not." The policy of refusing to negotiate with Iraq would be maintained all the way to the end of the
war. What about King Hussein of Jordan, who was known to be attempting a mediation? "I talkedto him once and that's all," hissed Bush. "But he's embraced Saddam Hussein. He went to Baghdad (^)
and embraced--" said one questioner. "What's your question? I can read," raged Bush. Was Bush
disappointed with King Hussein?
I want to see the Arab states join the rest of the world in condemning this outrage and doing whatthey can to get Saddam Hussein out. Now. He was talking-- King Hussein-- about an Arab solution, (^)
but I am disappointed to find any comment by anyone that apologizes or appears to condone what's
taken place.
Bush elaborated a few seconds later that there was no possibility of an Arab solution:
Well. I was told by one leader that I respect enormously-- I believe this was back on Friday-- that
they needed 48 hours to find what was called an Arab solution. That obviously has failed. And of
course I'm disappointed that the matter hasn't been resolved before now. This is a very serious
matter. I'll take one more and then I've got to go to work over here.
The last question was about possible steps to protect American citizens, a question that the
administration wanted to play down at the beginning, and play up later on. Bush concluded:
I am not going to discuss what we're doing in terms of moving of forcBut I view it very seriously, not just that, but any threat to any other countries as well, as I viewes, anything of that nature.
very seriously our determination to reverse this aggression. And please believe me, there are an
awful lot of countries that are in total accord with what I've just said. And I salute them. They are
staunch friends and allies. And we will be working with them all for collective action. This will not
stand. This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait. I've got to go. I hagot to go to work. [fn 42] ve to go to work. I've
This was the beginning of the war psychosis, and there is no doubt that the leading war psychotic
was Bush himself.
A number of aspects of this performance merit underlining. The confusion of Manfred Woerner
with Perez de Cuellar will be the first of a number of such gaffes committed by Bush over the next
few days. "Naked aggression" is once again Thatcher's term. Thatcher is mentioned twice in a way
that suggests that Bush had been on the phone with her again after leaving Aspen. Indeed, the code
word "staunch" towards the end, which for Busthat Bush's entire episode had been coordinated with Thatcher in advance. In regard to Saddamh can only be associated with the British, implies
Hussein, in addition to the direct contact that was never attempted we have here the beginning of a
cascade of verbal abuse that would continue through the course of the buildup and the war.
According to many observers, the purpose of these gratuitous insults was to make a compromise
settlement through nemight have reflected advice from Arabists of the type known to inhabit the British Foreign Office.gotiations impossible by casting aspersions on Saddam Hussein's honor. This
Bush's responses concerning King Hussein of Jordan were very ominous for the Hashemite
monarch, and left no doubt that Bush regarded any Arab-sponsored peaceful solution as an
unfriendly act. Indeed, Bush here declared the Arab solution dead. No greater sabotage of peace
efforts in the region could be imagined. Bush's stress on Kuwait indicates that his subsequentpresentation of his troop deployments as serving the defense of Saudi Arabia was disinformation, (^)
and that the US occupation of Kuwait was his goal all along. Finally, the combination of the manic
tone, the confusion of the two Secretaries General, and the obsessive "I've got to go to work"
repeated three times at the end combine to suggest a state of psychological upheaval, with the
thyroid undoubtedly making its contribution to Bush's flight forward. But, for the positive side of