Hey Bart
I've often read on your site that you say
Bush gave Saddam written
permission to invade Kuwait.
Do you have any proof that I could see ?
Eric in Toronto
Eric, the short answer is no.
When Bush realized his mistake (?) had cost thousands of
lives
he decided that Telex should be classified for "national security"
reasons.
From: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/ARTICLE5/april.html
Saddam Hussein -
If we could keep the whole of the Shatt al Arab - our strategic goal in
our war with Iran - we will make
concessions (to the Kuwaitis). But, if we
are forced to choose between keeping half of the Shatt and the whole of
Iraq
(i.e., in Saddam s view, including Kuwait
) then we will give up all of the Shatt to defend our claims on Kuwait
to keep the
whole of Iraq in the shape we wish it to be.
(pause) What is the United States' opinion on this?
U.S. Ambassador Glaspie
- We have no opinion on your Arab - Arab conflicts, such as your dispute
with Kuwait.
Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed
me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960's,
that the Kuwait issue is not associated with
America. (Saddam smiles)
From: http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/saudiara/kaplan.htm
April Glaspie met with Saddam Hussein one week
before Iraq invaded Kuwait. Glaspie saw Hussein without a notetaker,
because she had been summoned to the Iraqi
Foreign Ministry on short notice and did not know that she was about to
meet the Iraqi President, with whom she had
never had a private meeting during her two years in Baghdad. She wondered
if this could be the beginning of an "opening,"
says a colleague of hers, and she obviously wanted the meeting to go well,
especially as there was no time to get special
instructions from Washington.
Glaspie told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
at an open hearing that the Iraqi transcript of the meeting, which
depicts her as acting in a fawning manner
toward Saddam Hussein, and as appearing to
indicate that the United States
did not care how Iraq settled its border dispute
with Kuwait, was doctored. But Senate staffers say that the Iraqi transcript
and her own cable of the event "track almost
perfectly." Glaspie, they and other observers
conclude, was the ultimate
staff person--obsessed with the diplomatic
process to the point where she couldn't accept that sometimes it is better
for
the process to collapse than for it to continue.
Only after Iraq invaded Kuwait did Washington
clearly enunciate its position, when George Bush and his national
security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, belatedly
decided that Kuwait was something we cared about.
But the best explanation I could find (research isn't my strong
suit) was right here on bartcop.com/0512.htm
Subject: Question about Bush's telex to Hussein
Your June 28 issue mentioned a telex sent by George
Sr. to Saddaam Husein saying
"Take Kuwait if you want."
I've never heard about that before.
Was that a joke or was there really such a message
sent?
It was not a joke, but allow me to clarify.
First, it's always a bad idea to get your facts from a comedy web site,
but that's all true, swear to Koresh, except for the wording.
I'll tell you what I remember because I'm old and I was paying attention.
April Glaspie was our ambassador in the area.
(I don't know if we had an ambassador to Iraq at the time, or if she
was in Jordan
or somewhere and taking care of Iraq on the side - I need a staff)
She sent a Telex to the White House saying Saddam wanted clarification
of our position on whatever
his stated intentions were. The Telex he got back from the White House
saying (paraphrase)
"The United States has no intention of interfering
in Middle East affairs."
Saddam read that as a blank check as anybody would - so he invaded Kuwait.
The Bush White House threw a fit and threatened to send troops to push
him out.
At that point, Saddam showed the CNN cameras his Telex saying, in effect,
"Do what you want, it's not our concern."
When the press asked Bush if the Telex Saddam showed them was real,
Bush hid behind "National security."
It's hard to figure out what "national security" was at risk since the
world had already seen
and read Saddam's copy of Bush's Telex, but Bush continued to stonewall.
The Democrats, of course, didn't press the issue.
It was only hundreds of young Americans dead in the sand.
Why should the Democrats bother to find out why?
Wouldn't be prudent to distract a sitting president...
We lost hundreds of young men & women in Kuwait and Iraq, and Bush
was never asked
to explain his foreign affairs gaffe that cost us hundreds of lives
for no goddamn reason.
Just like Iran-Contra, October Surprise and everything young Smirk has
gotten away with,
we never get the straight truth from either Bush administration.
But Ohhhhhhhhh!
When Bill Clinton tries to hide a little bit of consexual sex, the GOP
and the whore press
went completely wild 24/7
for three loooooong years, against the will of the people
who wanted the government to press on with more important matters.
Hundreds of unnecessary deaths?
No problem - Bush was in charge.
A little sex in the Oval Office?
They called it a constitutional crisis.
"The flag is falling," screamed a hysterical Henry Hyde.
Horseshit in the extreme.