choose the best care for their
4
kids -- be it a grandparent, a neighbor, or a local church. We
will not discriminate against church-sponsored child care. //
Finally, let me mention another Campaign pledge I intend to
fulfill. Before the Supreme Court outlawed it, voluntary school
prayer forced religion on no one. But lack of prayer has denied
many that opportunity. We should remember: "I pledge Allegiance
-- one Nation, under God." So we support a Constitutional
Amendment restoring voluntary prayer. And I ask you to help me
spread this gospel: We need the Federal Courts out of our
Nation's schools -- and we need the Faith of our Fathers back in.
Together -- through voluntary prayer and excellence in
education, through protecting our kids and protecting the unborn
-- we can do great things for our Nation. For times change --
but principles do not.
As individuals -- as public officials -- we know that we
must honor God with the lives we lead. So in closing, let me
recall what Lincoln said in January 1861, leaving his home people
to assume the Presidency. "The great God," he said, "which
helped General Washington must now help me. Without that great
assistance, I will surely fail. With it, I cannot fail."
Thank you for coming here this afternoon -- and for all
you're doing, with God's help, to make ours a better, more
peaceful world. I want to hear from you. I want to benefit from
your counsel. Let's work together, God bless you, and God bless
America.
#
#
#
#
Grant/Simon
January 22, 1991
A:RNCBRIEF
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE BRIEFING
ROOM 450
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1991
7:45 A.M.
Thank you, Charlie, very much -- it's great to see so many
old friends here today. And what a pleasure it is to see the
next Chairman of the Republican Party -- Clayton Yeutter. ///
Clayton has proven himself as a tough, articulate member of
this Administration, and his leadership and vision have been
valuable to me time and time again. My excitement at the
prospect of having him as Chairman of this great Party is matched
only by the promise of having his continued counsel. In fact, I
told the Cabinet the other day that nothing will change --
because Clayton will still have a seat at the table.
Clayton, you've got some pretty big shoes to fill.
Lee Atwater has done a phenomenal job fighting the opposition --
and now, as he fights his biggest battle, I know that everyone is
this room is behind him - - 100 percent. //// I am thrilled that
Lee has agreed to become General Chairman of this party, because
I feel very strongly that his advice and insight are invaluable.
I'm also very happy that Jeanie Austin has agreed to stay on
as Co-Chairman of the Party. She has been an anchor through some
stormy times, and her dedication and tireless commitment are real
assets to this Party. Jeanie, thank you. 111 And there's
another person I want to say thank you to: a friend of mine --
and a true friend of Lee Atwater's -- Charlie Black. ///
20
The Republican National Committee meets at a difficult time,
while America and her allies fight a war none of us wanted. But
it was Saddam Hussein who chose war over peace, and now our job
is cut out for us -- our objectives are clear. Kuwait will be
liberated, and its legitimate government will be restored. Iraq
will comply with all relevant U.N. resolutions; and after peace
is again established, the security and stability of the Gulf will
be enhanced.
There were those who wanted to extend the U.N. deadline, to
give the sanctions more time to work. But the world could wait
no longer. Sanctions showed no signs of accomplishing their
objectives, and while time passed, Saddam Hussein raped and
pillaged Kuwait. Each day, he sought to add to his chemical
weapons arsenal an infinitely more dangerous weapon of mass
destruction -- a nuclear weapon. While the clock ticked, he
wreaked havoc on the fragile economies of the Third World, the
developing democracies of Eastern Europe, the international
economy, and our own economy.
And so 28 nations allied with the United States have joined
the battle to put an end to his aggression, to liberate the
nation of Kuwait. As I told the American people when we entered
the war, our troops will have the best possible support in the
entire world. And they will not be asked to fight with one hand
tied behind their back. 11
We will prevail -- because we have top-notch leaders like
Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Norman Schwartzkopf and Brent
3
Scowcroft at the helm. And most importantly, we will prevail
because we have the best-trained and most highly motivated
servicemen and women in the world -- bar none.
We've already heard of the heroism of these young men and
women. And we strongly condemn the brutal treatment of our brave
American pilots who have been taken prisoner by the Iraqis. Our
hearts and prayers are with the pilots and their families but I
can assure them that we will hold Saddam Hussein responsible for
this outrageous behavior which defies the Geneva Conventions.
Their mistreatment defies the Geneva Conventions and we will hold
those responsible up to full prosecution.
I'm proud of all our men and women in the Gulf. With
fighting forces like these, I'm convinced we will succeed. And
I'm also convinced that we have the support of the American
people. I've never paid much attention to polls, but it's clear
that the American people support Operation Desert Storm. Take a
look at the tremendous outpouring of community support from St.
Augustine to Seattle, as neighborhoods, schools and churches send
everything from hot sauce to Hi-C to hair care products to our
troops.
But aside from all that -- including all the letters sent
and pints of blood donated -- what is most moving to me is the
prayers. Churches and synagogues are reporting record attendance
at services, and you can find chapels packed during working hours
as Americans stop in for a moment or two, to pray for peace.
4
With the support and prayers of so many, many people, there
should be no question in the minds of our soldiers --- or in the
minds of our enemy -- that the American people are united in
support of our cause.
Add to that the support of the United States Congress. The
House and Senate have acted resolutely, after an historic debate
-- in which its members spoke openly and passionately. And yet,
in the fiery heat of debate, we heard a deeper, stronger note of
unity -- the vital solidarity of freedom. Yet while we
witnessed democracy at its finest, Saddam Hussein confused
dissent with disunity. It is this American paradox, this unity
not only out of diversity, but because of diversity -- this "e
pluribus unum" -- that the enemies of freedom will never
comprehend.
The 28 nations who are allied with us know that the dream of
a new world order awaits us. Together, we are looking to the day
when the nations of the world can secure a just and lasting peace
-- a world in which the rule of law, not the law of the jungle,
governs men. A world in which nations shall no longer make war
against other nations.
Our purpose is just and right; our troops are the best; our
technology is proving its worth. We will not be defeated. We
will win peace -- not a truce, not an armistice, not a cease fire
arrangement. But a peace that will allow our children to grow up
in a new world we've never known. I thank each and every one of
you for your support, and ask only for your continued prayers.
5
Next you'll hear from Bob Gates of the N.S.C.
Thank you and God bless America.
# # #
OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
Embargoed until delivered -- 00pm PST, January 8, 1991
PREPARED TEXT OF REMARKS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT
REMARKS TO THE LOS ANGELES WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL
As some of you may know, over the New Year I had the
opportunity to visit our marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen
in Saudi Arabia. The two days I spent with our troops brought
home to me again that our armed forces are the best in the world.
Our volunteer army is working, and our troops are determined to
achieve our objectives. Today, I'd like to give you a report on
my trip. I'd also like to tell you about the brave men and women
who are serving our country with great courage in the Gulf.
My first stop was a visit to Marine Air Group 13. They are
the most forward-deployed of any American fixed-wing aircraft
unit in the region. Their mission is to provide close air
support and airborne fire. Their confidence, their sense of
purpose, and their expertise was both inspiring and reassuring.
I asked Captain Don Peros -- an Arizonan from Yuma -- how things
were going. He replied, in a soft-spoken Western drawl, "The sky
is quiet. They know we are here."
Later that day we helicoptered out to the most forward-
deployed of any American forces, the Army's Third Armored Cavalry
Regiment. Their motto is "Brave Rifles" -- and brave they most
certainly are. Commanded by Colonel Doug Starr, a Vietnam hero
whose awards include two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars, they
are deployed less than sixty miles from the Kuwaiti border. One
of the first American units to deploy in August of last year,
they have been away from home for nearly five months. They live
in tents in the middle of the desert, enduring the heat, the sand
storms, and the tension of knowing they are the first line of
defense in Saudi Arabia. Yet their spirit remains high and their
professionalism is evident in every move they make.
They are ready to do whatever their President asks. Their
biggest concern is domestic political considerations. They are
concerned their mission may not be finished, and they' 11 go home
-- only to be called back again in a year or two to finish the
job. They want to avoid this, and so does the President.
On board the aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy,
which I visited the next day, our sailors were equally ready.
Their F-14 pilots, like Lieutenant Kevin McHugh of Carmel,
Indiana are prepared to do to Saddam Hussein's air-force what
they did to Qaddafi's MIG-23's in 1989 -- clear them out of the
skies. The last unit I visited, the Air Force's 48th Tactical
Fighter Wing, also has had experience against Qaddafi. In 1986,
they participated in our retaliation against Libyan terrorism.
And when I asked the officers and men of the "Statue of Liberty"
Wing if there was any doubt that we could force Saddam Hussein
out of Kuwait, their answer was a resounding "No!".
2
In sum, the brave men and women of our armed forces stand
ready to protect the vital interests of America. They will do
their duty and they will do it well. They deserve our total and
enthusiastic support.
overted
You know, when I visited the Marine base, on the walls of
one of the tents I saw a series of letters to the Marines from
someone named Colleen. I asked who Colleen was, and the Marines
told me that she was a seven year old girl with cancer, who took
the time every day to write them and express her support for what
they are doing. The Marines also wrote back to her, to encourage
her in her fight. And Colleen sent them a sign, made on her home
computer, that said, "You are my heroes.' Colleen's words are
proudly displayed on their tent wall.
Well, Colleen has it exactly right. Those men and women on
duty in the Gulf are America's heroes. The President and I are
proud of them -- and I know you are too. And let me assure you:
Their morale is sky high, and they are ready!
Of course, the main reason that morale among our troops is
so high is because they know that the people at home
overwhelmingly support them -- and support their mission. The
American people understand that Saddam Hussein's occupation of
Kuwait poses a long term threat not just to his neighbors, but to
the entire world. They know that over the past decade, Saddam
Hussein has bankrupted his people to bankroll his army. They
know that he has launched two wars of aggression, against Iran
and against Kuwait, at the cost of some one million casualties.
They know that he is acquiring a stock-pile of chemical and
biological agents, and has used chemical weapons against both
Iran and his own people. They know he has launched an intensive
campaign to acquire nuclear weapons. And they know that unless
he is stopped today, a nuclear-armed Iraq will control the bulk
of the world's energy supply tomorrow, thereby holding a gun to
all our heads.
Saddam should make no mistake about it: The American people
are not in the least bit naive about his intentions. They know
that Saddam's ambitions are not confined to Kuwait. Rather, his
goal is to dominate the Middle East as the leader of an
aggressive superpower, armed to the teeth with weapons of mass
destruction.
The American people are equally clear about what's at stake
in the Gulf: Our long-term security, the future of the Middle
East, and the nature of the post-Cold War world. They remember
the Carter Doctrine -- reinforced by Presidents Reagan and Bush -
- which warned that, "Any attempt by any outside force to gain
control of the Persian Gulf will be regarded as an assault on the
vital interests of the United States of America, and such an
assault will be repelled by any means necessary including
military force."
The American people know that if Saddam Hussein wins, all
our friends in the Middle East will be in grave danger. They
know that Iraq's invasion of Kuwait is the first crisis of the
post-Cold War era. One way or another, it is bound to set a
3
precedent -- either on behalf of greater world order, or on
behalf of greater chaos. If Saddam Hussein succeeds in his
aggression, it is likely that his success will embolden other
dictators to emulate his example. But if he fails -- and believe
me, he will fail -- others will draw the lesson that might does
not make right and that aggression will not be allowed to
succeed.
For all these reasons, the American people are prepared to
use force, if they have to, should Saddam Hussein not get out of
Kuwait. The American people support the goals laid out by
President Bush at the start of this crisis, goals endorsed in
twelve U.N. Security Council Resolutions. These goals are clear:
The immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Iraq from
Kuwait; the security of American citizens; the restoration of
Kuwait's legitimate government; and a commitment to the security
and stability of the Persian Gulf. These are moral goals. These
are legitimate goals. And these goals are not subject to
negotiation.
Of course, in every crisis, there are always some critics
and arm-chair strategists who are convinced that they know better
than the President -- and the Gulf crisis is no exception.
Today, these critics argue for patience. They say: "Wait a year
or two, be patient, act with caution." Well, George Bush is a
cautious man. And he has been patient. Our armed forces have
been patient. That is why, despite the use of American hostages
as human shields, despite the outrages against the people of
Kuwait, despite Iraq's continued defiance of the world community,
we have refrained, so far, from military action against Saddam
Hussein. And that is why the President went the extra mile for
peace last week by proposing that Secretary Baker and Iraqi
Foreign Minister Aziz meet in Geneva. I am pleased that meeting
will be taking place tomorrow.
We hope Secretary Baker's meeting will get the message
across to Saddam Hussein: You must withdraw from Kuwait. Your
withdrawal must be complete, immediate and unconditional. There
will be no negotiations over the terms of your withdrawal. There
will be no linkage between your withdrawal and any other issues.
There will be no reward for your aggression. Your only chance
for a peaceful resolution of this conflict is to heed the call of
the international community, as expressed in twelve U.N. Security
Council Resolutions, and leave Kuwait now.
I truly hope that tomorrow's meeting between Secretary Baker
and Foreign Minister Aziz helps Iraq understand the gravity of
the situation, and the determination of the entire world to undo
its aggression. I truly hope that war can be averted. I truly
hope that Saddam Hussein does not allow this last chance for
peace to fail.
The United Nations has given Saddam Hussein until January
15th to leave Kuwait. If he refuses, U.N. Security Council
Resolution 678 authorizes U.N. Member States to use "all
necessary means" to achieve Iraq's unconditional withdrawal. We
need to hold Saddam Hussein to this deadline. We will not permit
him to manipulate the deadline, or to try to extend it, through
4
offers to negotiate -- when there is nothing to negotiate.
Talking about patience will take the pressure off Saddam Hussein
to withdraw from Kuwait. It is only the probability of the
imminent use of force against Saddam Hussein that may convince
him to resolve the crisis peacefully by withdrawing from Kuwait.
But in addition to keeping the pressure on Saddam Hussein,
there are other reasons for not being excessively patient with
Iraq. For at some point, the costs of prolonged patience
outweigh the benefits. As the President argued in his radio
address on Saturday, we are fast approaching that point.
Consider the impact of prolonged patience on the people of
Kuwait. A recent report by Amnesty International documents, in
considerable detail, the ongoing agony of the Kuwaiti people.
The report contains eye-witness accounts of how Iraqi forces have
tortured and killed many hundreds of victims, taken several
thousand prisoners, and left more than 300 premature babies to
die after looting incubators from Kuwaiti hospitals. The report
catalogues 38 methods of torture used by the Iraqi military.
Iraqi forces have gouged out people's eyes, cut off their tongues
and ears, shot people in the arms and legs, used electric shocks,
and raped many victims. Moreover, the Amnesty International
report notes that, "The massive scale of destruction and looting
suggests that such incidents were neither arbitrary nor
isolated, but rather reflected a policy adopted by the government
of Iraq.
The Amnesty report was based on medical evidence and on
in-depth interviews with more than a hundred people from about a
dozen countries. Its findings completely coincide with testimony
given before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. As
Congressman Tom Lantos, the Democratic co-chairman of the Caucus,
put it back in October: "In the eight-year history of the
Caucus, we have never had the degree of ghoulish and nightmarish
horror stories coming from totally credible eye-witnesses that we
have had this time.
It seems to me that those who advocate endless patience with
Saddam Hussein should think long and hard about what Congressman
Lantos and Amnesty International have said. And they should ask
themselves a few simple questions: Is it moral to prolong the
agony of the Kuwaiti people indefinitely? After all, brave
Kuwaitis helped and sheltered Americans as they were being hunted
down by Iraqis, and put their own lives at risk by hiding many of
our citizens in their homes. Is it right for Americans to stand
by as Kuwaitis are being tortured and raped and brutalized? And
would there even be a Kuwait left to save in a year or two years'
time?
Advocates of prolonged patience should also consider the
impact of the crisis on nations such as Turkey, Egypt and the
emerging democracies of Eastern Europe. These friends of ours,
who are among the hardest hit by the economic impact of increased
oil prices, are also the least able to afford it. With every day
that the crisis is allowed to continue, their economic plight
worsens and their hopes for a better future recede. Under these
circumstances, is patience with Saddam Hussein a wise course of
5
action? Is it a moral course of action?
Or consider the effects of the Persian Gulf crisis on our
own economy. Even though world oil prices have declined from
their post-invasion peak, they are 40 to 50 percent higher than
they were before the invasion. The resulting $1.5 billion per
month added to our own oil import bills constitutes a "tax" on
the American and world economies at a time of growing
recessionary pressure. And with the passage of time, the costs
of maintaining American troops in the Gulf would mount.
Or consider Iraq's drive for nuclear weapons, which Saddam
Hussein plans to add to his arsenal of chemical and biological
weapons. As President Bush told American troops in Saudi Arabia
during Thanksgiving, "Each day that passes brings Saddam Hussein
one day closer to realizing his goal of a nuclear weapons arsenal
And we do know this for sure: He has never possessed a
weapon that he didn't use." Would indefinite patience with Iraq
result in a world more vulnerable to nuclear blackmail by Saddam
Hussein? And if so, would this be a wise course of action?
Would this be a moral course of action?
Or consider the effects of indefinite patience on Saddam
Hussein's military ability. The longer we refrain from military
action against Iraq, the more time Saddam Hussein has to tighten
his grip on Kuwait. As President Bush said on Saturday, "Each
day that passes, Saddam's forces also fortify and dig in deeper
into Kuwait. We risk paying a higher price in the most precious
currency of all, human life, if we give Saddam more time to
prepare for war
"
Thus, the longer we wait, the harder it may
be to prevail if force must be used. Does not patience today
risk greater American and allied casualties tomorrow? And if so,
is this a wise course of action? A moral course of action?
Or consider the impact of prolonged patience on the
international coalition arrayed against Saddam Hussein. Today,
we and our allies have more than half a million troops in the
Persian Gulf. Twenty-eight nations have committed support to the
allied effort, including eleven Moslem nations. But holding such
a broadly-based coalition together is not easy. And the internal
situation of our partners could be tested. The presence of
foreign troops might become a contentious issue.
Can we really afford to give Saddam Hussein a lengthy
breathing space -- a pause he could exploit to undermine the
embargo and break up the multinational coalition? We must
remember that, rightly or wrongly, the world would attribute such
patience to a lack of resolve. Unlimited patience with Saddam
Hussein would therefore all too likely lead to appeasement of
Saddam Hussein. This is unacceptable.
Finally, advocates of endless patience should talk to our
troops in the Gulf. When I spoke to those men and women a few
days ago, their views came across loud and clear. They feel they
have been patient. They want to get the job done and then come
home to their loved ones. They don't look forward to spending
the next couple of years waiting around in the Saudi desert while
Congress debates what to do next. As the President has said,
6
"This will not be another Vietnam."
I am convinced that if force is necessary it will be quick,
massive and decisive. President Bush knows full well the lessons
of Vietnam. He knows that the policy of "gradual escalation"
that we pursued in Southeast Asia turned out to be a recipe for
stalemate. He knows that trying to fight a war "on the cheap"
only results in higher costs over the long run. He knows that
war is a terrible thing -- but if we must use force, there can be
no half-measures: Either we go in to win quickly and decisively,
or we shouldn't go in at all.
The real question is: Have the President's critics learned
the lessons of Vietnam? Aren't their recommendations for relying
solely on sanctions yet another flawed attempt to defeat
aggression "on the cheap"? Aren't their calls for endless
patience a sure-fire formula for getting us bogged down in the
Gulf indefinitely? And aren't their arguments against the use of
force an example of wishful thinking masquerading as
statesmanship?
When Secretary Baker meets Iraq's Foreign Minister tomorrow,
he will call on Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait immediately and
unconditionally. It is important that he be able to deliver this
message as forcefully and convincingly as possible. Unfortunately,
Saddam may still not believe that force is a credible option. He
may have a difficult time understanding our political system.
Democracy is by far the best political system ever created, but
it is complex and, at times, messy. This is one of the messy
moments.
When a Senator or Congressman criticizes the President's
policy the media deem it newsworthy. Therefore, the critics have
a direct line to Saddam Hussein, because, we are told, he is an
avid watcher of CNN. Thus, when he sees our Congressional
critics getting world media coverage the message to Saddam may
well be that the President cannot and will not use force because
the Congress will not let him.
Let me set the record straight: Unless Congress denies
funds for Operation Desert Shield, as suggested by Democratic
Majority Leader Gephardt, Saddam Hussein should understand that
his aggression will not stand. Saddam Hussein should understand
that we will use force, if necessary, to expel him from Kuwait.
Congress could help Saddam Hussein understand this. It
could pass a favorable resolution in support of the United
Nations resolutions. President Bush has today asked that
Congress pass such a resolution. This would be helpful.
On the other hand, Congress could choose to pass resolutions
that would be harmful. Any resolution that suggested to Saddam
Hussein that the threat of force is not credible would, in fact,
undermine the chances for a peaceful solution. Simply put, it
would take the pressure off Saddam Hussein to pull out now.
Finally, Congress could do nothing, knowing full well that
the President will act within Constitutional guidelines, and that
7
Congress will be consulted and informed of all important
decisions.
Thus, Congress has the following choices: To support the
President, to dispute the President, or not to act at all. We
hope the Congress will join the American people in supporting the
President. What Congress must know is that the world watches and
interprets every move it makes. This is our political system.
If Congress supports the President, we may at this eleventh
hour be able to convince Saddam Hussein that the threat of force
is not an idle one. I hope Saddam Hussein comes to understand
this.
If he does understand, I think he will withdraw his forces
from Kuwait before January 15th. But if he does not understand,
then we and our partners will have to expel him from Kuwait. One
way or another, I am certain that Saddam Hussein will yield:
Either to the force of logic, or the logic of force.
Why am I so confident? Let me answer that question by
reading you part of a letter I recently received. It's from
Brian Scocchio, a sailor serving aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga.
"I have been away from home for four months now. I
would very much like to get home as soon as possible,
but not until Iraq has released Kuwait and we have
removed Hussein's ability to use his army as an
offensive weapon
If this means fighting, and
possibly giving up my life, then that is a small price
to pay for ensuring that my children will grow up in a
world that is safe from madmen like Hussein.
I have never been in battle and I know it easy to say
things when you may never have to back up your words,
but I truly believe in what we are doing out here and
that I will serve my country with honor.
Please relay to Congress that everyone that I have
talked to believes pretty much the same way that I do.
We are ready to do whatever is necessary."
These are the words of a brave and wise American. They
complement the words of President Bush, who has pledged that
"there will not be any murky ending. If one American soldier has
to go into battle, that soldier will have enough force behind him
to win."
These are difficult times. The President knows the gravity
of the crisis. He has been patient, he is a cautious man -- but
he is more determined now than ever to achieve his objectives.
The President wants peace more than anyone. He prays for
peace. He has worked for peace. But if peace may be established
only by the use of force, so be it.
2
8
Let us as a nation, in this time of peril, support our
President and support our brave men and women in the Persian
Gulf.
Thank you and God bless you.
####
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Reprinted from
December 10, 1990
D
ISPATCH
BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Vice President Quayle
America's Strategic Objectives
In the Persian Gulf
Address at Seton Hall University, South
nity and your country. Your motto
and instability, is what makes the
Orange, New Jersey, November 29, 1990
puts it in perspective: "Advance
Middle East such an interesting place.
despite difficulties."
Unfortunately, it also makes the Middle
As all of you know, our country,
East a dangerous place.
A
S always, I am happy to once
along with the rest of the international
Since the onset of the Cold War,
again talk to the student
community, currently faces a grave
the United States has had three
body of an outstanding Ameri-
crisis in the Persian Gulf. This crisis
strategic objectives in the region. The
can university-I did so last month at
DePauw [Greencastle, Indiana]. As
carries with it the risk of war. Some in
first objective was to contain Soviet
Vice President, I do a lot of interna-
this country have questioned whether
expansionism. In 1947, the Soviet
tional travel. Nothing makes me more
the United States has any interest in
threat to one regional state, Turkey,
proud than to hear the international
the gulf that is worth fighting for.
played a role in President Truman's
community rave about America's
Today, I would like to step back a bit
decision to issue the doctrine that bears
from the current debate. I'd like to
his name. Thirty-three years later, the
colleges and universities.
speak to the larger perspectives of the
threat of Soviet encroachment on
Our finest schools have kept firmly
in mind what Dr. Samuel Johnson, the
subject that is too often presented in
another region of the Middle East-the
10-second soundbites on television.
Persian Gulf-led President Carter to
great 18th-century British man of
letters, termed the "supreme end of
Why is the region so important? What
proclaim the equivalent of the Truman
education: expert discernment in all
have the strategic goals of US Middle
Doctrine for the gulf. The Carter
things—the power to tell the good from
East policy been over the last 40
Doctrine, which also was reinforced by
the bad, the genuine from the counter-
years? And how do these goals apply
President Reagan, warned that, "Any
feit, and to prefer the good and the
in the current crisis?
attempt by any outside force to gain
The Middle East, as everyone
control of the Persian Gulf region will
genuine to the bad and the counterfeit."
I am honored to have the opportu-
knows, is the source of much of the oil
be regarded as an assault on the vital
nity to address the Seton Hall commu-
on which the industrialized world and
interests of the United States of
nity-a community which truly strives
developing nations depend. It is a
America, and such an assault will be
to promote "expert discernment in all
region of striking contrasts: vast
repelled by any means necessary,
things." Since your founding in 1856 by
wealth and grinding poverty; secular
including military force."
radicalism and religious fundamental-
But the Cold War is over. And
Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley, you
have understood that questions of good
ism; hatred of the West and emulation
because it is over-because one of
and bad, right and wrong, are not just
of the West. Most importantly,
America's strategic objectives has been
minor add-ons to the serious business of
perhaps, the Middle East is caught up
realized-some commentators have
life. Rather, they constitute its very
in a vast process of change as ancient
assumed that all of our objectives have
core. As the eighth largest Catholic
societies and cultures strive to adapt to
been realized. They could not be more
university in the United States, you
the modern world. This process of
mistaken. For in addition to containing
have drawn on a rich tradition to
adaptation, which entails much turmoil
the Soviets, American foreign policy
promote a greater sense of moral
has traditionally pursued two other
discernment throughout your commu-
strategic objectives in the Middle East.
From Dispatch
United States Department of State
Vol. 1, No. 15
Bureau of Public Affairs
Office of Public Communication
Persian Gulf
It has sought to prevent any local
region is complete without mention of
Iraq, this time-from doing likewise.
Middle East power from achieving
oil, so let me turn to that issue now. A
Neither President was prepared to
hegemony over its neighbors, and it has
key strategic goal of US Middle East
jeopardize American security by
sought to secure the uninterrupted
policy has been to assure the uninter-
permitting, in President Bush's words,
supply of oil at a reasonable price. Let
rupted flow of oil at reasonable prices.
"a resource so vital to be dominated by
me describe both of these objectives in
This does not mean, as some cynics
one so ruthless"-either Leonid
greater detail.
have suggested, that we are risking
Brezhnev of Moscow or Saddam
Today, all the states of the Middle
war to prevent the price of oil from
Hussein of Baghdad.
East face a major threat in Saddam
going up a few cents a gallon. During
So far, I have talked about tradi-
Hussein's Iraq. Saddam's ambitions
the Arab oil embargo of 1973-74 and
tional US strategic objectives in the
are not confined to Kuwait. Rather, his
during the 1979 oil price shock that
Middle East. But there is another
goal is to dominate the Persian Gulf
came in the wake of the Iranian
strategic American objective in the
region and use its vast wealth to
revolution, the price of oil went up
current crisis that is not traditional-
become the greatest Arab hero of
much more than that. But we never
that has only emerged, in fact, as a
modern times, the leader of a new Arab
thought of going to war because the
result of the end of the Cold War. This
superpower. To that end, he spent
price of oil was too high. We were
objective might be described as
some $50 billion on arms imports during
confident that market forces would
strengthening the foundations of world
the 1980s alone. He has launched two
eventually bring the price of oil down-
order. Let me explain what I mean.
wars of aggression during this period,
and we were right.
When the Cold War was still raging,
against Iran and against Kuwait, at a
We did prepare for all contingen-
any regional crisis in the Third World
cost of some 1 million lives-thus far.
cies, however, when the Soviet invasion
contained within it the seeds of a
He has built the sixth largest military
of Afghanistan, coupled with instability
possible Soviet-American confronta-
force in the world. He has acquired a
tion. That is why, in the Middle East
sizable stockpile of both chemical and
and elsewhere, both the United States
biological weapons and is estimated to
"
there is another
and the Soviet Union often made
have employed several thousand tons of
chemical agents against Iranians and
strategic American
significant efforts to restrain their
clients from rash behavior. These
against his own people-Iraqi Kurds—
objective in the current
efforts were part of the unwritten
in the 1980s. And he has launched a
crisis
This objective
"rules of the game" that prevented
massive program to acquire nuclear
might be described as
Soviet-American competition from
weapons.
getting out of hand during the Cold
The United States opposes Saddam
strengthening the
War.
Hussein's bid for regional hegemony for
foundations of world
With the end of the Cold War, the
the same reasons that we have opposed
chances of a Soviet-Ameriean clash in
other bids. We do not think any
order."
any Third World conflict, including the
government has the right to impose its
Middle East, have greatly diminished.
political will on other countries through
Unfortunately, so have the traditional
subversion or conquest. We do not
in Iran, brought Soviet forces within
restraints that the superpowers used to
think Israel's existence, or the exist-
striking distance of the Persian Gulf-
impose on their regional clients. As a
ence of other friendly regional states,
hence the Carter Doctrine. For if "any
result, unless the UN Charter's rules
should be threatened. And, of course,
outside force," as the Carter Doctrine
about using force are not reaffirmed
the prospect of Saddam Hussein
put it, could control the flow of Persian
and defended fairly quickly, we face the
strutting across the world stage at the
Gulf oil, it would, as President Bush
dangerous prospect of a new, post-Cold
head of a malevolent global power,
said, place our independence and way of
War world that is actually more
armed to the teeth with weapons of
life at risk. No nation should be willing
anarchic, and more violence prone, than
mass destruction, and controlling a
to tolerate such a state of affairs, just
the world which preceded it.
large portion of the world's energy
as no individual should be willing to
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait is the first
supplies, is something no sane person
allow anyone to hold a gun to his or her
crisis of the post-Cold War world. One
would welcome. That is why we are
head.
way or another, it is bound to set a
working to contain Saddam Hussein's
That is why President Carter was
precedent-either on behalf of greater
bid for hegemony today-just as we
willing to commit the United States to
world order or on behalf of greater
worked to contain other bids for
preventing a single power-the Soviet
chaos. If Saddam Hussein succeeds in
hegemony yesterday.
Union-from controlling the gulf. And
his aggression, it is likely that his
Of course, no discussion of
that is why President Bush has dis-
success will embolden other dictators to
America's strategic objectives in the
patched American troops to Saudi
emulate his example. But if he fails—
Arabia to prevent another power-
2
Reprinted from US Department of State Dispatch
Vol 1. No. 15
Persian Gulf
and believe me, he will fail-others will
Or consider Iraq's drive for nuclear
Churchill called on the League of
draw the lesson that might does not
weapons. As President Bush told
Nations to take tough action against
make right and that aggression will not
American troops in Saudi Arabia
German aggression. His words deserve
be allowed to succeed.
during Thanksgiving, each day that
to be quoted at some length:
This is why President Bush has
passes brings Saddam one day closer to
If no means of lawful redress can be
sought to rally the international
realizing his goal of a nuclear weapons
offered to the aggrieved party,"
community against Iraq's aggression.
arsenal. .And we do know this for sure:
Churchill wrote, "the whole doctrine of
This is why the UN Security Council
He has never possessed a weapon that
international law and cooperation upon
has passed 11 resolutions condemning
he didn't use. Will continued patience
which the hopes of the future are based
Iraq, and is considering yet another
with Iraq help make the world vulner-
would lapse ignominiously.
resolution today. This is why scores of
able to nuclear blackmail by Saddam
But the risk! No one must ignore it.
nations have agreed to contribute
Hussein? And if so, is this a moral
How can it be minimized? There is a
economically or militarily to the joint
course of action?
simple method: the assembly of an
overwhelming force, moral and physical,
effort against Saddam Hussein. And
Please don't misunderstand me. I
this is why 27 nations have sent troops
believe that every reasonable effort
in support of international law If
the
or military materiel to the Persian Gulf.
must be made to resolve this crisis
forces at the disposal of the League of
Nations are four or five times as strong
Everyone recognizes that this is a test
peacefully. I also think that there must
as those that the aggressor can yet
case. Everyone can see that, beyond
be limits to our patience. And those
command, the chances of a peaceful and
America's traditional objectives in the
limits are reached when our restraint
friendly solution are very good.
region, what is at stake is nothing less
threatens to undermine other, equally
The constabulary of the world is at
than the shape of tomorrow.
moral goals. These goals, as I said,
hand. On every side of Geneva stand
None of these considerations, of
include ending Kuwait's agony as soon
great nations, armed and ready, whose
course, frees us from the responsibility
as possible; minimizing American
interests as well as whose obligations
to proceed carefully. The moral and
casualties in the event of war; and
bind them to uphold, and in the last
human implications of war-any war-
preventing Saddam Hussein from
resort enforce, the public law. This may
never come to pass again. The fateful
are very grave. No reasonable effort
adding nuclear weapons to his already
moment has arrived for choice between
should be spared in the quest for a
formidable arsenal of mass destruction.
the New Age and the Old.
peaceful solution. That is why, despite
It is in order to prevent Saddam
the use of American hostages as human
Hussein from thwarting these goals
Tragically, most leaders did not see
shields, despite the outrages against
that the UN Security Council is
the stakes as clearly as Churchill did.
our embassy, despite Iraq's continued
expected to adopt a resolution today
They did not force the issue to a head in
barbarism in Kuwait, we have refrained
endorsing the use of force against Iraq
the League of Nations. Instead, they
from military action against Saddam
if Saddam does not withdraw his forces
acquiesced in Hitler's aggression.
Hussein.
from Kuwait.
When, many years later, Churchill
But even as we exercise patience
The challenge the civilized world
called World War II the "unnecessary
and restraint, we also must be alert to
faces today is very grave. But it is not
war," it was the failure of British and
the moral costs of such a course.
unprecedented. In 1936, the world
French statesmanship during the
Consider, for example, the fate of the
faced a rather similar challenge when
Rhineland crisis that he had in mind.
people of Kuwait. With every day that
Adolf Hitler, who had only recently
Today, the UN Security Council
passes, their plight grows more
come to power, moved German troops
stands poised at a historic juncture not
desperate. Being patient with Iraq
into the Rhineland, in open defiance of
unlike that faced by the League of
allows Saddam Hussein to prolong their
the treaties of Versailles and Locarno.
Nations in 1936. We are hopeful-
agony. Is this a moral course of action?
British and French leaders faced a
indeed, we are confident-that it will
Or consider the fate of American
major dilemma. To confront Hitler
not fail the test. Some will thought-
military personnel in Saudi Arabia.
militarily could mean war. Not to
lessly say that a vote for today's UN
The longer we refrain from action
confront him meant acquiescing in a
resolution is a vote for war. We reject
against Iraq, the more time Saddam
cynical breach of international law.
this idea. Saddam has shown that he
Hussein has to tighten his grip on
What to do?
understands no language other than the
Kuwait, and the harder it may be to
But while British and French
language of force. Today's UN resolu-
break that grip, if and when war comes.
leaders vacillated between their hopes
tion is our last and best hope for
Does patience today risk greater
and their fears, one voice rang out loud
peace-for a genuine peace, not the
American casualties tomorrow? And if
and clear. On March 13, 1936, Winston
false peace that is only a prelude to
so, is this a moral course of action?
another "unnecessary war."
Vol. 1, No. 15
Reprinted from US Department of State Dispatch
3
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Reprinted from
December 24, 1990
D
ISPATCH
BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Vice President Quayle
The Gulf: In Defense of Moral Principle
Remarks at the Foreign Policy Research
Summary executions of scores of people in
him 12 months, or 18 months before
Institute conference, Washington, DC,
front of their families; public hangings;
contemplating the use of force, ought to
December 18, 1990.
families being terrorized by midnight
think long and hard about what Congress-
searches; arbitrary arrests of thousands
man Lantos said.
am delighted to be here this
of people, including children; detainees
afternoon to address this distin-
And those who call for unlimited
being tortured with electric shocks and
guished group of scholars and
patience on moral grounds should ask
prolonged beatings; hospitals being taken
policymakers.
themselves a few simple questions: Is it
over by Iraqi military authorities; medical
The topic of your conference could not
moral to prolong the agony of the Kuwaiti
personnel being detained or killed; and an
be more timely. For the more we learn
people indefinitely? If Kuwaitis refused
about Saddam Hussein's barbarism in
entire nation being systematically looted
to stand by as Americans were being
of its food, its equipment, and its supplies.
Kuwait, the clearer it becomes that the
hunted down by the Iraqis, is it right for
The cruelty of the Iraqi forces
crisis is not, as Neville Chamberlain once
Americans to stand by as Kuwaitis are
occupying Kuwait is almost unbelievable.
said of Czechoslovakia, "A quarrel in a
being tortured and raped and brutalized?
Listen to Deborah Hadi, an American
far-away country between people of
And will there even be a Kuwait left to
woman married to a Kuwaiti:
whom we know nothing."
save in a year or a year-and-a-halfs time?
Rather, Kuwait's plight and the
We took our cousin, who was in labor, to
For our part, the Bush Admin-
future security of the Gulf are vital issues
Sabah Maternity Hospital. Upon our
istration's policy is clear and firm today,
arrival, we saw a Kuwaiti woman at the
that affect us all-strategically, economi-
as it has been for the past 4 months. We
front door-in hysterics, because she
cally, and morally. But before addressing
are not going to budge one iota from the
was in labor and Iraqi troops would not
some of the issues your conference poses,
goals the President laid out at the start of
allow her to enter. When she continued
I would like to take just a moment to pay
to scream they put a bayonet through
this crisis, goals reaffirmed in 12 Security
tribute to the valor of some of the Kuwaiti
her stomach, pinning her to the wall.
Council resolutions: achieving the
people.
We left the hospital immediately and
complete and unconditional withdrawal of
When Saddam Hussein was trying to
delivered my cousin's baby at home.
all Iraqi forces from Kuwait, restoring the
round up Americans in Kuwait to serve as
Or listen to Abdulal, a Kuwaiti:
legitimate government of Kuwait,
his "human shields," the people of Kuwait
While at the market buying food for a
releasing all the hostages, and maintain-
hid many of our citizens in their homes,
family, I saw two boys, 15 and 16 years
ing the security and stability of the Gulf
and provided them with food, medicine,
old, in handcuffs escorted to a house by
region. We must achieve all of these
and desperately needed shelter. In doing
Iraqi soldiers
The Iraqi soldiers then
objectives.
so, they quite literally put their own
asked their mother to call all family
Some critics of the Administration
lives, and the lives of their loved ones, in
members outside the house
In full
have questioned these goals. In particu-
terrible danger. I know I speak for
view of the mother, sister, and brother,
lar, they have questioned the morality of
as well as 15 men and women in the
President Bush and all Americans in
coming to the defense of what they call a
marketplace, the Iraqi soldiers shot and
saying that the Kuwaiti people have
"feudal," "reactionary," and "repressive"
killed them.
upheld the true honor and good name of
regime.
the Arabs. Their courage and humanity
As Congressman Tom Lantos, the
Quite frankly, I am always astonished
will always be remembered.
Democratic co-chairman of the congres-
whenever I hear these charges made.
Today, thanks to President Bush's
sional Human Rights Caucus, put it back
First of all, the accusations against
firm policy, the nightmare has ended for
in October,
Kuwait are false. Secondly, since when
Saddam's American hostages. The
In the 8-year history of the
caucus,
has it become acceptable to loot and rape
nightmare has also ended for those
we have never had the degree of
and torture people because they happen
Americans who lived in hiding in Kuwait
ghoulish and nightmarish horror stories
to live in a society whose customs differ
these past 4 months, dreading the knock
coming from totally credible eye-
from our own? And since when have
witnesses that we have had this time.
on the door by Iraqi troops.
Americans subscribed to a false, class-
It seems to me that those who
But for the people of Kuwait, the
based morality that classifies some
nightmare is not over. For them, the
advocate endless patience with Saddam
groups as "reactionary," and therefore
agony continues, and what an agony it is.
Hussein, those who say we should give
expendable, and others as "progressive,"
and therefore beyond reproach?
From Dispatch
United States Department of State
Vol. 1, No. 17
Bureau of Public Affairs
Office of Public Communication
Persian Gulf
This is precisely the warped and evil
sary, including military force, to compel
region. And we can't allow the acquisi-
morality used by Stalin and his henchmen
Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
tion of an indigenous nuclear weapons
to justify their infamous campaign of
The American people understand that
production capability-also deliverable at
terror during the 1930s. The people of
Saddam Hussein's Iraq poses a long-term
long ranges.
the Soviet Union have turned their backs
threat not just to its neighbors, but to us.
Saddam's record makes it clear that
on the morally demented legacy of
They know that over the past decade,
he would not hesitate to use these
Stalinism. And so shall we.
Saddam Hussein has bankrupted his
weapons, just as he has not hesitated to
The government of Kuwait is not the
people to bankroll his army. They know
use chemical weapons against his own
result of conspiracy and coup d'etat, and
that he has launched two wars of aggres-
people. And we are not willing to let that
its rule is not enforced by terror and
sion, against Iran and against Kuwait, at
happen.
repression. The United States and the
the cost of some 1 million lives-thus far.
That is why we intend to see all the
world, therefore, have no reason to
They know he is acquiring a sizable stock-
President's objectives attained, and all 12
apologize for demanding that the legiti-
pile of chemical and biological weapons,
UN Security Council resolutions carried
mate government of Kuwait be restored.
and has used chemical weapons against
out-including UN Security Council
Nor have we any reason to demand or
both Iran and his own people. They know
Resolution 674, which declares Iraq
accept anything less than the total and
he has launched an ambitious campaign to
responsible for all damage resulting from
unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces
acquire nuclear weapons. And they know
its occupation of Kuwait.
from Kuwait. These are legitimate
that unless he is stopped today, a nuclear-
Restoring the status quo ante would
demands. These are moral demands.
armed Iraq will control the bulk of the
not be enough. Having tried to erase an
And these demands are not subject to
world's energy supply tomorrow, thereby
entire nation from the face of the earth,
negotiation.
holding a gun to all our heads.
Saddam cannot simply walk away without
In support of these demands, close to
Because the President is determined
penalty and in a position to repeat his
half a million troops are gathered in the
to leave no stone unturned in the search
aggression.
Persian Gulf. Today, over one-third of
for peace, he has offered to send Secre-
As for the United States, we will
the troop count is provided by our allies.
tary of State Baker to Baghdad, and has
continue to play a positive role in the
But, some contributing nations are
invited Iraq's Foreign Minister [Tariq
region. Presidents Truman, Carter, and
providing proportionately a greater
Aziz] to Washington.
Reagan all-recognized that the US has
percentage of their military forces than
Unfortunately, Iraq's attempt to
vital interests in the Middle East. And
we are. Twenty-eight nations have
manipulate this process makes it far from
President Bush is fully determined to
committed military support to the allied
certain that these meetings will take
defend these interests.
Persian Gulf effort. This support comes
place. But one thing is certain. If
As the President said in his Septem-
from all quarters of the world, including
Secretary Baker does go to Baghdad, his
ber 11 speech to Congress [Dispatch, Vol.
members of the Warsaw Pact.
message to Saddam Hussein will be loud
1, No. 3, p. 91]:
The majority of Muslim nations
and clear: You may leave all of Kuwait
Our interest, our involvement in the
opposes the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait; 11
peacefully, without conditions, or you will
Gulf is not transitory. It predated
have committed military forces to the
leave Kuwait by force.
Saddam Hussein's aggression and it will
crisis. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria
Once Iraqi forces have left Kuwait,
survive it. Long after our troops come
lead in terms of numbers of troops and
however, and once the legitimate Kuwaiti
home
there will be a lasting role for
equipment.
government has been restored, our job
the United States in assisting the
The UK has supported the allied
will still not be over. We will have to
nations of the Persian Gulf. Our role
effort in every way possible, including
work to see that the President's final
then: To deter future aggression
to
tens of thousands of troops, squadrons of
objective-maintaining security and
help our friends in their own self-
fighter/bombers, and several navy vessels
stability in the region-is achieved. We
defense and to curb the proliferation
in the Gulf. The French have been
of chemical, biological, ballistic missile,
cannot allow a situation in which an
supportive, with more tens of thousands
and above all nuclear technologies.
aggressive dictator has a million-man
of committed troops and equipment.
army, thousands of tanks and artillery
Of course, it won't be easy. Of course,
Turkey, which borders much larger Iraq,
pieces, hundreds of jets, and access to
we will all have our work cut out for us.
from the outset courageously condemned
billions of petro-dollars.
But failure to achieve our objectives is
the Iraqi invasion and pledged to send
We cannot allow such a dictator
unacceptable. Failure would mean that
troops into combat in event of an Iraqi
credibly to threaten any of his neighbors
no future aggressor would be deterred by
attack. The Germans and Japanese have
should they not meet his political and
warnings from the United States or the
pledged considerable sums of money.
economic demands. Neither we nor our
United Nations. Failure would lead to a
The American people-like the
friends in the region are prepared to live
new, post-Cold War world more prone to
international community as a whole—
with such a situation. Moreover, we
anarchy, and more violent, than the world
understand and support our objectives. A
cannot allow the development of new and
which preceded it.
majority of the public approves of the
more deadly chemical and biological
We will not fail. We will act deci-
President's decision to send troops to the
weapons, and the long-range delivery
sively in defense of our moral principles
Persian Gulf. And an equally large
systems to threaten every nation in the
and strategic interests. And we will work
majority believes that the United States
together to ensure the security of all the
should, if need be, take all action neces-
states in the region. This is both the
challenge and the opportunity facing us
today.
2
Reprinted from US Department of State Dispatch
Voi
No
17
Services of Mead Data Central
PAGE
2
1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1991 Chicago Tribune Company;
Chicago Tribune
January 22, 1991, Tuesday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1; ZONE: C
LENGTH: 1032 words
HEADLINE: Bush decries Baltic violence
Summit, aid imperiled by Kremlin crackdown
BYLINE: By George de Lama, Chicago Tribune. Tribune correspondents Vincent
Schodolski in Moscow, Timothy J. McNulty in Washington and the contributed to
this report
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
An angry President Bush on Monday condemned the Soviet military crackdown
in Latvia, and administration officials concluded Moscow intends to use the
world's preoccupation with the Persian Gulf war as a cover to crush dissent in
the Baltic republics.
Bush served notice "the world is very much concerned" about the Soviets
resort to force over the weekend in Latvia, where Black Beret troops stormed the
Latvian Interior Ministry building in a hail of gunfire, leaving five dead.
Reports from Moscow Monday indicated Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had
summoned the leaders of all 15 Soviet republics to the Kremlin for an emergency
meeting. The summons came amid published warnings by the Soviet news agency Tass
that Gorbachev might establish direct presidential rule over Latvia if scheduled
talks with its leaders fail.
Senior administration officials stressed that Bush has made no final decision
on a formal U.S. response but said it is increasingly unlikely the president
will attend his scheduled Feb. 11-13 summit in Moscow with Gorbachev.
One official who is monitoring Soviet events said, "The smart money is not on
the summit."
The administration also is considering revoking as much as $1 billion in
recently announced grain credits for the Soviet Union as well as suspending
other recent trade and cooperation accords with Moscow, senior officials said.
"I am increasingly concerned," Bush told reporters. "I would again appeal to
the Soviet Union leaders to resist using force."
At the same time, Soviet and U.S. arms negotiators huddled at the State
Department to try to overcome remaining differences on a long-range
nuclear-weapons reduction treaty and on their recent conventional arms accord.
Bush wants to lock in arms control advances before U.S.-Soviet relations suffer
further.
LEXIS® NEXIS® LEXIS® NEXIS®
Services of Mead Data Central
PAGE
3
(c) 1991 Chicago Tribune, January 22, 1991
The president and Secretary of State James A. Baker III were closely
coordinating a response to the Soviet actions with NATO allies, who publicly
have warned that members of the Western alliance may revoke aid and impose
sanctions against Moscow if the repression in the Baltics continues.
In Washington, the State Department on Sunday quietly summoned a diplomat
from the Soviet Embassy and delivered a formal note protesting the raid against
local police in the Latvian capital, officials disclosed.
'The note said the incident was deeply disturbing and not consistent with the
Soviet declarations of their interest in settling things peacefully," said
another senior official involved in formulating U.S. policy toward the Soviet
Union.
The Soviets so far have responded to U.S. complaints by saying that their
elite troops were fired upon by pro-independence Latvian forces inside the
Interior Ministry building in Riga, officials said.
"Their explanation is that there were shots fired from inside the building at
their Black Berets," the senior official said. "We cannot discount this. It may
well be true. But our answer is that even if this were true, the Soviets still
bear blame because the presence of those troops there inflamed the situation."
In an attempt to sort out the facts and hold talks with local independence
leaders, U.S. officials from the embassy in Moscow are in Lithuania, Latvia
and other restive Soviet republics, officials in Washington said.
"We're going to wait until we get a readout back from them before we proceed
to make any decisions about what we're going to do," one U.S. official here
said.
As Bush pondered the deteriorating situation within the Soviet Union, Baker
and other top deputies were increasingly of the view that Gorbachev is using the
gulf war as a political cover for stepping up repression in the Baltic
republics.
Worrying that other Soviet ethnic hotbeds such as the republic of Georgia may
be next, officials said Moscow's repression looked like an ominous repeat of
1956, when the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to quash a rebellious reform
movement at a time when world attention was focused on another Middle East
crisis, over the Suez Canal.
Beyond analyzing the Soviet leader's tactics, administration policymakers
increasingly are concerned that Gorbachev either has abandoned all pretense of
following his earlier reform programs or has lost control of his government's
actions to hard-line factions in the army and the KGB.
One official suggested the transformation in the Soviet leader - until
recently such a darling of the West that he was given the Nobel Peace Prize -
amounted, in effect, to a coup in the Soviet Union.
"Yes," this official said, "Gorbachev succeeded Gorbachev."
Although Moscow denied any advance knowledge of Sunday's assault, Latvian
leaders said they were sure the Kremlin either knew of the attack ahead of
LEXIS® NEXIS® LEXIS® NEXIS
Services of Mead Data Central
PAGE
4
(c) 1991 Chicago Tribune, January 22, 1991
time or ordered it.
In Riga, the Latvian Parliament approved the creation of an all-volunteer
defense force to confront future Soviet military attacks.
The latest decision in Riga compounded an already confused situation in the
three Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. All three were
independent until 1940, when they forcibly were incorporated into the Soviet
Union as a result of a secret pact between Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and Nazi
leader Adolf Hitler.
Lithuania so far has been the boldest of the three Baltics in pressing for
its independence. Moscow on Monday appeared to be seeking to isolate Lithuania
in its campaign to block any quick move toward secession by the three republics.
The independent Baltfax news agency reported that an agreement has been
reached between Gorbachev and Estonian leader Arnold Ruutel on talks that would
seek to resolve the Baltic confrontation and prevent the use of any Soviet
troops in Estonia.
At the same time, the Tass news agency reported, in a speculative story that
appeared to be a warning to the Latvian leadership, that Gorbachev was prepared
to introduce direct presidential rule over Latvia if his scheduled talks with
the Latvian leadership Tuesday failed.
Tass quoted the chairman of the Soviet parliamentary commission on ethnic
affairs, Anatoly Denisov, as saying that Gorbachev might take such a step and
use the armed forces to impose it if necessary.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: A Soviet soldier stands guard at the Latvian Interior Ministry
on Monday. Earlier, elite Soviet Black Berets attacked the building, resulting
in five deaths. Agence France-Presse Photo.
PHOTO: A Lithuanian civilian unloads rifles from his car outside Parliament in
the republic's capital of Vilnius on Monday. Reuters photo (published on page 2,
Final edition).
SOVIET UNION; OPPOSITION; GOVERNMENT; MILITARY; REACTION; EUROPE; MEETING; TRIP;
DELAY; UNITED STATES; DATE
LEXIS® ® NEXIS® LEXIS® NEXIS ®
Services of Mead Data Central
PAGE
5
7TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1991 The Washington Post
January 21, 1991, Monday, Final Edition
SECTION: FIRST SECTION; PAGE A1
LENGTH: 1186 words
HEADLINE: Soviets Seize Latvian Ministry;
5 Dead, 9 Wounded in Attack;
Moscow Demonstrators Demand Gorbachev's Resignation
SERIES: Occasional
BYLINE: Michael Dobbs, Washington Post Foreign Service
DATELINE: MOSCOW, Jan. 21 (Monday), 1991
BODY:
Soviet internal security troops attacked the Latvian Interior Ministry in
Riga Sunday night, leaving five people dead and nine wounded in the latest
battle over political control in the Soviet Baltic republics, according to the
Latvian parliament's information office.
A Latvian parliamentary spokesman said that about 100 members of a Soviet
anti-terrorist unit known as the "black berets," which is loyal to the Kremlin,
took over the ground and top floors of the building in a burst of gunfire
shortly after 9 p.m. Outnumbered Latvian police battled to defend other floors
for about 90 minutes but were overpowered, the spokesman said. Early this
morning, after about six hours in which they apparently searched the building
for weapons, the troops left the building.
The Soviet military commander in the region had demanded last Monday that
Latvian police surrender their arms, a demand rejected by Latvian Interior
Minister Aloizs Vaznis. "Black beret" units then raided a Latvian police academy
outside Riga, the Latvian capital, shoved aside a dozen trainees and confiscated
an undetermined number of weapons.
Few other details were available on Sunday's attack, which came just hours
after tens of thousands of demonstrators massed in Moscow to denounce last
week's army crackdown in neighboring Soviet Lithuania, where paratroops
stormed a television station, killing at least 13 civilians. The demonstrators,
estimated at between 100,000 and 300,000, demanded a halt to suppression of
democratic movements around the country and called for the resignation of Soviet
President Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Latvian spokesman identified a civilian killed at the Interior Ministry
building in Riga as Andris Slapins, a cameraman who was filming the attack.
Other casualties included two Latvian policemen who were defending the building,
the spokesman said.
The seizure of the Interior Ministry, which was a potential focus of Latvian
resistance because of its role in directing the republic's newly organized
police force, appeared to mark an escalation in the continuing power struggle in
the Baltic republics, all three of which have begun moving to secede from the
LEXIS® NEXIS® LEXIS® ® NEXIS ®
Services of Mead Data Central
PAGE
6
(c) 1991 The Washington Post, January 21, 1991
Soviet Union.
The "black berets" were formerly under the command of the Soviet Interior
Ministry, but last week were transferred to a Communist-dominated so-called
National Salvation Committee in Latvia that announced Saturday it was seizing
power in the republic.
In Washington, White House spokesman Bill Harlow said President Bush was
deeply troubled" by the events in Latvia and was monitoring the situation. The
State Department contacted the Soviet Embassy late Sunday afternoon, asking that
it transmit to Moscow an urgent U.S. request to end the violence.
U.S. officials said it was unclear whether Bush would take any formal steps
to protest the Baltic crackdown, such as cancelling the Moscow summit scheduled
for Feb. 11-13. Bush said Friday that he had stressed his demands for a peaceful
solution in the Baltics in a phone conversation with Gorbachev, the second time
in a week he had made that point to the Soviet president.
The demonstrators in Moscow's Manezh Square chanted, = Lithuania today,
Russia tomorrow!" suggesting that the military action in the Baltics could be
the start of a more general crackdown throughout the Soviet Union. Smaller
demonstrations took place in Leningrad, Kiev -- the Ukrainian capital -- and a
half-dozen other Soviet cities.
The rallies demonstrated that the Soviet democratic movement is very much
alive despite Gorbachev's sharp shift toward a more hard-line position in recent
months. But the mood was grim, and many demonstrators agreed that such protests
are unlikely to be very effective if the Kremlin decides on full-scale
repression.
Nearly a year ago, more than 100,000 demonstrators rallied at the same Moscow
square to press the Communist Party to give up its constitutional guarantee of
power. At that rally, however, many of the demonstrators had expressed support
for Gorbachev against his hard-line opponents.
At this Sunday's rally, the protesters shouted, "Dictatorship will not pass!"
and "Down with the Communist Party!" In a message to the demonstrators, Russian
republic President Boris Yeltsin said that the "danger of dictatorship" is
becoming a reality, but he declared he still is prepared to talk with Gorbachey.
"Economic reform has been blocked, democracy betrayed, glasnost trampled
upon. Arbitrariness and lawlessness are being restored in the Soviet Union,"
Yeltsin said in the message. Aides said the Russian leader did not appear in
person because of fears of a possible assassination attempt.
Leading radical-reform politicians, including Leningrad Mayor Anatoly
Sobchak, have called for the formation of a national coalition government based
on the core Soviet republics of Russia, the Ukraine, Byelorussia and Kazakhstan.
They have argued that such a coalition could represent the last chance of
averting a military-backed countrywide crackdown and the restoration of
authoritarian rule.
Gorbachev's allies insist that he is still ready for a dialogue with
advocates of radical reform, despite the recent removal of leading political
moderates from his inner circle.
LEXIS® NEXIS® LEXIS® NEXIS R
Services of Mead Data Central
PAGE
7
(c) 1991 The Washington Post, January 21, 1991
Speakers at the Moscow demonstration called for the resignation of Gorbachev,
Defense Minister Dmitri Yazov, KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov and Interior
Minister Boris Pugo, accusing them of authorizing the storming of the television
station in Lithuania. "We are to say a decisive 'No' to the reactionary policy
of Gorbachev and his team," shouted historian Yuri Afanasyev, a radical Soviet
legislator who was the main speaker at the rally.
Yeltsin has summoned the Russian legislature into emergency session today to
discuss the country's political crisis. Some Russian lawmakers believe that they
could be asked to approve direct presidential elections in Russia to strengthen
Yeltsin's political authority.
A resolution adopted at Sunday's Moscow rally called for immediate withdrawal
of "punitive forces" from the three Baltic republics and arrest of the leaders
of what it called an "attempted coup" there. In both Lithuania and Latvia,
self-proclaimed "national salvation committees" dominated by pro-Moscow
Communists have announced that they are taking power, overturning the republics'
democratically elected parliaments.
Saturday's claim by the Latvian National Salvation Committee that it was
seizing power was ridiculed by the Latvian government, which said it remains in
full control in the republic. A parliamentary spokesman said Latvian Prime
Minister Ivars Godmanis called Yazov in Moscow to protest the attack but that
Yazov said he had no knowledge of it. Godmanis then called Interior Minister
Pugo, a former head of the Latvian KGB, who promised steps to control the
situation, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile Sunday, in Baku, capital of the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, up
to 1 million people gathered Sunday at a cemetery to commemorate the deaths of
more than 100 people a year ago when Soviet troops stormed the city to quell
ethnic rioting.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, BODY OF SLAIN LATVIAN LIES COVERED IN FOREGROUND AS INJURED MAN,
SEATED, RECEIVES TREATMENT AT RIGA WAR MUSEUM. AP; MAP, LARRY FOGEL; PHOTO,
REUTER
TYPE: FOREIGN NEWS
SUBJECT: U.S.S.R.; HUMAN RIGHTS; ARMED FORCES; DEMONSTRATIONS; SHOOTINGS;
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS
ORGANIZATION: LATVIA; LITHUANIA
NAMED-PERSONS: MIKHAIL GORBACHEV; ANATOLY SOBCHAK
ENHANCEMENT: INDEPENDENCE
LEXIS® ® NEXIS® LEXIS® NEXIS
Services of Mead Data Central
PAGE
8
10TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1991 Chicago Tribune Company;
Chicago Tribune
January 19, 1991, Saturday, NORTH SPORTS FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 9; ZONE: C
LENGTH: 625 words
HEADLINE: Bush keeping eye on Lithuania crackdown
Solve it peacefully, Gorbachev urged
BYLINE: From Chicago Tribune wires
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
President Bush said Friday he had spoken to Soviet President Mikhail
Gorbachev earlier in the day and had expressed his feeling that the tense
situation in the Baltic republics should be resolved peacefully.
"I took the opportunity
to express again my deep concern over the
Baltics and the need to ensure that there is a peaceful resolution to the
situation there," Bush said.
In Vilnius, Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis said he had received
U.S. assurances of support for his republic, which is trying to buck a crackdown
by Soviet troops.
At an evening news conference Friday, Landsbergis said he had met with George
A. Krol, the U.S. consul based in Leningrad. He quoted Krol as telling him, "The
United States guarantees that at this time in our crisis, the United States is
on our side."
The diplomat told him the U.S. supports a peaceful settlement in Lithuania,
Landsbergis said. No confirmation from Krol on the comments was immediately
available.
The U.S. has been watching the situation in the Soviet Union with increasing
concern in recent weeks and has been particularly bothered by events in
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The concern was highlighted by recent White
House comments indicating that a Bush-Gorbachev summit, planned for Feb. 11-13
in Moscow, could be scuttled by events.
Bush made no further comment on U.S.-Soviet relations at a news conference
Friday in the White House briefing room. But Marlin Fitzwater, the White House
spokesman, said, "The summit is still on."
Thirteen Lithuanians and one Soviet soldier were killed Sunday in a Soviet
military assault on the broadcasting center in Vilnius. On Wednesday, special
"black beret" police units killed a man in Riga, capital of the neighboring
republic of Latvia. And the next day Soviet troops detained a Lithuanian
member of parliament overnight, fanning fears that the Persian Gulf war could
provide cover for a new Kremlin crackdown.
LEXIS® NEXIS® LEXIS® ® NEXIS® ®
Services of Mead Data Central
PAGE
9
(c) 1991 Chicago Tribune, January 19, 1991
In Estonia, the third Baltic republic, residents of Tallinn blocked roads to
the hilltop parliament building with stone barricades Friday.
In addition, a news report said Russian-speaking workers pressing the
pro-independence Estonian government to resign went on strike at 16 large
factories. But despite the tension, no violence has been reported in Estonia.
The events in the Baltics, and the larger sense that the Soviet Union may be
seriously backsliding on recent reforms, have put a frost on the warming ties
between the two superpowers. Those ties resulted in historic arms control
agreements, and Washington recently granted $1 billion in export credits to the
Soviet Union to help it buy winter food.
The White House said recently that the economic assistance to Moscow was
under review.
On Friday, U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
Kremlin had raised tension in the Baltics with false and biased press and
television accounts.
The officials cited as an example Soviet reports that Lithuanians guarding
the television tower in Vilnius Sunday fired first on the Soviet troops.
Witnesses contradicted those reports. In another example, they cited baseless
charges by the so-called National Salvation Committee that the Lithuanian
government intended to assassinate Soviet military and civilian officials and to
terrorize the Lithuanian population.
Lithuania's embattled independence government raised some cheer from behind
its bunker walls Friday by resuming television broadcasting to rebut Kremlin
propaganda salvos.
With Soviet armor still holding the main television tower, the Lithuanian
government managed to construct a new antenna and begin broadcasting from inside
the parliament building, where independence leaders are barricaded.
SOVIET UNION; UNITED STATES; REACTION; OPPOSITION; GOVERNMENT; VIOLENCE;
MILITARY
LEXIS® NEXIS® ® LEXIS® ® NEXIS ®
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
January 28, 1991
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN ADDRESS TO THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS CONVENTION
The Sheraton Washington Hotel
Washington, D.C.
9:03 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. President Rose, thank you,
sir. And Executive Director Gustavson -- all. First, let me salute
your leadership of the NRB -- Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell, Pat
Robertson, James Dobson, Chuck Colson; the FCC Commissioners -- Sikes
and Duggan and James Quello.
This marks the fifth time that I've addressed the Annual
Convention of the National Religious Broadcasters. And once again,
let me say it is, for both Barbara and me, an honor to be back here.
Let me begin by congratulating you on your theme of
declaring His glory to all nations. It's a theme eclipsing
denominations and which reflects many of the eternal teachings in the
Scripture. I speak, of course, of the teachings which uphold moral
values, like tolerance, compassion, faith and courage. They remind
us that while God can live without man, man cannot live without God.
His love and His justice inspire in us a yearning for faith and a
compassion for the weak and oppressed, as well as the courage and
conviction to oppose tyranny and injustice.
And I'm very grateful for that resolution that has just
been read prior to my speaking here.
Matthew also reminds us in these times that the meek
shall inherit the Earth. At home, these values inbue the policies
which you and I support. Like me, you endorse adoption, not
abortion. (Applause.) And last year you helped ensure that the
options of religious-based child care will not be restricted or
eliminated by the federal government. (Applause.)
And I commend your concern, your heartfelt concern on
behalf of Americans with disabilities, and your belief that students
who go to school to nourish their minds should also be allowed to
nourish their souls. And I have not lessened my commitment to
restoring voluntary prayer in our schools. (Applause.)
These actions can make America a kinder and gentler place
because they reaffirm the values that I spoke of earlier -- values
that must be central to the lives of every individual and the life of
every nation. The clergyman Richard Cecil once said, "There are two
classes of the wise; the men who serve God because they have found
Him, and the men who seek Him because they have not found Him yet."
Abroad, as in America, our task is to serve and seek wisely through
the policies we pursue.
Nowhere is this more true than in the Persian Gulf where,
despite protestations of Saddam Hussein, it is not Iraq against the
United States, it's the regime of Saddam Hussein against the rest of
the world. Saddam tried to cast this conflict as a religious war.
But it has nothing to de with religion per 50, It has, on the other
hand, everything to do with what religion embodies good versus
evil, right versus wrong, human dignity and freedom versus tyranny
and oppression.
MORE
- 2 -
The war in the Gulf is not a Christian war, a Jewish war,
or a Moslem war -- it is a just war. And it is a war with which good
will prevail. (Applause.) We're told that the principles of a just
war originated with classical Greek and Roman philosophers like Plato
and Cicero. And later they were expounded by such Chrisitan
theologians as Ambrose Augustine, Thomas Aquinas.
The first principle of a just was is that it support a
just cause. Our cause could not be more noble. We seek Iraq's
withdrawal from Kuwait -- completely, immediately and without
condition; the restoration of Kuwaits legitimate government and the
security and stability of the Gulf. We will see that Kuwait once
again is free, that the nightmare of Iraq's occupation has ended, and
that naked aggression will not be rewarded.
We seek nothing for ourselves. As I have said, U.S.
forces will leave as soon as their mission is over, as soon as they
are no longer needed or desired. And let me add, we do not seek the
destruction of Iraq. We have respect for the people of Iraq, for the
importance of Iraq in the region. We do not want a country so
destabilized that Iraq itself could be a target for aggression.
But a just war must also be declared by legitimate
authority. Operation Desert Storm is supported by unprecedented
United Nations' solidarity, the principle of collective self-defense,
12 Securty Council resolutions and, in the Gulf, 28 nations from six
continents united -- resolute that we will not waiver and that
Saddam's aggression will not stand.
I salute the aid -- economic and military -- from
countries who have joined in this unprecedented effort -- whose
courage and sacrifice have inspired the world. We're not going it
alone -- but believe me, we are going to see it through. (Applause.)
Every war -- every war -- is fought for a reason. But a
just war is fought for the right reasons -- for moral, not selfish
reasons. Let me take a moment to tell you a story -- a tragic story
-- about a family whose two sons, 18 and 19, reportedly refused to
lower the Kuwaiti flag in front of their home. For this crime, they
were executed by the Iraqis. Then, unbelievably, their parents were
asked to pay the price of the bullets used to kill them.
Some ask whether it's moral to use force to stop the
rape, the pillage, the plunder of Kuwait. And my answer:
Extraordinary diplomatic efforts having been exhausted to resolve the
matter peacefully, then the use of force is moral. (Applause.)
A just war must be a last resort. As I have often said,
we did not want war. But you all know the verse from Ecclesiastics:
There is "a time for peace, a time for war." From August 2, 1990 --
last summer, August 2nd -- to January 15, 1991 -- 166 days -- we
tried to resolve this conflict. Secretary of State Jim Baker made an
extraordinary effort to achieve peace. More than 200 meetings with
foreign dignitaries, 10 diplomatic missions, six congressional
appearances. Over 103,000 miles traveled to talk with, among others,
members of the United Nations, the Arab League, and the European
Community. And sadly, Saddam Hussein rejected out of hand every
overture made by the United States and by other countries as well.
He made this just war an inevitable war.
We all know that war never comes easy or cheap. War is
never without the loss of innocent life. And that is war's greatest
tragedy. But when a war must be fought for the greater good, it is
our gravest obligation to conduct a war in proportion to the threat.
And that is why we must act reasonably, humanely, and make every
effort possible to keep casualties to a minimum. And we've done SO.
I'm very proud of our military in achieving this end. (Applause.)
From the very first day of the war, the allies have waged
war against Saddam's military. We are doing everything possible,
believe me, to avoid hurting the innocent. Saddam's response?
MORE
- 3 -
Wanton, barbaric bombing of civilian areas. America and her allies
value life. We pray that Saddam Hussein will see reason. To date,
his indiscriminate use of those Scud missiles -- nothing more than
weapons of terror; they have no military -- they can offer no
military advantage, weapons of terror -- it outraged the world what
he has done.
The price of war is always high. And so it must never,
ever, be undertaken without total commitment to a successful outcome.
It is only justified when victory can be achieved. I have pledged
that this will not be another Vietnam. And let me reassure you here
today, it won't be another Vietnam. (Applause.)
We are fortunate, we are very fortunate to have in this
crisis the finest Armed Forces ever assembled. An all-volunteer
force, joined by courageous allies. And we will prevail because we
have the finest soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast
Guardsmen that any nation has ever had. (Applause.)
But above all, we will prevail because of the support of
the American people. Armed with a trust in God and in the principles
that make men free. People like each of you in this room. I salute
Voice of Hope's live radio programming for U.S. and allied troops in
the Gulf. And your Operation Desert Prayer, and worship services for
our troops held by, among others, the man who over a week ago led a
wonderful prayer service at Fort Myer over here across the river in
Virginia, the Reverend Billy Graham.
America has always been a religious nation -- perhaps
never more than now. Just look at the last several weeks. Churches,
synagogues, mosques reporting record attendance at services. Chapels
packed during working hours as Americans stop in for a moment or two.
Why? To pray for peace. And I know -- of course, I know -- that
some disagree with the course that I've taken, and I have no
bitterness in my heart about that at all, no anger. I am convinced
that we are doing the right thing. And tolerance is a virtue, not a
vice. (Applause.)
But with the support and prayers of so many, there can be
no question in the minds of our soldiers or in the minds of our enemy
about what Americans think. We know that this is a just war. And we
know that, God willing, this is a war we will win. But most of all,
we know that ours would not be the land of the free if it were not
also the home of the brave. No one wanted war less than I did. No
one is more determined to seize from battle the real peace that can
offer hope, that can create a new world order.
When this war is over, the United States, its credibility
and its reliability restored, will have a key leadership role in
helping to bring peace to the rest of the Middle East. And I have
been honored to serve as President of this great nation for two years
now, and believe more than ever that one cannot be America's
President without trust in God. I cannot imagine a world, a life,
without the presence of the one through whom all things are possible.
(Applause.)
During the darkest days of the Civil War, a man we revere
not merely for what he did, but what he was, was asked whether he
thought the Lord was on his side. And said Abraham Lincoln, "My
concern is not whether God is on our side, but whether we are on
God's side. " (Applause.) My fellow Americans, I firmly believe in
my heart of hearts that times will soon be on the side of peace
because the world is overwhelmingly on the side of God.
Thank you for this occasion. And may God bless our great
country. And may we remember -- and please remember all of our
coalition's Armed Forces in your prayers. Thank you and God bless
you. (Applause.)
END
9:22 A.M. EST