matters into their own hands, to force Saddam Hussein, the dictator, to step aside." [fn 86] With this
call, Bush triggered the simultaneous uprisings of the pro-Iranian Shiites in Iraq's southernprovinces, and of the Kurds in the north, many of whom now foolishly concluded that US military (^)
assistance would be forthcoming. It was a cynical ploy, since Bush can be seen in retrospect to have
had no intention whatever of backing up these rebellions. During the month of March, tens of
thousand of additional casualties and untold human misery would be the sole results of these
insurrections, which led to the mass exodus of the hapless and wretched Kurds into Iran andTurkey.
The Soviets were still seeking to save half a face from a massacre which they had aided and abetted;
diplomacy would also help take the mind of the world off the Baltic bloodshed of the Soviet special
forces. During the week after Saddam Hussein's trial balloon for aPrimakov attempted to assemble a cease-fire. Primakov's efforts were brushed aside with single- pullout from Kuwait, Yevgeny
empire arrogance by Bush, who spoke off the cuff at a photo opportunity: "Very candidly...while
expressing appreciation for his sending it to us, it falls well short of what would be required. As far
as I am concerned, there are no negotiations. The goals have been set out. There will be no
concessions." Primakov had issued a call that "the slaughter must be stopped. I am not saying thatthe war was justified before, but its continuation cannot now be justified from any point of view. A (^)
people is perishing." Foreign Minister Bessmertnykh complained that "the plan was addressed to
the Iraqi leadership, so [Bush] rejected the plan which did not belong to him." [fn 87]
Diplomatically, the once mighty Soviet Union had ceased to exist; the collapse of the Soviet state
had been accelerated by its seconding of the Anglo-American designs in the Gulf, and the opinionsof the Kremlin now counted for nothing.
Primakov and Tariq Aziz then proceeded to transform the original Soviet 8-point plan into a more
demanding 6-point plan, including some of the demands of the Anglo-Americans on the timetable
of withdrawal and other issues. Bush's answer to that, on the morning of Friday, February 22, w24-hour ultimatum to Iraq to begin an "immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Kuwait" oras a
face an immediate attack by coalition land forces. Many Iraqi units were now already in retreat; the
essence of the US demands was to make Iraq accept a pullout so rapid that all equipment and
supplies must be left behind. It is clear that, even if Iraq had accepted Bush's terms, he would have
found reUS planes was to bomb columns of Iraqi forces leaving Kuwait and retreating towards the north,asons to continue the air bombardment. During the following days, the principal activity of
towards Iraq, in exact compliance with the UN resolutions. But Bush now wanted to fulfill his
quota of 100,000 dead Iraqi soldiers. During the evening of Saturday, February 23, Bush spoke
from the White House announcing an order to Gen. Schwarzkopf to "use all forces, including
ground forcmilitary units had left Kuwait weeks before the final land battle. Well-informed observers thoughtes, to eject the Iraqi army from Kuwait." [fn 88] It emerged in retrospect that many Iraqi
that the Iraqi Republican Guard had been reduced to less than three functioning combat divisions by
Bush's air and ground assaults, but it shortly became clear that there were at least five Republican
Guard divisions in the field at something approaching full strength. Finally, on February 27, after
41 days of war, Bush ordered a cease-fire. "Our military objectives are met," proclaimed Bush. [fn89]
Because all reports on Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm were covered by the
strictest military censorship, and because most news organizations of the US and the other coalition
states were more than willing to operate under these conditions, most of the details of theseoperations are still in the realm of Anglo-American mind war.
The coalition air fleets had carried out some 120,000 sorties against Iraq. If each sortie had claimed
but a single Iraqi life, then 120,000 Iraqis had perished. In reality, total Iraqi casualties of killed,
wounded, and missing, plus the civilian losses from famine, disease, and pestilence must have been