inaugurated the Anglo-American Big Lie that the Iraqi actions had been "without
provocation," which readers of daily newspapers knew not to be true. He also minted the
story that Iraq possessed ":the fourth largest military in the world," a wild exaggeration
that was repeated many times. The "new Hitler" theme was already prominent:
"Appeasement does not work," Bush asserted. "As was the case in the 1930's, we see in
Saddam Hussein an aggressive dictator threatening his neighbors....His promises mean
nothing." Bush summed up the goals of his policy as follows:
First, we seek the immediate, unconditional and complete withdrawal of all Iraqi forces
from Kuwait. Second, Kuwait's legitimate government must be restored to replace the
puppet regime. And third, my administration, as has been the case with every president
from President Roosevelt to President Reagan, is committed to the security and stability
of the Persian Gulf. And fourth, I am determined to protect the lives of American citizens
abroad. [fn 45]
None of this appeared to include offensive military action. Bush attempted to re-enforce
that false impression in his news conference later the same afternoon. It was during this
appearance that the extent of Bush's mental disintegration and psychic dissociation
became most evident. But first, Bush wanted to stress his "defensive" cover story:
Well, as you know, from what I said, they're there in a defensive mode right now, and
therefore that is not the mission, to drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait. We have economic
sanctions that I hope will be effective to that end.
The purpose, he stressed, was the "defense of the Saudis." "We're not in a war," Bush
added. After several exchanges, he was asked what had tipped his hand in deciding to
send troops and aircraft into Saudi Arabia? If this had been a polygraph test, the needles
would have jumped, since this went to Bush's collusion with Thatcher long before any
annoucement had been made. Bush replied:
There was no one single thing that I can think of. But when King Fahd requested such
support we were prompt to respond. But I can't think of an individual specific thing. If
there was one it would perhaps be the Saudis moving south when they said they were
withdrawing....
The press corps stirred uneasily and one or two voices could be heard prompting Bush
"The Iraqis...the Iraqis" There was acute embarrassment on the faces of Sununu and
Fitzwater; this was the classic gaffe of cold war presidents who confused North Korea
and South Korea, or East Germany and West Germany. Bush's forte was supposedly
international affairs; he had travelled to both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as a government
official and before that as a businessman. So this gaffe pointed to a disorder of the
synapses. Bush realized what he had done and tried to recover:
I mean the Iraqis, thank you very much. It's been a long night. The Iraqis moving down to
the Kuwait-Saudi border, when indeed they have given their word that they were
withdrawing. That heightened our concern.